I’m back from a short visit with
my parents and my brother Virgil for a belated Christmas celebration. Tomorrow it is back to work, but
my early morning shifts are over for a while so I can get up at the much more
reasonable hour of 6:10 a.m.
Unfortunately, our shower is still broken, so bath time will
continue. That’s OK, as I’m becoming
quite adept at the tub-shuffle required to do even simple things like wash your
upper body or rinse your hair. It is
kind of like the title of this next disc…
Disc 476 is…Learning to Crawl
Year of Release: 1983
What’s up with the Cover? “The Band Shot”
Much as I love beautiful art, or am amused by the Big Head Cover, I like
the simple band shot, which isn’t used nearly enough these days. This cover says, “Hi. We’re the Pretenders. Here’s our album.” Is there really anything else that needs to
be said?
One minor quibble is that some
soulless record executive has decided to print the “Special Price” logo right
into the cover, so you can’t remove it.
You suck, soulless record exec.
How I Came To Know It: I’ve known this album since I was a kid – I think my
brother bought it on vinyl back in the day and I listened to his copy. This copy is Sheila’s; I think she had this
when we met.
How It Stacks Up: We only have the one Pretenders album, and although
I like it just fine, it can’t really stack up on its own.
Rating: 4 stars
It can
be a bad sign when an album’s best songs are all the ones that are released as
singles, but when those singles are as good as they are on “Learning to Crawl” it
doesn’t bother me.
With one
foot solidly in the new wave movement of the early eighties, and the other
anchored in American blues, this album could easily have ended up awkward and
directionless. Fortunately, Chrissie
Hynde is one of the great voices for the genre that seamlessly put these two
movements together; rock and roll.
On
heavily syncopated songs like “Time the
Avenger,” Hynde sounds like Debbie Harry, with her staccato delivery and
easy spoken-word style, but she adds a bluesy quality to the song that gives it
a human quality which is often lacking in other new age music of the time.
Then she
swings completely around, and delivers amazing homage to the 1971 Persuaders
hit “Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” Here Hynde sounds like a soul revivalist akin
to Sharon Jones. This song is so unlike “Time the Avenger” but Hynde’s smooth low
register updates the song to eighties production, while still capturing the
groove of the original.
“Thin Line Between Love and Hate” is a
song about a man who comes home at five o’clock in the morning to find his
woman treating him with deference and love, offering to cook him dinner etc.,
but once his guard is down he wakes up in the hospital. For a modern update of this song, check out
the Dead Weather’s “Treat Me Like Your
Mother” – less direct violence, but just as much anger. Or if you prefer a humorous take, try Emmylou
Harris’ “Feelin’ Single – Seein’ Double.”
Anyway,
back to “Thin Line…” I have the original 1971 Persuaders version
as well, which I slightly prefer, but it I think Hynde does a great job and brings
a lot to the song, including demonstrating it can be equally effective sung by
a woman.
As I
noted at the beginning it is the hits on this record that stand out the
most. “Middle of the Road” is as brilliant today as it ever was, with its perfect
blend of blues rock and modern pop, including power guitar solos, unmistakable
falsetto “hoo-oo-woo-oo” chorus, and even a bridge that just breaks it down to
the rhythm section where Hynde shows she sounds cool just counting time out
loud. Oh, and it fades out with a
frenetic harmonica because – rock and roll!
“Back on the Chain Gang” is equal in its
glory, although the tempo is a bit slower and the hoo-oo-woo-oos are replaced
with “o-o-o-whoa”s. When Hynde sings:
“I found a picture of you
Those were the happiest days of
my life.”
You feel
an overwhelming sense of loss. You really
should feel guilty tapping your toe happily along to such a sad tale, but you
simply can’t deny yourself. It may be a tragedy, but its got a catchy beat.
“Show Me” and “2000 Miles” are both more lyrical and pop-oriented, and they help
to balance out the more raucous tracks well.
They also show that Hynde can make her powerhouse voice sweet when she
wants it to be.
There
are a couple of duds on the record. “Watching the Clothes” is supposed to be
a working class anthem, but the chorus is clunky and doesn’t live up to the
energy the song starts off with. “I Hurt You” is the one exception to the
successful blend of the blues and new age elements on the record, where they
seem to clang against one another just a little bit too much.
These
are minor quibbles though on a record that just got better with repeated
listens. You may come for the hits, but
you’ll find yourself staying for the whole LP.
Best tracks: Middle of the Road, Back on the Chain Gang, Show Me,
2000 Miles
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