Music's Rockin' Women II

This girl from Akron, Ohio grew up to be one of the most influential women in both rock and punk music.  Her distinctive look, to this day, screams badass rocker chick. Which is why it came as no surprise when she said, "Everything I loved about music, it seems like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has destroyed" (and yes, she's in there). She is among an elite group of women fronting an all-male band. Actually, to describe her as a frontwoman doesn't adequately describe her significance. She put the band together, gave them their name (after a hit song by the Platters), and their success is due in no small part to the great songs that she has penned or co-written. She really doesn't have an exceptional voice, but it's precisely the right voice for her music--it can be edgy, yet it's lilting and cool. And then there's the look.  The super heavy eyeliner and long bangs are unmistakably the signature look of one of rock music's most enduring performers, the iconic Chrissie Hynde.

From her early years in Akron, Chrissie Hynde was an outsider. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she described being in high school as something she just "wasn't too interested in".  And for good reason, Hynde says she was never asked out on a date, to a dance or to go steady.  But Hynde's heart was elsewhere. She hung out in Cleveland, the hotspot for live music, and the place where she had many boyfriends. They were of course members of the bands that she'd flock to hear, though never actually meet. She remained in Ohio for another three years or so, attending Kent State before her interest in the British music scene compelled her to move to London.

The paths that she took on her journey to musical stardom brought her up close and personal to life-altering events (the Kent State shootings) and an array of colorful and talented people in Europe. Who else but Chrissie Hynde can lay claim to proposing marriage to Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious? In fact, the list of people that she either played with, recorded with or auditioned with before forming The Pretenders is very impressive and too extensive to even list. Not to mention that the father of her oldest daughter is Ray Davies of the Kinks and the father of her youngest daughter is Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.

Hynde is one of those rare people that knew their purpose in life from a very early age.  She worked hard, took risks and rolled with the punches to fulfill that purpose.  It's been nearly 40 years and The Pretenders are still going strong, maintaining an impressive tour schedule (they'll be at the United Center on December 3rd, along with Stevie Nicks--OMG!!!). Chrissie Hynde has also done some solo touring over the past couple of years and written her memoir.

The Pretenders have made a lot of really good music..they've also done some great covers too.  I'm sure you have your favorites, the following are a few of mine.

The middle of the road is trying to find me
I'm standing in the middle of life with my plans behind me
Well I got a smile for everyone I meet
As long as you don't try dragging my bay
Or dropping the bomb on my street...

I found a picture of you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
What hijacked my world that night
We.ve been cast out of, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang...

I went back to Ohio 
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown...
South Howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
A, oh, way to go Ohio

(This performance is from her solo tour.  She was 63 in this video...amazing.  By the way, My City Was Gone has been used by Rush Limbaugh for over 30 years.  He briefly had to stop using it due to legal issues brought on by EMI.  The drama surrounding this minor incident was hyped up because Rush is a conservative and Chrissie's a liberal. The cease and desist order was lifted after Rush paid for usage rights.  Hynde later commented that she never minded Limbaugh using the song because her parents were huge fans and loyal listeners of his show.)

It's a thin line between love and hate 
It's a thin line between love and hate

It's five o'clock in the morning
And you're just getting in
You knock on the front door
And a voice sweet and low says
Who is it?...

Footnote: Chrissie Hynde will always be an outsider, no matter the fame and fortune.  She's really part of a dying breed of rockers.  For many, part of the attraction to rock, punk and to a lesser degree new wave music has always been to celebrate the outsider.  Today, rockers, like most other entertainers are concerned most with popularity and sales, and they're usually very careful to do the things necessary to promote both.  But Hynde is her own woman who speaks her mind, even when what's on her mind is not popular or politically correct. Last year's blowback from her comments during an interview on NPR on being sexually assaulted as a young woman is a prime example. I'm sure she didn't mean to cause the outrage that followed, but I have a feeling, it didn't really matter much to her.