This performance by singer/guitarist Chrissie Hynde was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour at a show taped on February 9th, 1986 at London's Royal Albert Hall. The show was part of an all-star benefit in response to the November 1985 Nevada del Ruiz volcano explosion, which caused an immense natural disaster in Colombia and killed over 25,000 people. Columbian musician Chucho Merchan, with the help of Who guitarist, Pete Townsend, began organizing a charity event, which ultimately included Hynde (who was taking a break from the Pretenders at the time), as well as Townshend, Pink…entire summary
Chrissie Hynde - vocals, guitar
John "Rabbit" Bundrick - keyboards
Michael Kamen - keyboards
Jodi Linscott - percussion, background vocals
Chucha Merchan - bass
Billy Nichols - background vocals
Simon Phillips - drums
Mick Ralphs - guitar
Guest: Pete Townshend - guitar on "Give It Up"
Guest: Annie Lennox - vocals on "Give It Up"
This performance by singer/guitarist Chrissie Hynde was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour at a show taped on February 9th, 1986 at London's Royal Albert Hall. The show was part of an all-star benefit in response to the November 1985 Nevada del Ruiz volcano explosion, which caused an immense natural disaster in Colombia and killed over 25,000 people. Columbian musician Chucho Merchan, with the help of Who guitarist, Pete Townsend, began organizing a charity event, which ultimately included Hynde (who was taking a break from the Pretenders at the time), as well as Townshend, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Annie Lennox, and others.
Hynde, who was a little off-base due to the house band having to learn her set in very short order, still gives a very worthwhile show. Opening with a pair of Pretenders' mega hits ("Time The Avenger" and "Back On The Chain Gang") she is quick to reach into her bag of cover song ideas.
She gives a soulful read on the Beatles classic "In My Life," but things really come to life when she puts the crowd on their feet on the Righteous Bothers (and later by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels) classic, "Little Latin Lupe Lu." She closes her show with Bob Dylan's "Property Of Jesus" and returns for an all-star encore of "Give It Up," which also features Eurhythmic Annie Lennox and the Who's Pete Townshend on guitar.
Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, she attended Kent State University, where in 1970 she witnessed first hand the tragic killings of four students during an anti-war rally. At the time, she had formed a band with other area musicians (who, later, would become the nucleus of Devo). In the mid-1970s, after falling in love with the early music of the punk movement, she moved to England, where she worked as a rock critic, hanging out with bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. In 1976, she formed the Pretenders, a band she has fronted ever since.
Hynde, who has written some of the best radio classics of the '70s and '80s, is regarded as an icon among female rockers. In addition to her work with the Pretenders, she also scored a solo hit with a remake of "I Got You Babe" with the British band UB40.
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