It continues to be such a joy getting to do these Perfect Songs Forever episodes on Discograffiti with my dear friend Rudy Fischmann. Every conversation teaches me something new about one of my favorite people... including the fact that he once stole a Pretenders record from Kmart, pretty much sending the department store chain into a financial decline they never quite recovered from. He finally confesses in this episode. Yes... he Pretended to buy it. You'll have to listen to find out what other groundbreaking, genre-defining record he stole with it.
Every time I hear a Pretenders song, I think to myself just how effortlessly great they are.
Whenever I think of the Pretenders, I think of three things...
The song, "I'll Stand By You" will always make me think of my older sister. She loves that song so much.
On tour years ago in San Francisco, my old band played a show with a supergroup made up of members of Still Flyin', The Aislers Set, and Red Pony Clock. They played "Back on the Chain Gang," and it completely stole the night.
And I can never hear "Brass in Pocket" without thinking of Lost in Translation....the perfect cinematic version of that magical karaoke night in our lives where everyone is a little to drunk, more than a little emotional, and for three minutes the whole room is singing a forgotten song all together. "have some of your attention, give it to me..."
That's the glory and magic of the criminally underrated Pretenders. Whenever one of their songs finds you out in the wild, everything just feels a little better.
I'm so glad Rudy chose "Don't Get Me Wrong," to talk about. It has that perfect mid-'80s pop production, incredible lyrics, and that melody at the end when Chrissie Hynde subtly flips it up and changes the way she sings the word... "WRONG".. and holds it out forever... holy shit. It's so understated, so raw, and so heartbreaking without ever making you stop dancing. Just genius.
Give it a listen here.. https://www.patreon.com/.../266a-soldiers-of-162920974...
... and don't judge Rudy too harshly for his Kmart confession. Also big thanks to Dave Gebroe for creating the best deep dive music podcast in the world Discograffiti Join the Patreon Today