The Pretenders are an odd band.

Their debut album was awash with great songs from the pop/rock tradition even though their genesis was forged on the anvil of punk. Hynde’s career can best be described as mercurial. Arriving from the United states she wrote for NME and quickly inveigled herself into the heart of the burgeoning Punk and new wave scene. Some would call her cynical and calculating, others a creative tour de force. The NME enabled her to mix with the contemporary musical glitterati, her work at SEX put her in with McCLaren and Westwood, he romantic liason with Steve Jones had her alongside the hippest of the upcoming musical talent. Marrying Jim Kerr of simple Minds and Ray Davies of the Kinks ( at separate times obviously)  helped her musical credentials no end. Her debut demo had Phil Taylor of Motorhead on drums, her first single was produced by Nick Lowe. This girl did not appear from nowhere- she worked at it!

At the time of the gig, they had released two albums, the second almost as rich as the first in compositional content with guitarist James Honeyman Scott and bassist Pete Farndon at the heart of the action, not least in providing backing vocals. They were tour tight, on the crest of a wave, and in the vanguard of the new waves’ success. But waves break , in 82 Honeyman scott died, in 83, Farndon died, both from drug abuse. The rock n roll dream had morphed into a nightmare. That should have been it.

Yet no-one should doubt Hyndes’, resilience, her biggest hit to date, “Stop your Sobbing” was a cover of husband Ray Davies hit dissipating royalties.  From somewhere she then conjured up smash hit  “Back on the Chain gang” with whom the only royalties split was with Chambers and she was financially bankrolled for years.

For a young band to have a repertoire of the strength of those first two albums is highly unusual, unsurprisingly they ripped it up at Leicester combining the sexiness of Blondie  with the rock n roll swagger of the Rolling Stones

Highlights, a mesmerising reggae tinged seven minute  “Private life”, by far their greatest song,  a glorious  honeyman scott jingly jangly “kid”and a riveting pulsating closing “Precious” the song the Clash and Ramones would have written if they had a female singer, both songs featuring he indispensable skills of Honeyman Scott and Farndon.

Set List

The Wait

The Adultress

Message of Love

Louie Louie

The English Roses

Stop Your Sobbing

Kid

Private Life

I Go to Sleep

Day After Day

Bad Boys Get Spanked

Up the Neck

Precious

Despite a dearth of material beyond “Chain gang”  hynde has continued to tour successfully to this day, a testament to guts, determination, talent and application.