When I was in the UK in 1979 I religiously watched Top Of The Pops every Thursday night. Similar to our Countdown but with much cooler bands. Of course there's was plenty of rubbish too. One night they had a new band on called the Pretenders. Singing an old Kinks song. Produced by Nick Lowe. And a girl singer. Totally brilliant. I was sold from the moment they started. And they had that sixties new wave look so they fitted totally with my Mod aesthetic.
Then the album came out and they shot to number one with Brass in Pocket and then they were everywhere. The album image was plastered all over the record shop windows. Their songs were all over the radio. Everyone was into the Pretenders. And it was a great album. I found it hard to get past the first track Precious because I kept lifting the needle off the record and putting back to the start again. Same with The Wait.
My girlfriend Leonie was particularly taken by them. She had a flat in Abbotsford. Near Victoria Street and the old Valhalla Cinema. Down the road from her place was a milk bar where I found 20 unopened toy Monkeemobiles. Quite big and hidden on the top shelf like relics from the sixties. Bought them for 5 dollars each and reactivated the motors inside by giving them an electrical shot from a train set transformer. Then Bruce Milne sold them down at Missing Link records. But I digress.
great album!
No comments:
Post a Comment