I've decided to turn back to simpler times, when women rocked without grabbing their crotch, a la Miley Cyrus, and men used more hairspray than AquaNet could produce. Not to mention how much eyeliner a good Hair Band could go through in one night's performance. Yes, let's talk 80s rock icons, or at least the ones who mattered to me at the time.

I was always a big Pretenders' fan. Chrissie Hynde could drink any man under the table, and she she proved in 1980 when she was arrested for drunkenly and disorderly conduct after a little disturbance in a Memphis TGIF restaurant. She could swear like a sailor, which is always a plus, especially when throwing a few choice curse words into your songs, as she did in 'Precious'. On the Pretenders' first album cover, she stood with her band, in a red leather jacket and black lace gloves (like Madonna was wearing at the time), which was a pure revelation. It was as if Madonna had suddenly skipped her nightly outing to a NYC dance club, and made instead a bee line for the local Hell's Angel Chapter. The songs were not to be messed with, either- 'Tattooed Love Boys', who had ever heard of women speaking so bluntly, so straight-forwardly, of sex with strange men? Her songs did not follow the Disney Princess version of Happily Ever After, where a girl diligently waits to be swept away by her Prince Charming, passively sitting by the phone, trying to get a date for the damn prom. No, it was not Disney Love, or even love with a capital "L". Hynde's love was down and dirty, it was unashamed sex. It was the kind of love that she sang about in 'Precious', one where you do it on the pavement and then tell the guy to F*** OFF. Instantaneous freedom, for young girls who were frankly tired of playing by the rules that young girls were supposed to follow during the late 60s and early 70s.

Part of the pleasure of the Pretenders' early music was James Honeyman Scott. What a name to grow into! What kind of profession can you choose with a name like James Honeyman Scott, other than Rock Star, Writer or Actor. Maybe you can become a professional wrestler with a larger than life name like James Honeyman Scott. Certainly, more mundane jobs like accounting and booking-keeping were out. And what a guitarist Honeyman Scott turned out to be- the licks and grooves on the Pretenders' first album were deadly. They met Hynde's voice note for note, pushing her, it seemed, to greater and more melodic vocal heights. Hynde has subsequently called Honeyman Scott her musical right-hand man, and indeed the music that he produced on the Pretenders' first and second albums give proof to his unique musical talents. He created hooks that had not been heard before, but they have become commonplace since, in the guitar work of Johnny Marr or The Edge. His death in 1982, of a cocaine intolerance, cheated the world of a young and bright musician, still in his musical prime. It also robbed Hynde of her partner in crime, her much-valued hook man and the partner who sent a fresh breathe of air through her songs.

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