Rewind: Pretenders - Pretenders (1980)

 Pretenders - Pretenders

Real Records (UK) / Sire (US)

Produced by Chris Thomas (except for Stob Your Sobbing which was produced by Nick Lowe)

Released 7th January 1980 (UK) - Some places have listed December 1979!

Released 19th January 1980 (US)

UK Chart #1*

US Chart #9

*Debuted at #1 in the UK and stayed on top for Four Weeks

Side One

Side Two

Personnel
The Pretenders
    Chrissie Hynde – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
    Martin Chambers – drums, backing vocals
    Pete Farndon – bass guitar, backing vocals
    James Honeyman-Scott – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Singles on Pretenders

A-Side: Stop Your Sobbing 

B-Side: The Wait

Released February 1979

UK Chart #34

Stop Your Sobbing was written by Ray Davies and was originally recorded for the debut album in 1964 by The Kinks.

A-Side: Kid 

B-Side: Tattooed Love Boys

Released July 1979

UK Chart #33

A-Side: Brass In Pocket

B-Side: Swinging London / Nervous But Shy

Released November 1979

UK Chart #1*

US Chart #14

*The first new #1 single of the 1980's. They knocked Pink Floyd off the #1 spot who had spent 5 weeks there with Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)

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The Debut Album from the Pretenders was released in America on this day in 1980. It had already been released in the UK hitting the #1 spot on the week of release where it stayed for four weeks. It peaked at #9 in the States.

Three singles were released prior to it, their debut, a cover of a song by The Kinks - Stop Your Sobbing,  which just missed out on the Top 30. Nick Lowe produced the debut single but decided not to work with them again as he thought the band was "not going anywhere"!  The follow up in July 1979 was  Kid which went a place higher than the debut but still missed out on a big breakthrough. That would come with the third and final single that is featured on the Debut album. 

On this very day Brass in Pocket, originally released in November 1979, made a steady climb up the charts and eventually knocked Pink Floyd off the top spot. Not bad for a song that Chrissie Hynde was not overly keen to release as a single but was eventually persuaded to do so. The single hit the top just as the album was also enjoying a four week run at #1. Brass In Pocket was #1 for two weeks.