THE PRETENDERS – "Brass In Pocket"

I had a pub conversation once about Radiohead’s “Creep”, where we decided the ideal cover would be one grounded in full-on swagger, simply inverting every “I” and “You” in the song: “I’m so fucking special – you wish you were special…you’re a creep!”. “Brass In Pocket” isn’t quite what we were getting at – there’s no sense that Chrissie Hynde’s target is any weaker than her, even if his capitulation is inevitable – but as an exercise in total confidence it takes some beating. The danger in the song is that its determination could shade into desperation, but when you listen to it you never once doubt that Hynde’s got the moves to back up her words: if anything, the song’s a challenge to her lover-to-be to step up and match her.

The band keep things steady in the background, cresting and rolling back unobtrusively to give their singer the space and stage she needs – and her vocal is a box-of-tricks performance, snapping from purr to pounce in the space of a line. Without it, actually, the song is nothing at all – there’s no particuarly good hooks in “Brass In Pocket”, no chorus, just build and force: if you don’t like Hynde’s voice there’s not a lot of room for you to enjoy it. And the honest truth is, I don’t like it – she’s borrowing a lot from Patti Smith but there’s a spontaneity in Smith’s singing, a sense that her squeals and shouts are unbidden responses to musical and emotional momentum. I don’t hear that in Hynde, and it means I can’t buy into her technique here. Of course, it’s a song about going after what you want with laser focus, so no surprise that the delivery’s kind of calculating – but this is one of those singles where I can understand exactly why it’s loved, but can’t join in myself.

Score: 5

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Tom

17 October 2008 13:33

Before the main body of comments, a message from a one-time regular, printed w/o alteration or comment as a last request:

NOW IS THE TIME TO SAY GOODBYE…

Well, Popular Pals, that’s it for me. We’ve reached 1980 and true to my word, ahm a-checkin’ out. I joined the blog early in 2006 when the group was already discussing spring 1972. How I wish I had found you all earlier, although this itself was a case of serendipity. I had initially googled The Overlanders one lazy day, remembering that I had been at school as far back as 1966 with the son of one of the band members. One of the links led me to some bugger called Tom Ewing and suddenly I found myself trapped in his dream.

Popular has provided me with a lot a pleasure from then until now and for this I thank our founder, Mr Ewing, who is a magnificent Master of Ceremonies. The quality of his writing has been simply breathtaking and this is aside from his obvious knowledge of his brief, most of which must have been learned as a history, an obstacle not presented to those who were there at the time. He has in addition proved to be an admirably objective arbitrator, being faced as he is, with a group of alarmingly passionate and erudite commentators, who take great delight in in revealing disagreements with each other, sometimes with hilarious but other times unfortunate results. Tatty bye too to my fellow bloggers, many of whom were here when I arrived. I shall single none of you out, even though I have cultivated a contact with one of you in another place and shall soon come face to face with another stalwart when I head for the northern wastes to watch Eastbourne Borough continue their struggle in the top flight of non-league football. Basically, I value you all. It’s been good exchanging views with everyone on all kinds of everything (sic). I’m sure the bandwagon will roll on sans Waldo. And I may well threaten you with an appearance at a future drinkie.

I just need to mention that after a titanic struggle I have, it seems, coerced a young friend of mine, “Waldo’s protégé”, to pick up the mantle. His name is Peter and he is a site manager down in Eastbourne. Peter was born in 1975 when I was already a teenager. That makes him 33 now. I can’t promise jokes but he’ll be a far more interesting overseer of the eighties and beyond than I could ever hope (or want) to be. I just hope he sticks with it. Up to him, of course.

So then, as Uncle Mac was apt to say, “Goodnight children, everywhere!” This has been a most pleasurable interlude for me but we are now entering territory which held other memories for me, as a man not as a boy. It’s 1980, I am now approaching nineteen (a final kiss goodbye to the Bun!), my childhood is over and life goes on.

Happy Days!

May your god go with you,

Love and happiness,

Waldo and out.

