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"Get Close"
The Pretenders
Sire Records
When the Pretenders
released their first album,
“The Pretenders” in
1979, it was a pleasant
surprise. Here was a band
being led by a woman
who relied on talent
instead of sex to sell
albums.
The band, with its
original line-up —Chrissie
Hynde on vocals and
guitar, James Honeyman-
Scott on guitar, Pete
Famdon on bass and
Martin Chambers on
drums —released two
great albums and an EP of
hard-driving rock ’n’ roll
and soft, soulful ballads.
After the drug-related
deaths of Honeyman-
Scott and Famdon,
Hynde reformed the band
with guitarist Robbie
McIntosh and bassist
Malcolm Foster for the
1983 “Learning to Crawl”
album. Without the aid of
her departed sidemen and
collaborators, Hynde was
still able to crank out
some choice material.
Since 1983, the image
of women in music has
changed. With the rise of
Madonna, Cyndi Lauper,
Vanity, Stacy Q. and
Regina, music has taken a
backseat to fashion.
What makes “Get
Close” so refreshing is
that Hynde is still
concentrating on making
music and not on what
clothes she will or will not
wear.
“Get Close” doesn’t
have any hard rockers of
the caliber of “Precious,”
“Message of Love” or
“Middle of the Road. ”
The new album is a fine
collection of well-crafted
pop songs. Except for
McIntosh, Hynde has
dropped what was left of
previous Pretenders line
ups. Bassist T.M. Stevens
and drummer Blair
Cunningham provide a
more than ample rhythm
section for Hynde,
McIntosh and a variety of
guest musicians including
keyboardist Bemie
Worrell and violinist
Shankar.
The hardest pieces on
the new album are the Bo
Diddley-influenced
“Dance!” and “How
Much Did You Get for
Your Soul?,” an attack on
Michael Jackson that fails
because the music is too
wimpy to support the
scathing lyrics. The cover
version of Jimi Hendrix’s
“Room Full of Mirrors,”
which features the return
of Chambers on drums,
fails because the guitar
work is not as stong as
Hynde’s rough vocals.
“My Baby” and “When
I Change My Life” are
tight, likeable tunes. Light
acoustic guitars and
synthesizers provide a
gentle background for
Hynde’s sensuous voice.
The interplay of Hynde’s
voice and Shankar’s violin
gives “Tradition of Love”
a nice, supernatural feel.
“Don’t Get Me Wrong” is
a bouncing little tune with
soulful vocals from Hynde
that recall early Motown.
The feminist sentiments
of “Chill Factor” and Meg
Keene’s “Hymn to Her”
support firmly what
Hynde has been trying to
do for women with her
music. The songs may
sound slow and gentle but
the lyrics show a woman
who will not compromise
her position.
Even though “Get
Close” doesn’t sound as
rough as earlier
Pretenders albums, it
shows that Hynde is
capable of making music
that is both enjoyable and
self-sufficient.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
"Blah-Blah-Blah"
iggy Pop
A&M Records
After listening to “Blah-
Blah-Blah” you might
think you had gotten the
new David Bowie album
hidden in a jacket
plastered with Iggy Pop’s
name and picture. Since
Bowie produced the
album and co-wrote half
of the songs with Pop, the
Bowiesque sound is no
mistake.
James Newell
Osterberg, a.k.a. Iggy
Pop, has the dubious title
of “Godfather of Punk. ”
Pop, then using the name
Iggy Stooge, and his
band, the Stooges, were
the seminal punk band of
the late ’60s. The band
would play loud, raucous
rock ’n’ roll while a
shirtless Pop would sing,
scream, rub his body with
raw meat and peanut
butter, cut his skin with
broken bottles, and dive
out into the audience.
Pop’s onstage antics
made Jim Morrison look
like an altar boy, and it
was rumored that Pop
would replace the Lizard
King as the Doors’ lead
singer after Morrison’s
death.
Pop and the Stooges
recorded two albums,
“The Stooges” (1969)
and “Fun House” (1970).
David Bowie, a big fan of
the Stooges’ music, joined
forces with Pop and
produced the “Raw
Power” album in 1973. In
1976, Bowie produced
Pop’s solo albums, “The
Idiot” and “Lust for Life.”
Pop returned the favor by
contributing songs to
Bowie’s albums “Let’s
Dance” (1983) and
“Tonight” (1984).
The new album has
four tracks, “Baby, It
Can’t Fall,” “Shades,”
“Hideaway” and “Blah-
Blah-Blah” written by
Pop and Bowie. The title
track is a wonderful
collection of freely
associated phrases that
attack current society.
“Hideaway” is a good, if
somewhat sedate, song
about wanting to get away
from it all. The other two
Pop-Bowie collaborations
are fair, and would not
sound out of place on a
Bowie album.
The stronger songs are
those Pop wrote with ex-
Sex Pistols guitarist Steve
Jones. “Isolation” shows
the loneliness of a rock
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star. “Cry for Love,” with
its wonderful Jones guitar
solo, is an appropriate title
for that song, also about a
rock star. “Winners &
Losers” and “Fire Girl”
aren’t quite so strong.
Pop’s band on “Blah-
Blah-Blah” consists of
only two players: Kevin
Armstrong on guitar and
Erdal Kizilcay on bass,
drums and synthesizer.
The duo are able to make
a good but somewhat
overpolished sound.
“Real Wild Child (Wild
One),” a song that dates
back to 1958, would
sound better if it were
stripped down to just
guitar, bass and drums.
If you’re looking for
tough punk music, “Blah-
Blah-Blah” is not the
album for you. If you’re
looking for strong,
majestic, Bowiesque
vocals and intelligent
lyrics you won’t be too
disappointed. The only
problem is that the vocals
are too majestic for the
lyrics. If Pop would
scream like he used to,
“Blah-Blah-Blah” would
knock everyone dead.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
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