339 Hello The Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing

Chart  entered  : 10  February  1979

Chart  peak : 34

Number  of  hits : 18  ( Chrissie  Hynde  has  also  had  four  hits  in  collaboration  with other  artists )

Here's  someone  I've  never  rated  that  highly. It's  always  seemed  to  me  that  she  was  in  the  right  place  at  the  right  time  and  her  reputation  rests  on  a  rather  thin  body  of  work.

Christine  Hynde  was  born  in  Akron, Ohio   in  1951, a  self-confessed  loner  whose  escape  was  going  to  see  rock  bands  in  Cleveland. She  was  a  hippie  in  her  teens, became  a  vegetarian  and  attended  an  art  school  attached  to  Kent  State  University  where  she  was  briefly  in  a  band  with  Devo's  Mark  Mothersbaugh. She  also  became  an  Anglophile  and  moved  to  London  in  1973. She  briefly  worked  at  an  architect's  firm  before  falling  in  with  the  NME's  Nick  Kent  who  got  her  a  job  working  on  the  paper  but  it  didn't  work  out. She  worked  in  Malcolm  McLaren's  SEX  shop  briefly  and  considered  marriage  to  eighteen-year-old  John  Ritchie  ( Sid  Vicious ) in  1975  to  stay  in  the  country  before  sanity  prevailed.

She  returned  to  England  in  1976  and  made  many  abortive  attempts  to  start  or  get  in  a  band  which  entailed  brief  liaisons  with  Mick Jones, Dave  Vanian  and  Steve  Strange  amongst  many  others. After  a  couple  of  years  hovering  around  the  scene  Dave  Hill   of  Real  Records  took  her  under  his  wing  and  helped  her  get  a  band  together.  The  first  recruit  was   bassist   Pete  Farndon.  Pete  was  born  in  1952  and  first  played  in  a  band  formed  at  Hereford  Cathedral  School  called  Carcass  with  a guy  called  Phil  Weaver. In  1974  Weaver  invited  him  to  join  the  locally  popular  prog  rock  outfit  Cold  River  Lady.  They  soldiered  on  for  another  two  years  without  getting  a  deal  and  called  it  a  day  in  1976. Pete  then  accepted  an  invitation   to  tour  with  the  Australian  folk  band  the  Bushwackers.

Chrissie's  target  for  a  drummer  was  Motorhead's  Phil  Taylor  and she  and  Pete  hatched  a  plan  whereby  they  would  invite  him  to  sit  in  while  they  ostensibly  auditioned  a  guitarist. Pete's  suggestion  for  this  role  was  another  Hereford  musician  James  Honeyman-Scott.  James  was  born  in  1956. He  played  guitar  in  a  number  of  local  groups  and  was  selling  guitars  in  a  shop  when  approached.  The  subterfuge  didn't  work  with  Taylor  who  refused  to  budge  but  Chrissie  loved  James's  melodic  playing  and  wanted  him  in  the  band  but  he  demurred.

He  was  lured  down  a  few  weeks  later  by  a  session  fee  to do  a  demo  tape.  The  drummer  was  session  man  Gerry  Mackleduff  who   was  similarly  reluctant  to  join  the  band.  Chriisie  had  one  last  trick  up  her  sleeve. She  knew  James  was  a  big  fan  of  Rockpile  so  she  took  the  tape  to  Nick  Lowe  and  asked  if  he'd  produce  a  single  for  them.  He  agreed  and  when  James  heard  this  he  agreed  to  join  the  band.

"Stop  Your  Sobbing"  was  cut  with  Mackleduff  on  drums  but  by  the  time  the  single  was  released  they  had  a  permanent  drummer  in  place. Martin  Chambers  ( born  1951 )  was  another  Hereford  man  who  had  previously  played  with  James  in  a  band  called  Cheeks. He  was  working  as  a  driving  instructor  when  he  got  the  call.

"Stop  Your  Sobbing"  was  a  forgotten  Kinks  track  from  their  first  album,   a  tinny  Merseybeat  ditty  with   Ray  Davies  expressing  his  exasperation  at  an  over -emotional  girlfriend  but  it  suited  Chrissie's  persona  as  the  tough  , no-nonsense  rocker  ploughing  her  way  through  the  patriarchy. The  Pretenders  and  Lowe  re-tool  it  as  a  piece  of  Spector-esque  pop  with  a  cavernous  backbeat  and  rippling  layers  of  electric  and  acoustic  guitar   that   showcase  the  Abba - loving  James's   pop  style and  wouldn't  disgrace  a  certain  Mancunian  group who  emerged  a few  years  later.  Along  with  her  bandmates'  appearance  - Pete  looked  like  he'd  just  walked  out  of  a  West  End  production  of  Grease   and  the  other  two  wore   pub  rock  jackets  and  ties  -  Chrissie's  plaintive  tuneful  vocals  marked  them  out  as  being  something  quite  distinct  from  the  punk  scene   of  which  she'd  struggled  so  long  to  be  a  part.  Despite  the  single  reaching  a  respectable  position  for  a  debut  single  by  an  unknown  band,  Lowe  was  pessimistic  about  their  chances  of  success  and  declined  to  be  involved  in  further  recordings.