Conrad

17 October 2008 13:49

I can’t agree there are no hooks in “Brass In Pocket”. There are guitar hooks a-plenty from the much underrated and sadly prematurely deceased, James-Honeyman Scott, a player with a Keith Richardesque fondness for the rock’n’roll lifestyle, but unfortunately for him, not Mr Richard’s constitution.

His guitar playing though was not remotely Richard-like, but rather puts me in mind (in this song and the beautiful follow-up “Talk of the Town”) of classic Smiths. It’s probably no coincidence that Johnny Marr ended up joing the Pretenders – I’m sure the attraction was mutual.

Of course, the accusation could be levelled at The Smiths that they never had any hooks or choruses in the conventional sense, but many of their singles were like “Brass In Pocket” – 3 minutes (or less) of pop bliss built on fluid guitar patterns weaving around an idiosyncratic and charismatic vocal performer. Come to think of it, Hynde and Morrissey had plenty in common too – both had a connection with the NME (Hynde as writer, Morrissey as contributor – at least to the letters page), and both of course were/are staunch publicly declared anti-meat eating campaigners.

Ringing in the 1980s, this felt fresh and new, although in retrospect I think that’s more to do with the fact that it displaced Pink Floyd at the top. Ms Hynde had been around trying to break it as a musician for a while, and The Pretenders had already had two minor hits in 79. While the track itself – as with the band – was obviously very grounded in the Sixties.

Still, an 8 from me – it’s a memorable song, with lots of great lines and I love Chrissie Hynde’s vocals, although I never understood what “Detroit-leaning” meant (if indeed, that’s what she was singing).

Conrad

17 October 2008 13:53

Re 1 – Goodbye Waldo! I greatly enjoyed reading your contributions, and I’m sorry you are not sticking around for the best bit – the next two and a half years!!

Come on, you’ll only be 21 at that point!

Tom

17 October 2008 13:54

Good point on “no hooks” Conrad – given how the song sticks in the head that was an exaggeration on my part.

I like “Talk Of The Town” a lot more – and yes that fluid jangly sound was surely an inspiration for the Smiths.

My favourite thing about this song: a great bit of early-80s literalism in the video with the pointing to the cafe menu when “special!” is sung.

Tom

17 October 2008 14:01

Also:

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE NEEDED – I only have one of the tracks for the next #1 (the lead track I believe). Can anyone brave the bunny and get me the others over the weekend?

Erithian

17 October 2008 14:01

Waldo, you know what I thought of your departure – that it was somewhat premature. You’re a couple of years older than me and I know that the capacity to commentate on these entries won’t desert me in a couple of Popular-years’ time, even if there’s a notable dip in my affection for many of them. You’re always welcome back, and don’t forget there’s nothing to stop you rummaging systematically through those pre-’72 entries and regaling us with more quality verdicts. Meantime, welcome along Peter and we look forward to your contributions.

There’s another Popular regular whose presence we’re missing as we embark upon the 80s, one whose brilliant writing, expertise and insights I’m going to miss greatly and I’m sure we all will. Sadly the Mr Hyde came out from behind the Dr Jekyll once too often and the boats seem to have been burned. It would be nice if it were possible to have an equally dignified valedictory post from DJP, but we can’t have everything can we John?

On to the Pretenders, and this one reminds me a little of what we were saying about “Make Me Smile” five Popular-years ago: it’s good, better than 80% of the records we’ll come across on here, but not THAT good. I reckon many of us could compile a list of better Pretenders songs – Kid, Stop Your Sobbing, 2000 Miles, Hymn to Her, I’ll stop there but I’d probably put it in the bottom half of the band’s league table. Compared to them it plods just a little, but That Voice is present and correct and always sexy as hell.

Oh, and apparently (according to the Songfacts website) “Detroit leaning” refers to a driving technique popular in Detroit – one hand on the wheel, head back on the headrest. Or alternatively she’s singing “Ditalini” which is Italian for a pleasurable activity women engage in on their own. True or bluff, Frank…?

