THE PRETENDERS – LEARNING TO CRAWL LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A2/B1 ROCK PUNK CHRISSIE HYNDE

The Pretenders – Learning To Crawl
(Real Records  1984  9239801/WX2)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1

Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges & light creasing on top right corner – hype sticker on front
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

The Pretenders are a British–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon in 1982 and 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band’s only consistent member.

The Pretenders’ hit songs include “Kid” (1979), “Brass in Pocket” (1979), “Talk of the Town” (1980), “Message of Love” (1981), “My City Was Gone” (1982), “Back on the Chain Gang” (1982), “Middle of the Road” (1983), “2000 Miles” (1983), “Don’t Get Me Wrong” (1986), “My Baby” (1986), and “I’ll Stand by You” (1994). The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Learning to Crawl is the Pretenders‘ third album, released in 1984, after a hiatus, during which time James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon both died of drug overdoses.

After Farndon’s dismissal from the band and Honeyman-Scott’s death, Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers initially recruited Rockpile’s Billy Bremner and Big Country’s Tony Butler to fill in a caretaker line-up of the band in 1982. Bremner played guitar and Butler played bass on the band’s September 1982 single “Back on the Chain Gang/My City Was Gone”, both sides of which were later included on Learning to Crawl. As the album sessions got under way, Bremner, Graham Parker’s bass player Andrew Bodnar, and Paul Carrack (formerly of Squeeze, Ace and Roxy Music) played guitar, bass and piano respectively for the track “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”.

Finally, Robbie McIntosh (guitar) and Malcolm Foster (bass) were recruited to join Hynde and Chambers, and the band was now officially a quartet. It was this line-up that recorded the rest of the tracks featured on Learning to Crawl.

The November 1983 single “2000 Miles/Fast or Slow (The Law’s the Law)” was the newly reconstituted foursome’s first release, followed shortly by the full Learning to Crawl album in June 1983.

The album’s title of “Learning to Crawl” was given in honor of Chrissie Hynde’s then-newborn daughter, Natalie Rae Hynde. She was learning to crawl at the time that Chrissie was trying to determine a name for the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Chrissie Hynde, except as indicated.

1. “Middle of the Road” – 4:08
2. “Back on the Chain Gang” – 3:44
3. “Time the Avenger” – 4:47
4. “Watching the Clothes” – 2:46
5. “Show Me” – 4:00
6. “Thumbelina” – 3:12
7. “My City Was Gone” – 5:14
8. “Thin Line Between Love and Hate” (Richard Poindexter, Robert Poindexter, Jackie Members) – 3:33
9. “I Hurt You” – 4:27
10. “2000 Miles” – 3:30

Personnel

• Chrissie Hynde – lead vocals (all but 11), rhythm guitar, harmonica
• Robbie McIntosh – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Malcolm Foster – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Martin Chambers – drums, backing and lead (11) vocals, percussion

Additional personnel

• Billy Bremner – lead guitar on “Back on the Chain Gang” and “My City Was Gone”, rhythm guitar and vocals on “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”
• Tony Butler – bass guitar on “Back on the Chain Gang” and “My City Was Gone”
• Andrew Bodnar – bass guitar and vocals on “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”
• Paul Carrack – piano and vocals on “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”