From the Record Collection (2 of 8)_ The Pretenders II

It may come as a shock to folks who were born "The Smurfs" were no longer on tv that Akron, Ohio, was actually the hotbed of emerging New Wave punk scene in the late
'70s, thanks to band like Devo, The Dead Boys and The Waitresses, a band which is popular this time of the year because their song "Christmas Wrapping" gets played a lot around Christmas time on fm radio stations.

Though technically not a part of the Akron scene, The Pretenders have a definitive link with the northwest Ohio city because it's the hometown of lead singer Chrissie Hynde, who opened up a vegan restaurant called The Vegiterranean, which alas folded in October because of the bad American economy.

Recorded in 1981, an amazing year for rock and pop music with acclaimed records coming out from bands as diverse as Rush and The Go-Gos, "The Pretenders II" would be very last time that the four original members recorded together. Sadly, between the release of the band's second and third record "Learning to Crawl" two members would die, including Peter Farndon (1952-1983) and James Honeymoon Scott (1956-1982).

This just left Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers in the band, which has stayed together since they formed in 1978, with various lineup changes over the years.

"The Pretenders II" was produced by veteran Chris Thomas, who had worked with The Beatles and Pink Floyd. It the follow-up from their highly succesful first record and expectations were very high.

This is perhaps why the second record is not as highly regarded as it should be. Among the noted tracks on "Pretenders II" are two covers of songs by The Kinks in "Stop Your Sobbing" and "I Go to Sleep." Hynde would become romantically involved with Ray Davies, the lead singer of The Kinks in later years.

Sexual themes figure prominently in this record with suggestive tracks like "Baby Gets Spanked" in the mix; the record also features the following stellar songs: "Message of Love," "Talk of the Town" and "Day After Day."

20 years after its initial release, "Pretenders II" was finally certified gold.