Conrad

17 October 2008 14:13

Re 5, Tom – I can try and email you mp3s tonight.

mark sinker

17 October 2008 14:17

having utterly adored “stop yr sobbin” i recall being puzzled and disappointed by this — at the time it seemed unfocused to me, all business and no THING — i liked cleaner, futurist lines really, especially at the time, and this seemed somehow messy without being dirty, and old-fashioned in a way i was (then) highly suspicious of

Tom

17 October 2008 14:18

#7 – excellent! Thanks!

SteveM

17 October 2008 14:23

#2 watch: A couple of weeks for Billy Preston & Syreeta Wright’s ‘With You I’m Born Again’. Watching/hearing this now for the first time on YouTube…I can see why this might’ve appealed during the long winter nights although it feels a few years too late.

vinylscot

17 October 2008 14:38

This was an odd #1. For it’s first five weeks on the chart it looked like it would be about as successful as their two earlier (excellent) singles, “Stop Your Sobbing”, and “Kid”, then it suddenly jumped from #30 to #10 the week before Christmas before finally hitting the top on its 10th week on the chart.

The post-Christmas lull obviously helped it, as the competition wasn’t great – Billy Preston & Syreeta, a good KC and the Sunshine Band Song, Madness’s “My Girl” (a sure fire #1 if it had come out a year or so later) – indeed the record which would knock it off the charts wasn’t even out when this hit the top for the first of its two weeks.

So what about the song? Probably the third best Pretenders hit to date, and there were definitely better things to come – “Talk Of The Town”, “Day After Day” and my own favourite “Message of Love”.

I think there are hooks; and there are unintelligible lyrics – is that “sidestep” she says? It’s pleasant enough, but a real surprise #1, and it probably didn’t really deserve to be there. I’m sure Chrissie Hynde was thankful for that lack of competition.

Kat but logged out innit

17 October 2008 14:59

I can’t think of Chrissy Hynde as a bratty young NME upstart (was this ever actually the case?) – I associate her and the Pretenders with drivetime easy-listening. Not Capital Fm but Capital GOLD! It’s not a dreadful song and it’s definitely catchy, but I couldn’t say it’s exciting or inspiring or even fun. I’d chuck this in the ‘100 Greatest Songs To Bore Your Children With’ pile.

pjb

17 October 2008 15:03

I’m de-lurking as the blog hits the Eighties and as the teenage me hit sufficient purchasing power to follow the charts and buy the music. Which is a tad ironic given that this is a record which I recall little contemporaneous affection for, but which earns respect in retrospect.

Like others, I don’t think its the best Pretenders record. But from a 2008 perspective I do think it sounds oddly, compellingly, modern and far less dated than many of the more overtly ‘modern’ songs which will follow in the next couple of years. It’s a memorable record, more than a song, and I still can’t hear it without seeing Hynde’s performance.

Erithian

17 October 2008 15:16

The more de-lurkers the better pjb – you don’t have to have been a teenager to have valid opinions, why not revisit the earlier stuff as well?

wichita lineman

17 October 2008 15:44

Have to agree that, much as I like it, it isn’t a patch on the gorgeous Kid which stalled at 33 the year before, or several of the singles that followed. The lift onto the chorus, though (“Oh-ho, cos I…”), is quite heart in mouth and absolutely sells the song. As for the Smiths influence, the first time I heard Sandie Shaw’s I Don’t Owe You Anything (flip of Hand In Glove) on the radio I assumed it was The Pretenders.

Re 11: I remember the lyrics in Smash Hits including the line “Detroit leaning” but it still sounds to me like Dieter Liening, a former Rot-Weiss Essen left back.

The latest ‘replacement’ for James Honeyman-Scott btw is Muswell Hill’s James Walbourn, habituee of the Boogaloo and late of Saint Etienne.

justfanoe

17 October 2008 16:10

Well, I was only -2.5 when this song hit #1 but that doesn’t stop me.

