#67: Middle Of The Road by the Pretenders

City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: February-March 1984
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 Singles ~ #19
YouTube: “Middle Of The Road”
Lyrics: “Middle Of The Road”

The Pretenders were a band formed in 1978 in Britain. The band was fronted by Chrissie Hynde. She was born in Akron (OH) in 1951. After high school she attended Kent State University. A friend of hers was dating Kent State Massacre shooting victim Jeffrey Miller who died on May 4, 1970. The events of that day shaped Hynde and were a catalyst for her decision to move to the Britain in 1973. She eventually became a dual citizen. She worked at an architectural firm and then at Malcolm McLaren’s punk clothing store Sex. She attempted to find success as a rock musician by joining up with a number of bands. Nothing came together until she gave a demo to a record owner and she was encouraged to form a band named The Pretenders. They were named after the Platter’s 1956 number-one hit “The Great Pretender”.

A co-founding member of the Pretenders was Martin Chambers who was born in Hereford, England, in 1951. He played drums in a band called Cheeks with future Pretenders bandmate James Honeymoon-Scott. When Chambers teamed up with Chrissie Hynde he was getting a paycheck from working as a driving instructor. Hynde met Pete Farndon (born in 1952 in Hereford, England) while he was with Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers. Farndon had previously been with Cold River Lady into the mid-70s. Farndon played bass guitar. Another founding member of the Pretenders was James Honeyman-Scott who played on guitar, keyboards and provided vocals. He was born in 1956 in Hereford, England. Honeymoon-Scott was with a few local bands in the 1970s and was recruited to join the Pretenders by Pete Farndon.

The Pretenders first single release was in January 1979 with “Stop Your Sobbing”. The song cracked the Top 40 on the UK Singles chart. As did the followup, “Kid”. Both were included in the Pretenders debut self-titled album. But it was the third single release, “Brass In Pocket” that got the Pretenders a lot of attention. The lyrics detail the female singer about to have her first sexual encounter with a particular person, with her expressing confidence that the experience will be successful. “Brass In Pocket” reached number-one in Ireland, South Africa, Sweden and the UK, #2 in Australia and New Zealand, #5 in Belgium and Canada, #7 in the Netherlands, #9 in Spain, and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Pretenders album climbed to #1 on the UK Album chart, and the Top Ten on album charts in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, the USA.

In 1980, a single titled “Talk Of the Town” reached #8 in the UK, while “Message of Love” climbed to #11 on the UK pop singles chart and #15 in Australia. In 1981, from the Pretenders II album came “I Go to Sleep”. The single made the Top Ten in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

Pete Farndon’s drug use was becoming a problem for the band and he was fired in mid-June 1982. Two days later, James Honeymoon-Scott was found dead from an overdose of cocaine. After Farndon was fired, British musician Martin Foster was invited to join the band. In September 1982, Hynde and Chambers carried on and recorded “Back On the Chain Gang” with some session musicians for the soundtrack of the film The King of Comedy. The single reached the Top 5 in both Canada and the USA. The B-side “My City Was Gone” climbed to #5 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Pete Farndon died in April 1983 having lost consciousness from a heroin overdose while in the bathtub. By 1984, the Pretenders had re-grouped and session musician on “Back On the Chain Gang”, Robbie McIntosh, had become the bands’ lead guitarist and also played rhythm guitar. He was born in 1957 in Surrey, England. He took classical guitar lessons and passed his grade eight music exams. He joined a band that morphed into Night, and went on tour as an opening act in America for the Doobie Brothers.

In the winter of 1983-84, the Pretenders had a Top 20 Christmas-themed single titled “2000 Miles” that charted well in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UK. Both “2000 Miles” and “Back On the Chain Gang”/”My City Was Gone” were included on the band’s next album, Learning to Crawl. Another track from the new album released as a single was “Middle Of The Road”.

