The Pretenders - Get Close
On October 20, 1986, "Get Close", the fourth studio album by the band "The Pretenders", was released.
The mid-1980s found Chrissie Hynde and "The Pretenders" at a particularly turbulent artistic and personal crossroads. Just two years after the exciting and successful comeback of 1984's "Learning to Crawl", born out of the tragic loss of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon, Chrissie Hynde's life changed forever. She married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds, and in 1985 gave birth to their daughter Yasmin, while trying to balance a new family life with leading one of the world's most respected rock bands.
When the band entered the studio in 1985 with producer Steve Lillywhite to begin work on their fourth album, professional tensions quickly emerged within the band. During the recording of "Room Full of Mirrors," an energetic cover of a Jimi Hendrix song, Chrissie Hynde felt that the rhythm section chemistry was not providing the new drive and groove she was looking for. In a dramatic move, she decided to part ways with founding drummer Martin Chambers and bassist Malcolm Foster, leaving her as the only original member of the historic 1978 lineup, alongside the brilliant guitarist Robbie McIntosh who had become a musical pillar by her side.
To realize her new musical vision, a fusion of the band's sharp rock and jangling guitars with the dark grooves of funk, soul and R&B, Chrissie Hynde recruited two of the super producers who defined the sound of the 1980s, Bob Clearmountain and Jimmy Iovine. The two, who were also working on the Simple Minds album "Once Upon a Time" at the time, opened the door for the band to a series of leading recording studios in New York, London and Stockholm, including Power Station and Right Track Studios in New York, Bearsville Studios in Woodstock and AIR Studios in London.
Into this creative cauldron was invited a dream team of musicians who gave the album an extraordinary rhythmic richness. American bassist virtuoso T.M. Stevens and drummer Blair Cunningham were recruited as the new official rhythm section of "The Pretenders", and alongside them in the studio were keyboard legend Bernie Worrell of the band "Parliament-Funkadelic", guitarist Carlos Alomar, known for his close work with David Bowie, super drummers Simon Phillips, Steve Jordan and Mel Gaynor of the band "Simple Minds", Indian violinist Shankar and funk and soul diva Chaka Khan.
The album opens with a bang with "My Baby," a polished and sweeping pop-rock anthem that immediately showcases Robbie McIntosh's brilliant guitar work alongside Bernie Worrell's warm synths and Mel Gaynor's powerful drumming. The song, in which Chrissie Hynde sings with raw honesty about love, vulnerability and adoration for her musician partner, became a huge hit, reaching number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
It's followed by "When I Change My Life", a melodic, bare-bones song in which Chrissie Hynde reflects on past regrets and a yearning for a new beginning, her strummed guitars and harmonica creating an intimate and touching atmosphere. The third track, "Light of the Moon", takes the album in a rhythmic and mysterious direction, with a song written by guitarist Carlos Alomar with Genevieve Gazon and Wayne Ragland, which showcases the new rhythm section of T.M. Stevens and Blair Cunningham in all their glory.
The album's funky, dark turn reaches its peak on the next two songs. "Dance!", which runs nearly seven minutes on the album version and also served as the B-side for the first single, features a warm groove, tribal percussion, and a rich brass section, with Chrissie Hynde's vocals delivering a scathing social and political critique. It's followed by "Tradition of Love," a groovy, sophisticated piece driven by T.M. Stevens' dominant bass and Bernie Worrell's keyboard work.
The second side of the record opens with the album's crown jewel and one of the band's most recognizable songs, "Don't Get Me Wrong." The catchy, bouncy song was written by Chrissie Hynde during a British Airways flight and inspired by her close friend, tennis legend John McEnroe, who was known for his fiery temper on the court as well as his charming personality off it. The combination of a light jangle-pop rhythm, a catchy melody and Robbie McIntosh's perfectly concise guitar solo catapulted the song to number ten on the US pop chart and number ten on the UK chart, along with three consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Rock Chart. The song was accompanied by an unforgettable music video that paid homage to the classic 1960s British television series "The Avengers," in which Chrissie Hynde played the character of Emma Peel and was digitally integrated alongside original actor Patrick Macnee.
The rest of the album sees the band move between styles and moods with impressive freedom. The song "I Remember You" is a short, intimate, warm reggae-based piece with piano and keyboard touches by Bernie Worrell, followed by "How Much Did You Get for Your Soul?", a sharp and punchy rock-funk song featuring legendary singer Chaka Khan on powerful backing vocals that elevate the song to new heights, while Chrissie Hynde attacks with sharp lyrics the commercialization and selling of values for greed. It is followed by the dark and atmospheric "Chill Factor", which combines acoustic and electric guitars in a continuous dramatic tension.
The album's most emotional and moving climax comes in the form of the powerful ballad "Hymn to Her." The song, written by Chrissie Hynde's childhood friend from Akron, Ohio, Meg Keene, is a moving hymn to womanhood, motherhood, and the eternal feminine power that passes from generation to generation. Chrissie Hynde's vocal performance here is one of the great peaks of her life, starting with an intimate whisper and gradually building to a huge emotional outburst, accompanied by Shankar's mesmerizing double violin playing and Simon Phillips' precise drumming. The song became a huge success in the UK, reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
The album closes with an explosion of raw rock energy with "Room Full of Mirrors", the sweeping cover of the Jimi Hendrix song produced by Steve Lillywhite, the only remnant on the album in which the band members from the "Learning to Crawl" era play together with Martin Chambers on drums and Malcolm Foster on bass, who close the piece with explosive guitars and a lively, kicking sound.
The iconic album cover, shot by photographer Richard Haughton and designed by Helen Backhouse, features a dramatic, colorful close-up portrait of Chrissie Hynde with made-up eyes and a piercing gaze, a clear visual statement that "The Pretenders" is now first and foremost her own distinct artistic vision.
Upon its release, "Get Close" was a commercial and critical success worldwide, reaching number six on the UK Albums Chart and number twenty-five on the US Billboard Chart, and was certified gold in the US and UK. Four decades after its release, the album stands as a spectacular memento of a time when Chrissie Hynde was not afraid to reinvent herself, break conventions and prove that true rock 'n' roll could conquer the pop charts without losing an ounce of soul and character.
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