I really like the swagger of this song. True, the hooks aren’t anything special (The main guitar hook is really catchy though), but it’s the tone to this song that drags me in. As a sheer force I think this is underrated here. It’s a very slight song, espeically for a number one, but either this or “Talk of the Town” is my favorite Pretenders song. Call it a 7 or 8.

The Pretenders are well remembered here in the US, but a review of wiki shows they were never super popular. They only had 2 top ten hits (“Back on the Chain Gang” #5 and “Don’t Get Me Wrong” #10…if memory serves Carrie Underwood’s cover of “I’ll Stand By You” hit #6). This song peaked at #14 in the US.

mike

17 October 2008 16:29

Preface: so long, Waldo! Like many others, I’ve greatly enjoyed reading your observations, reminiscences, anecdotes and quips. And I’ll also greatly miss sharing these comments threads with Marcello, whose knowledge, insight, erudition and passion have contributed so much to the success of this project.

Onto the matter in hand… and wow, I thought everyone adored “Brass In Pocket”, but evidently not! Just me, then? Crikey.

Far more than “Another Brick In The Wall”, this single soundtracked my transition from the 1970s to the 1980s – and indeed my transition from an old life to a new one.

In the previous twelve months, I had come a long way. Back in December 1978, I had been the very archetype of a mixed-up sixteen-year old: immature, unworldly, self-absorbed to an unhealthy degree, paralysed by self-consciousness, almost entirely friendless and deeply, deeply unhappy. By the end of 1979, my re-invention as a socially functional member of the wider human race was almost complete.

Having failed to get into Cambridge, I now had an offer from Nottingham University to study law, commencing in the autumn of 1980. This begged the question of what to do with the rest of the year. Staying in the destructive war zone of the family home was so terrifying an option that it gave me the courage I needed to break free.

During December 1979, I attended a number of interviews with major London department stores in London, leading me to accept an offer from Hamleys toy shop on Regent Street. A couple of days after the new year, and a few weeks short of my 18th birthday, I left home for good – never to return for more than three or four days at a stretch, and less if I could help it. I moved in with my wonderful aunt and uncle on the Essex end of the Central Line, and entered the real world of paid employment – freed from the hot-house, ivory-tower confines of boarding school life.

During those first few weeks, the sassy, cocky, street-strutting, self-embiggening, the-world-is-my-shiny-new-oyster assertiveness of “Brass In Pocket” matched the mood of my new life to perfection. But above all else, it reminds me of Carnaby Street, tucked around the back of the Hamleys building.

In the late 1960s, my six/seven-year old self had mythologised Carnaby Street as the centre of all that was shiny and new, colourful and exciting, creative and free. And now, a good twelve years late to the party, here I was: surveying with some dismay the tacky arcade that it had become, but still basically thrilled to be there. Besides, with the mod revival kicking off in earnest, the area was experiencing a slight reversal in its decline: if you wanted parkas, pork-pie hats, “Jam shoes” or other assorted retro-modern black-and-white op-art clobber, then this was where you might have come. And so of course, the equally retro-modern stylings of “Brass In Pocket” chimed in well with all of this.

All of a sudden, I was no longer experiencing pop culture from a cloistered distance. Instead, I was thrust into the middle of it. The Marquee, Dingwalls, Nashville, Hope and Anchor, Rainbow, Rock Garden, the Electric Ballroom in Camden, the Lyceum off the Strand: all of these mythical names from the back of the NME had now become tangible destinations. I started attending as many gigs as I could – even if once again my timing was slightly off, the post-punk grassroots boom already starting to dissipate.

“Brass In Pocket” therefore stands as my threshold record, and I adore it without reservation. It’s another 10 from me.

Billy Smart

17 October 2008 16:33

Seven year old Billy was very much impressed by the Pretenders two tone black and white colourscheme and general hipster image but found the song to be unmemorable music for grown-ups.