“Middle Of The Road” was written by Chrissie Hynde. She has stated that “Middle of the Road” refers to Tao Te Ching, which she interprets as “the middle way.” According to Charles M. Young of Musician, the song is about “getting out there and mixing it up with the world.” The song’s lyrics include observations about the difference between wealth and poverty that Hynde had observed: “Like fat cats driving round in jeeps through the city with big diamond rings and silk suits. Past corrugated tin shacks filled up with kids… The middle of the road is no private cul-de-sac…” The lyrics also refer to autobiographical details (i.e., the lyric “I got a kid, I’m thirty-three” although Hynde had just turned 32 when the single was released).

“Middle Of The Road” peaked at #2 in Boston, and Seattle, #3 in Ottawa, and Wilkes-Barre (PA), #4 in Saskatoon (SK), Baltimore (MD), Buffalo, Bangor (ME), and Regina (SK), #8 in Los Angeles, and Providence (RI), #9 in Sydney (NS), and Detroit, #10 in Tacoma (WA), and Portland (OR), and #11 in Vancouver (BC), Denver, San Diego, and Sacramento (CA). Internationally, “Middle Of The Road” reached #12 in Canada, #19 in the USA, and #28 in Belgium.

Two more tracks from Learning to Crawl, “Show Me” and a cover of the Persuaders’ “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”, reached the Top 40 in a few countries. In 1985, observing Martin Chambers was floundering in his craft, Chrissie Hynde fired her bandmate.

In 1986, the Pretenders released Get Close. The lead single, “Don’t Get Me Wrong”, reached #4 in Ireland, #8 in Australia and Belgium, #10 in the USA and UK. and #11 in New Zealand. In Canada, the single had its best chart run in Thunder Bay (ON) where it peaked at #2. A beautiful ballad from the album, “Hymn To Her”, was a Top Ten hit in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and the UK. However, it received little airplay in Canada and radio markets in Boulder (CO) and Milwaukee (WI). Along with “Don’t Get Me Wrong”, another track from the album titled “My Baby” reached number-one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

In 1987, the Pretenders recorded “Where Has Everybody Gone?” for the James Bond film The Living Daylights. The title tune was recorded by A-Ha. In 1987, Martin Foster left the band. Robbie McIntosh left the band in September 1987. That year a greatest hits album titled The Singles was released. It reached #6 on the UK pop album chart and #16 in Australia.

In 1990, the Pretenders with a new lineup released Packed! However, “Never Do That” which peaked at #4 on the Alternative Airplay chart in the USA, didn’t crack the Billboard Hot 100 or Top 100 in Australia. It stalled at #87 on the UK Singles chart.

In 1994, the Pretenders welcomed back Martin Chambers. They released Last of the Independents. The lead single from the album was titled “I’ll Stand By You”. It reached the Top Ten in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Italy and the UK. Another track from the new album, “Night in My Veins” reached #2 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.

In the past two decades, the Pretenders have charted three singles into the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. These have been “Boots of Chinese Plastic”, “Love’s A Mystery”, and “Holy Commotion”.

In 2014, Chrissie Hynde released a solo album titled Stockholm. It featured the rock n’ roll single “Dark Sunglasses” which made it to #14 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Since 2015, Chrissie Hynde has been exploring another artistic side as a painter.

October 1, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Chrissie Hynde Remembers the Kent State Shootings,” Tokin Woman blog, May 4, 2020.
Joshua Miller, “Chrissie Hynde Talks 40 Years of Pretenders and Punk Rock,” SPIN, July 21, 2020.
John Southern, “Pete Farndon,” Find a grave.com, September 9, 2004.
“Died On This Date (June 16, 1982) James Honeymoon-Scott/The Pretenders,” themusicsover.com, June 16, 2010.
“Chrissie Hynde,” Apollo, December 5, 2024.
“Chrissie Hynde: ‘I’m Just Telling My Story’,” NPR, October 6, 2015.
David West, “Martin Chambers talks getting fired, mourning friends and enjoying 40 years with the Pretenders,” Music Radar, May 31, 2017.
Rob Hughes, “Recorded in the wake of tragedy, The Pretenders’ Learning To Crawl was an indestructible triumph of sheer will,” louderthansound.com, April 6, 2024.

CFRA 580-AM Ottawa Top Ten | March 2, 1984