Hollywood Perfume: The Pretenders’ Last of the Independents Turns 30
Looking back on the band’s mid-career triumph
The Pretenders were in a strange place in the mid-1990s.
Almost a decade and a half into their career, they had survived the drug-related deaths of two founding members: lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon. They had released five albums to date — the first four of which had done well both commercially and critically. But the Pretenders’ previous studio effort, 1990’s Packed!, had been less successful. Chrissie Hynde had fired drummer Martin Chambers (the band’s only other surviving member), so their lineup was in disarray. And unlike most of their albums up to that point, Packed! had not produced a hit.
I might be in the minority but I thought that Packed!, while somewhat uneven, had its moments. The midtempo “Sense of Purpose” was a low-key gem (and its live version later became popular). And while it was never a hit, “When Will I See You” is one of the best love songs Hynde has ever written — utterly haunting. Be that as it may, in 1994 the Pretenders needed a hit. And with their sixth album, Last of the Independents — which came out on May 10th of that year — they got one. The disc peaked at number 41 on the Billboard album charts. Just outside the Top 40 and not their strongest showing, but certainly respectable and seven notches higher than Packed!.
AUDIO: The Pretenders “Night In My Veins”
There were a couple of reasons that Independents was more successful. One was that Hynde had put together the band that would effectively be The Pretenders, Mk 3. Significantly, this album marked the return of Martin Chambers. Even though he only drummed on four tracks, his presence seemed to put Hynde at ease and inspire the two new Pretenders. Those were lead guitarist Adam Seymour — who played on all the songs on Independents and would stick around for the next couple of albums — and bassist Andy Hobson.
The other reason for the success of Independents was that Hynde co-wrote several of its songs with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Steinberg and Kelly were an unabashedly commercial writing duo; they had already scored number-one hits for Madonna, Whitney Houston and Heart. The reaction to Hynde collaborating with a pair of songwriters for hire was decidedly mixed.
“Tom and Billy were these big shot successful songwriters,” she told the late journalist Ben Edmonds. “But working with them was an absolute blast. Some people saw it as crap because these guys were pros. But I thought, ‘Hang on, I’m a professional songwriter [too so] what’s the difference?’”
Like them or not, Steinberg and Kelly brought the Pretenders back to the charts in a big way. The duo collaborated with Hynde on no fewer than five of the album’s 13 songs — and two of these five were singles. The first, “Night in My Veins,” was only a minor hit on the pop charts but got significant airplay on AOR stations. But the second, “I’ll Stand By You,” was an across the board smash. The song went Top 20 and became the Pretenders’ biggest hit in years (as well as their last big hit!).
AUDIO: The Pretenders “I’ll Stand By You”
Admittedly, people were divided about “I’ll Stand By You.” It’s a typical Steinberg and Kelly ballad: swelling, anthemic and commercial. If that’s your style, so be it. Personally, I prefer any number of love songs by Hynde (the aforementioned “When Will I See You,” for one) that are less formulaic. Even Hynde herself was mixed about it.
“I was embarrassed by this song because it was so intentionally commercial,” she told Edmonds. “Once, when I apologized about its commerciality to Noel Gallagher, he said ‘I wish I’d fooking written it’!”
That said, “I’ll Stand By You” scored Hynde and her bandmates a big hit and brought them back into the public eye. Steinberg and Kelly had accomplished a very similar feat for Heart with the ballad “Alone.”
To these ears, Last of the Independents is at its best when it rocks — which it does toward the beginning and end but somewhat less in between. Beyond “Night in My Veins,” some of the album’s standouts include the opener “Hollywood Perfume,” the concise rockabilly tune “Rebel Rock Me” and the blazing “Money Talk,” which is sung from the point of view of a prostitute. It’s worth noting that Hynde wrote the latter two songs on her own.
The disc’s most divisive — and perhaps interesting — track is actually another ballad. “977,” another co-write with Steinberg and Kelly, is a ‘50s-style ballad sung from the point of view of a woman who is being physically abused. But the refrain, admittedly, can be confusing if not downright disturbing.
“He hit me with his belt/But his tears were all I felt,” sings Hynde. “When I saw my baby cry, I knew he loved me.”
Once again speaking to Ben Edmonds, Hynde said, “Girls used to corner me after the show in the parking lot and say, ‘What was that all about?’ They thought I was glorifying domestic violence. What I was talking about was this volatile relationship with someone who was a violent, fucked up guy. But when the protagonist sees him crying, she realizes he has a heart. It’s not excusing anything; it’s an observation about two people who love each other even though they’re struggling.”
It would not be the last time Hynde took flak from feminists. But whatever your feelings about “977,” it’s a fascinating song — and much less formulaic than “I’ll Stand By You.”
In the end, Last of the Independents was an album of extremes: both successful and divisive. An unusual combination, to be sure, but not unusual for Chrissie Hynde. And even if it’s not their best release, it’s still an essential part of the Pretenders’ amazing discography.
- Hollywood Perfume: The Pretenders’ Last of the Independents Turns 30 - May 10, 2024
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