Adult Billy will post his thoughts tomorrow – My incoherant Pink Floyd thoughts of last week have told me not to attempt this immediately after a full days teaching.

rosie

17 October 2008 16:33

Yes, I think it’s the guitar hooks that make this. They were often ringing in my ear when I rode the 7:36 Hull to Leeds every morning, one of those 1950s diesel units that were chronically overheated. A curious sort of title, really, too. “Brass in t’pocket” was what going to Leeds every day was all about.

There’s something very 60s about it. Not the best of the 60s maybe, but definitely something that connected with the pop of my own teenage years. The eighties kicked off almost as if thye seventies had never happened. I’ll have more to say anon.

Conrad

17 October 2008 16:37

Re 11, I recall seeing a documentary on the BBC (I think) around 1980 which focused on corruption and dodgy practices in chart compiling – record company buying teams knowing about the chart return shops and buying up records or offering bribes to the assistants to mark down that more copies had been sold than the reality etc etc.

Anyway, two of the singles they alleged had benefitted from manipulation/rigging were “Cars” and “Brass in Pocket”. I like(d) both, so was disappointed by these accusations.

I don’t remember what, if any, was the response by the relevent labels/acts to this accusation, but the Pretenders’ record in particular did exhibit “unusual” chart behaviour, especially when you look at the chart performance of the previous two singles.

Incidentally, I am really surprised at the lukewarm response “Brass In Pocket” is getting here. I thought it was a big step up from Sobbing and Kid.

“Cars” on the other hand looked a surefire bet for Number 1 at the time.

Erithian

17 October 2008 16:44

Rosie #19 – Songfacts also says the title came from a remark made by one of the support band at the Pretenders’ first UK gig. They must have been from Yorkshire!

Mike #17 – that’s a fantastic evocative post.

Mr Bubs

17 November 2024 10:46

Reply to Erithian

For me this was the best Pretenders song. I didn’t like anything they made before, and apart from Talk of the Town, anything further output by them was fairly mediocre at best.
I don’t mind 2000 Miles around the festive period, but apart from that, they will always be a poor mans Blondie to me.

jeff w

17 October 2008 16:53

Blimey, I’m puzzled by all the “pfft bothered” reactions here to ‘BiP’. (EDIT: I see the balance has started to be restored since I started typing this)

I’d assumed it was a generally well liked song. And I think it’s full of hooks, even if they are understated ones.

Hynde came up with a good adjective at the time for the Pretenders’ performance here and on “Private Life” (the other essay in understatement on their debut LP): immaculate. That word’s always stayed with me, and I think it’s spot on. But I can see why it might come across as calculating too.

By contrast, there are plenty of rough-edged ‘rock out’ moments on said LP too. As Conrad notes, Honeyman-Scott was an amazing guitarist and it’s a shame the drukqs took him from us so soon. Pretenders is my #1 air guitar record and IMHO a contender for best debut LP ever.

wichita lineman

17 October 2008 17:30

As K-Tel entered their twilight years, they sandwiched Brass In Pocket between Kool And The Gang’s Ladies Night and Lowrell’s Mellow Mellow Right On, on the Video Stars comp. So I mentally segue this with Lowrell’s saucy post-Philly lope that Massive Attack sampled a decade later.

mike

17 October 2008 18:18

Re #20 – I well remember that mysterious leap up the charts, which I observed with no small measure of suspicion. (There was a lot of that sort of thing about, and my Hype Detector was well honed.) After all, “Stop Your Sobbing” and “Kid” had both stalled in the mid-30s, and I had no reason to suppose that “BIP” would perform any better.

Still, at least the hype was justified in the long run!

Conrad

17 October 2008 19:08

Yes, BIP seems to have caused some concern for the BPI

Sorry…

LondonLee

17 October 2008 21:17

Re: #12

Chrissie was a bit of a face on the London punk scene, in bands with Mick Jones and Sid Vicious, apparently taught John Lydon to play the guitar and sold her typewriter to Julie Burchill.

For me The Pretenders were one of the first instances of having your “own” special band that you obsessed about and no one else seemed that bothered by. I’m talking here of before this was released, I thought ‘Kid’ was one of the most gorgeous pop records I’d ever heard and I was one of the first members of their fan club (started by a bloke in a record shop in Putney) for which I got a photo signed by the all the band I wish I still had not least because half of them are dead now.

