Chrissie Hynde made her name as the lead singer of The Pretenders. The American singer recounts how a trip to London in the 1970s helped transform her from a small town Ohio girl into a rock icon.
From Ohio to London —
Chrissie Hynde made her name as the lead singer of The Pretenders. The American singer recounts how a trip to London in the 1970s helped transform her from a small town Ohio girl into a rock icon.
Courtesy Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde grew up in Akron, a city known for tire-making that once had a reputation as the rubber capital of the world. Her father, Melville, worked for a telephone company. Her mother, Dolores, was a secretary.
Akron —
Chrissie Hynde grew up in Akron, a city known for tire-making that once had a reputation as the rubber capital of the world. Her father, Melville, worked for a telephone company. Her mother, Dolores, was a secretary.
Courtesy Chrissie Hynde
Hynde, known as Christy as a child, describes an idyllic, tomboyish upbringing in the early chapters of her newly published autobiography "Reckless."
Young Christy —
Hynde, known as Christy as a child, describes an idyllic, tomboyish upbringing in the early chapters of her newly published autobiography "Reckless."
Courtesty Chrissie Hynde
"Me, age 15, with Zim Gar guitar, Stones, and Dylan" -- The singer describes how in her youth she would travel from Akron to nearby Cleveland to see bands.
Early music —
"Me, age 15, with Zim Gar guitar, Stones, and Dylan" -- The singer describes how in her youth she would travel from Akron to nearby Cleveland to see bands.
Courtesy Chrissie Hynde
Hynde arrived in London in 1973. She describes a "black and white" city whose recent glory appeared to have faded. "It wasn't the sixties, though. Former dolly birds in miniskirts now looked like tired versions of the teenage daughters they were with."
Carnaby Street 1973 —
Hynde arrived in London in 1973. She describes a "black and white" city whose recent glory appeared to have faded. "It wasn't the sixties, though. Former dolly birds in miniskirts now looked like tired versions of the teenage daughters they were with."
Graham French/BIPs/Getty Images
But the mid-'70s was the beginning of the Punk Era and Hynde was in London to experience it all, including a near sham marriage to Sex Pistols (pictured signing a record contract outside Buckingham Palace in 1977) singer Johnny Rotten. "A thousand people since have asked me about my marriage to Vicious -- it never happened," writes Hynde in "Reckless."
"Days of Punk and Roses" —
But the mid-'70s was the beginning of the Punk Era and Hynde was in London to experience it all, including a near sham marriage to Sex Pistols (pictured signing a record contract outside Buckingham Palace in 1977) singer Johnny Rotten. "A thousand people since have asked me about my marriage to Vicious -- it never happened," writes Hynde in "Reckless."
Graham Wood/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
"Everyone was underweight with undernourished, pallid skin tones, greenish in hue. But anything was always going to be better than bulging stomachs spilling over the waistbands of polyester slacks or "shorts," an unfortunate American craze virtually unknown to the English. Best of all were the shoe stalls."
'Underweight, undernourished' —
"Everyone was underweight with undernourished, pallid skin tones, greenish in hue. But anything was always going to be better than bulging stomachs spilling over the waistbands of polyester slacks or "shorts," an unfortunate American craze virtually unknown to the English. Best of all were the shoe stalls."
Evening Standard/Getty Images
"I hadn't brought much: a few changes of clothes and the three records I didn't feel I could leave behind -- 'White Light/White Heat,' 'Raw Power' and 'Fun House,'" Hynde writes. "I had a couple hundred dollars to last me for what would turn out to be the rest of my life. I needed to find a job."
London's HMV record store —
"I hadn't brought much: a few changes of clothes and the three records I didn't feel I could leave behind -- 'White Light/White Heat,' 'Raw Power' and 'Fun House,'" Hynde writes. "I had a couple hundred dollars to last me for what would turn out to be the rest of my life. I needed to find a job."
Angela Deane-Drummond/Evening Standard/Getty Images
Hynde was friends with and sometime traveling companion of The Clash, here in 1977 with Joe Strummer exchanging shirts with a fan during a concert. "The Clash was a band of and for rogues, and I loved to see them getting the whole nation behind them," writes Hynde in "Reckless."
Good buddies —
Hynde was friends with and sometime traveling companion of The Clash, here in 1977 with Joe Strummer exchanging shirts with a fan during a concert. "The Clash was a band of and for rogues, and I loved to see them getting the whole nation behind them," writes Hynde in "Reckless."
Chris Moorhouse/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
"Next door to Kensington Market was a huge emporium, a clothes store called Biba. It was the best place I'd ever seen. You could get blue lipstick and purple nail polish and all sorts of metallic clothes."
Biba, Kensington High Street —
"Next door to Kensington Market was a huge emporium, a clothes store called Biba. It was the best place I'd ever seen. You could get blue lipstick and purple nail polish and all sorts of metallic clothes."
Graham Wood/Evening Standard/Getty Images
Before long, Hynde (here in 1984 with Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers) was deeply embedded in London's alternative music scene, rubbing shoulders with future members of the Sex Pistols. These associations would set her on the path to creating her own famous band, The Pretenders.
The London music scene —
Before long, Hynde (here in 1984 with Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers) was deeply embedded in London's alternative music scene, rubbing shoulders with future members of the Sex Pistols. These associations would set her on the path to creating her own famous band, The Pretenders.
Courtesy Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde's story from small town beginnings to rock stardom is charted in her newly published autobiography "Reckless."
"Reckless" —
Chrissie Hynde's story from small town beginnings to rock stardom is charted in her newly published autobiography "Reckless."
Courtesy Chrissie Hynde