Reckless: My Life as a Pretender - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345816242 ISBN 13: 9780345816245

Synopsis

Four decades the singer/songwriter/leader of The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde is a justly celebrated legend in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. Few, if any, women in music have ever matched her swagger, sexiness, stage presence, instantly recognisable voice and all-round rock goddess-ness, quite apart from a back catalogue of writing credits that stand up there with the best. So, how did the all-American girl born in 1951 in Akron, Ohio into a comfortably prosperous and loving family become a one-woman secret tunnel linking punk and new wave to classic guitar rock and the UK and US music scenes so seamlessly? The rock gods of the '60s who played Cleveland sparked her love of the music and in the early ?70s she became politically aware, particularly with the anti-war movement. Ohio was no longer enough and in 1973 she flew to London. Her description of the culture shock she experienced in those first few months are worth the cover price alone, but she coped and soon ended up writing for the NME, then working at Malcolm McClaren and Vivienne Westwood's various shops, through which she found herself at the centre of the punk explosion. Spending time in Paris and then back in Ohio for a while, she returned to London and the Pretenders were born. With a string of hits it seemed that nothing could go wrong - but it did, spectacularly, with the deaths of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon. This is where the story ends, but Hynde has been a constant presence on the musical scene ever since. 32 pages of colour and b/w photos which feature the Pistols, the Damned, Mick Jones, Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop. 312pp. Remainder mark.

About this edition

• ISBN 10: 0345816242
• ISBN 13: 9780345816245
• Binding: Hardcover