But I was a little underwhelmed by this when it came out, it seemed a bit plodding and obvious where ‘Kid’ had been subtle and seductive. It’s still nowhere near my favourite of theirs but I’d give it at least an 8, mostly because anything with Chrissie’s voice on it gets extra points to start (how can you not love that voice Tom? For shame).

Elsa

18 October 2008 00:01

For a song that so carefully places the vocal between the guitar chords, it certainly does have quite a few mystifying lyrics. “So reet” is another one… also whatever she says in the second line from the top. But to me it’s always been the most beautiful of all Pretenders songs (okay, along with “Talk of the Town”).
Perfect simplicity & pure expression.

lonepilgrim

18 October 2008 08:27

One reason it may have charted so high was that the band were on tour with UB40 as support around this time -playing a lot of Universities and Colleges. I was studying Art at Newcastle at the time and remember fellow students queuing around the block to get tickets. I saw the queue and couldn’t be bothered – something I regret now.
Chrissie Hynde is one of the great female vocalists and a fine lyricist as well – much underrated. I’m amazed at the ‘no hooks’ claim. What about ‘gonna use my arms, gonna use my legs’ etc? It gets a higher mark than 5 from me – about 8.

intothefireuk

18 October 2008 08:45

This didn’t do much for me in 1980 and time hasn’t improved it. A fairly dreary guitar riff that doesn’t really go anywhere or build to anything. Then there’s Ms Hynde’s idiosyncratic vocals which I’m not a great fan of either (so Tom you are not alone). I couldn’t and I still can’t understand the vast majority of lyrics which only leaves me with the nasal whine and harsh tone of her voice to contemplate. It did work on other songs (as prev. mentioned Kid) – and my personal fav. Don’t Get Me Wrong which was great pop, but BIP is only average and I would totally buy into a theory that this was manipulated to number 1 – although the post-Christmas lull has given us some suprising results before.

PS – Sorry to see Waldo leave the blog – surely the point of this excercise is not just to comment on the stuff you know and grew up with but to then juxtapose it with the stuff you are less familiar with – but maybe I’m missing the point.

Tom – is the PF thread dead or will it be opened up again once the dust has settled ?

a logged out p^nk s lord sukråt wötsit

18 October 2008 11:16

replaying BIP this mornin — after a day spent trying to find my pretenders best of, dear god my LPs need sorting out — i realise for the first time how much it makes me think of motown, in a slightly inside-out upside down-kind klein-bottly of way (not a pastiche at all; more like a sketch in one style of the essence of another style)

my problem with CH’s voice here is a bit hard to express — it’s that sounding great (which she does) comes TOO easy to her, i think, as if she’s setting herself an exercise that’s few levels too easy for her

a logged out p^nk s lord sukråt wötsit

18 October 2008 11:39

is the source of honeyman-scott’s (and marr’s) guitarjangle richard thompson? — “kid” has a GORGEOUS thompson-esque break

i just realised one of the main sources of my disappoinment with BIP (don’y think i’ve EVER listened to it analytically): is the soundspace-separation of her harmonisation with herself… in “kid” and “SyS” the loveliest bits are where she doubletracks her singing on different harmony lines: there’s a main and a secondary melody, but they’re equal in presence

here, she does a cheer-chorus against herself, the main voice mixed up way out front, the chorus high and mixed distant, so it’s a bit like the “coloured girls go doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo” (which is a nice device actually, but i just wanted more of what she does in “kid” and “SyS”, there’s something incredibly velvety and blissed-out about those moments)

