Arriving in the UK in late 1979 the first Top of The Pops show I saw had this song on it. Firstly it was an old Kinks song so that was great. It was produced by Nick Lowe who was already a hero of mine. And thirdly it was a brilliant piece of power pop by a terrific looking band with the ultra cool Chrissie Hynde out front. All wrapped up in the spirit of punk meets the sixties. I couldn't believe my luck. 1979. Tickets to the Clash in my pocket. I'd released my first record and here I was in England. If anything 79 seemed to be a better year for pop than the punk explosion of a few years back. So many great records came out.
After the Clash though the gig dried up. There wasn't many bands playing in the cold of winter. I just went and saw the venues really. Like the Marquee to see minor bands. Or the Nashville where I saw the Dolly Mixtures supported by U2 who were playing their first gigs in London and no one was taking much notice. I remember thinking them a little boring on the night and throwing a lot of rock star poses. Of course I didn't know who they were gonna be later. I only found out or realized I saw them after reading an article 30 years later which talked about that gig and how they got their name wrong on the poster.
A friend of mine saw the Pretenders a few months back . Told me she was still great. Missed again!
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