CarsmileSteve

18 October 2008 12:17

for many, many years i heard the lyric as:

gonna use my style
gonna use my SAUSAGE

David Belbin

18 October 2008 14:40

Tom, not sure if you’re aware that the Pretenders covered ‘Creep’. There’s a fine version on Unplugged, if I remember rightly. Just got their new album which doesn’t seem to have had a UK release yet and on first play, it sounds like one of their better ones. I’m with Mike, this is a fantastic record, only superceded in the Pretenders pantheon by the follow-up, Talk Of The Town which, shamefully, only got to number 8. It’s still a mainstay of my party dance cds, and always fills the floor. Oh, and I’m really fond of this site though (as my occasional comments probably indicate) I only have time to read it every week or so and often have to skip to my favourite posters, of whom Marcello was number one. I understand your frustration with some of his posts, but couldn’t you give him a temporary touchline ban, or stop him from posting on Friday afternoons? The place will be poorer without him.

Kat but logged out innit

18 October 2008 15:01

Those Pretenders singles in order of goodness:

1. Don’t Get Me Wrong (I quite like this even if it’s still got the Drivetime Classics thing going on)
2. Back On The Chain Gang (whoah-oha-OHH-ohh – hurray a chorus – weirdly cheerful considering they were all dead etc)
3. I’ll Stand By You (seems v suited to her voice but I’m not a fan of this tune and never have been)
4. Brass In Pocket (actually this can be v. entertaining if sung in a silly voice in the pub to remind other dudes how it goes)

…and I don’t know how the rest of them go. I guess I should check out ‘Kid’ – anything else?

Billy Smart

18 October 2008 15:30

Sensual, langourous, optimistic… This single makes me feel affectionate as a grown-up.

I realise that I may be out on a limb here, and its a bit indelicate – but I’ve always thought – well, since the idea struck me, anyway, not as a child – that the protagonist of this was was masturbating as she looked ahead to capturing the boyfriend. The whole pacing and breathiness of the thing, the fingers, using her imagination…

Am I alone in this interpretation?

Billy Smart

18 October 2008 15:37

Cover version Watch: 1992, Suede, from the Ruby Trax Spastics Society NME compilation, and performed on The Word.

Bernard Butler rethinks the music, making it sound oddly like Albatross by Fleetwood Mac. Over the top of this Brett Anderson ennunciates (and rewrites quite a lot of) the lyrics in that wierd whiney way. Butler comes out of the exercise rather better than Anderson. The cover has the effect of leaving me thinking “Wow, Suede really were good”, but doesn’t really do the sensuality of the song any favours, making it sound more preposerous than enticing.

Bizarrely, Chrissie Hynde claimed to much prefer this version to her own one.

johnny

18 October 2008 17:37

hello, everyone. long time lurker, but since we have arrived at the year of my birth i’ve decided to join in the fun. tom, this is a fantastic project and your thoughts are insightful.

i share a hometown with chrissie hynde and she’s always been a local hero (along with devo, ubu, etc) so i have strong childhood associations with this tune. I’ve always viewed it as a classic example of early 80’s production, especially the jangly guitar with a slight chorus effect added to it, and the soft washy drum sound. everything about this one is fairly conventional with the exception of the vocal melody, which is all over the place in a way that is very atypical of other pretenders tunes (don’t get me wrong, kid, talk of the town).

not much else to say about this one. i’d give it a 6.

rosie

18 October 2008 20:30

Just to mention in passing that I have spent a splendid afternoon and evening with Waldo, in the course of which more beer was consumed that I am used to, we saw Barrow beat Eastbourne Borough 3-1, and had a long walk including a goodly stretch of twilit coastline from Holker Street to the Queens Arms, Biggar where more beer was consumed before we set off home. Waldo has earned his early night I think. So have I…

LondonLee

18 October 2008 21:33

I saw them on that tour with UB40 at the Hammersmith Palais (both of them were bloody great) but I’m sure their first album was out by then which meant it was after this topped the charts.

I’m pretty sure the tour helped UB40 though, I bought my copy of “Food For Thought/King” at the gig as did lots of other people there.

Matthew H

19 October 2008 12:42

I always heard it as –

Gonna use my style,
Gonna use my sassy [sass-eh]

I know I’m wrong, but I still like the idea. I thought Hynde was pretty sassy; it’s a sexy record. That lingering, caressing guitar riff.

Mind you, The Smiths might have taken their cue from any number of Pretenders records, but this sounds like Texas.

Dan R

19 October 2008 13:17

I kind of like this; my hesitation comes from the vague sense of MOR in the arrangement. Those guitars chime a little too sweetly, the rhythm is sedate rather than strutting. I find her vocal style a bit mannered – comparisons are harsh but think of the way that someone like Patti Smith, who has a similar repertoire of vocal tics, makes her phrasing genuinely personal and expressive. This feels like an exercise in style on some level.

That said, it’s always been there and the hooks are all over it like velcro. The lyrics are memorable (if utterly cryptic to the 12-year-old me) and the title itself is such a confident statement of intent, it seems foolish to carp. It doesn’t have a chorus but in a sense the excitement of the song is that it goes from verse to bridge to verse and so on, each time adding passion and excitement and intensity. It doesn’t feel the need to aim for the anthemic climax, but releases its pleasures more multiply. (Hm, maybe there’s something in the ‘ditalini’ thesis…)

My mum liked this very much. In retrospect, there’s a female swagger in it that probably inched her forward to her divorce. I can’t quite separate my (generally positive) feelings about that from my own feelings for this song.

SteveIson

19 October 2008 23:58

Brass In Pocket is really magical for me..Along with Kid and Talk Of THe Town they form a little trilogy of timelessly beautiful singles,where Chrissies ability to write truly lovely,atmospheric pop-songs full of yearning and empathy briefly matched her gorgeously seductive,sensual voice…
I like alot of other stuff Pretendrs’ve done but none come anywhere near close to those 3….I’d give it 9

peter goodlaws

21 October 2008 08:03

I was coming up for 5 when this was out but remember it because my dad liked it and the pretenders and we had the record in the house and I must have loved it too. Hearing it now it sounds bland and dated to me. Very dull and much better to come from the eighties.

mike

23 October 2008 11:06

(#17 – the condensed version!)

In one of his old Attitude columns, Mark Simpson observed that every gay man who moves to London seems to go through a phase of strutting around Soho as if they were starring in their own personal remake of Miss Thing Comes To Town.

In which case, “Brass In Pocket” was my Miss Thing Comes To Town theme tune.

Malice Cooper

23 October 2008 22:31

Blatantly hyped to the top of the pile, as was proven by a TV investigation. This is one of their worst singles.

Ugly old bag singing an ugly song with ugly tactics.

LondonLee

24 October 2008 13:42

There really wasn’t any need for that last line was there?

Malice Cooper

25 October 2008 19:24

Quite the contrary LondonLee:

Someone once told me “If you don’t have anything nasty to say, say nothing” and I think it was good advice which has stayed with me

Brian

27 October 2008 20:07

I have to say that I am quite surprised to the ” cool” reactions to the Pretenders ” and , what I consider , over the top adoration for Debbie Harry.

I’d take the music and the sex appeal of Chrissie and The Pretenders above Blondie any day.

I was always amazed that Blondie were so popular, they always seemd to me as some disco-punk proto-type that I could never trust.

On the other hand , I thought the Pretenders to be more honest and an all around better bunch of musicians.

Erithian

28 October 2008 09:28

Point taken Brian, although bear in mind that much of the “cool” reaction is on the basis that BiP is not one of their better records – there’s still a lot of love for the band and their work. You’d no doubt see that coming out if they’d had as many number ones as Blondie, but unfortunately they didn’t.

Mark G

28 October 2008 09:47

Well, if WEA hadn’t hyped this single into the top spot, we wouldn’t be having this discussion re The Pretenders.

They had way more resonance amongst girl musician/guitarist/singers that came after, than Blondie, thanks to ‘understated’ glamour (a leather jacket always helps)

They had many better singles than this one (does anyone else have the love for the two groovy instrumentals on the b-side? Just me then), it’s a shame it wasn’t “Message of Love” or “Talk of the Town” or etc…

wpDiscuz

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