My favorite Rock n Roll Chick…Chrissie Hynde

[BHPSteel]

I do have a connection with the Pretenders from those early years.

If you watch the video for "Back on the Chain Gang" there are a couple of extras that appear multiple times in the video. One of them is this guy, who appears in some shots walking, trampolining and using a pickaxe (badly)

He was a friend of mine, who was also a friend of one of the band - and I was in a local bar, drinking with him, and I was offered a part as an extra in the video, Now, while I can walk and wield a pickaxe, I can't trampoline for ****, but they thought I might be useful. So I turned up and filmed with them - Chrissie wasn't particularly communicative or friendly (not really a surprise, she's somewhat legendary for being pretty remote), but a good time was had by all and the video was wrapped in one morning and two afternoons.

Video comes out, and my only appearance is with my back to the camera at the end of the video. Why? they wanted to pay residuals to as few of the extras as possible, and since I wasn't personally identifiable, I got my 'location' fee and that was it.

But I'm not bitter. Fun time was had by all and the lunches were OK. I'm easy to please.

 

[Torn]

I do have a connection with the Pretenders from those early years.

If you watch the video for "Back on the Chain Gang" there are a couple of extras that appear multiple times in the video. One of them is this guy, who appears in some shots walking, trampolining and using a pickaxe (badly)

View attachment 6312146

He was a friend of mine, who was also a friend of one of the band - and I was in a local bar, drinking with him, and I was offered a part as an extra in the video, Now, while I can walk and wield a pickaxe, I can't trampoline for ****, but they thought I might be useful. So I turned up and filmed with them - Chrissie wasn't particularly communicative or friendly (not really a surprise, she's somewhat legendary for being pretty remote), but a good time was had by all and the video was wrapped in one morning and two afternoons.

Video comes out, and my only appearance is with my back to the camera at the end of the video. Why? they wanted to pay residuals to as few of the extras as possible, and since I wasn't personally identifiable, I got my 'location' fee and that was it.

But I'm not bitter. Fun time was had by all and the lunches were OK. I'm easy to please.

Very cool story. You are now ODT Rock n Rol royalty!

 

[BHPSteel]

Very cool story. You are now ODT Rock n Rol royalty!

I'll share my Lemmy stories next.

 

[Torn]

Never heard of em,any of em.Country since 75

I still like Old Possum, Hank and DAC.

 

[rbstern]

Saw The Pretenders open for The Who about 20 years ago at the Gwinnett Civic Center. It was just before Thanksgiving, and Chrissie urged everyone to eat a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal, so everyone could enjoy an "animal cruelty free holiday."

The crowd was dead silent.

Know your audience.

 

[BHPSteel]

She's only become more strident about PETA and veganism with the years. I dunno - having met her that once for a brief time, I suspect she's being truthful when she says she's hard to be around. I guess it just reinforces that old saying:

"Just shut up and sing"

 

[HERMET]

"Just shut up and sing"

Yep, I have no more interest in what they think than they have interest in what I think.

 

[Talos]

I'll share my Lemmy stories next.

In for story time!

 

[BHPSteel]

With apologies to Torn , since he's OP, I'll make it quick.

Lemmy's timeline is pretty well documented on Wikipedia. One of his 'periods' was after he left being a roadie for "The Nice" in about 1971, he still kinda hung out with Keith Emerson and those guys, but he got involved with a Psychedelic Space Rock band named "Hawkwind".

I think I first met him, drunk as always, at a gig at one of Hawkwind's regular 'dive venues' in my home town. I went to watch the band, and Keith Emerson was there, so I went up for an autograph, or at least to say hello. I would have been maybe 13 (my district of South London was really lax about kids and alcohol exposure).

Lemmy's first words to me were "**** off, kid". Hey, pretty polite. I wouldn't take no for an answer, so I hung around becuse I knew that Lemmy would be back on set soon, and I could go back to Emerson and get what I wanted. I hung around a while, watched the set and when Lemmy came off the stage, he said "Make yourself useful - carry that back to that room over there" - so I became "The Littlest Roadie".

Lemmy was pretty much wasted - as you'd expect, but turned out friendlier (and pretty tolerant of a snot nosed kid) than you might expect, and so going to see Hawkwind when they played that gig became a regular feature. The band in general were a bit remote, but Lemmy would buy me a beer for hauling lightweight **** around. It was no way to make a living, but I enjoyed hanging out with a borderline famous band at the time.

And then Lemmy was busted for drugs and the band fired him. Which was funny, because the rest of the band were out of their heads on LSD most of the time.

So Lemmy moved on to form Motorhead, I had some memories, and some accumlated advice from him on women, drugs and living the life.

Oh, and I got my autograph from Keith Emerson, and later, one from Greg Lake.

Edit: and when I said "drunk as always", I have to say that Lemmy never seemed to fit the stereotype of a drunk. He was RIDICULOUSLY high-functioning. The man must have literally been pickled 24/7

 

[Talos]

With apologies to Torn , since he's OP, I'll make it quick.

Lemmy's timeline is pretty well documented on Wikipedia. One of his 'periods' was after he left being a roadie for "The Nice" in about 1971, he still kinda hung out with Keith Emerson and those guys, but he got involved with a Psychodelic Space Rock band named "Hawkwind".

I think I first met him, drunk as always, at a gig at one of Hawkwind's regular 'dive venues' in my home town. I went to watch the band, and Keith Emerson was there, so I went up for an autjograph, or at least to say hello. I would have been maybe 13 (my district of South London was really lax about kids and alcohol exposure).

Lemmy's first words to me were "**** off, kid". Hey, pretty polite. I wouldn't take no for an answer, so I hung around becuse I knew that Lemmy would be back on set soon, and I could go back to Emerson and get what I wanted. I hung around a while, watched the set and when Lemmy came off the stage, he said "Make yourself useful - carry that back to that room over there" - so I became "The Littlest Roadie".

Lemmy was pretty much wasted - as you'd expect, but turned out friendlier (and pretty tolerant of a snot nosed kid) than you might expect, and so going to see Hawkwind when they played that gig became a regular feature. The band in general were a bit remote, but Lemmy would buy me a beer for hauling lightweight **** around. It was no way to make a living, but I enjoyed hanging out with a borderline famous band at the time.

And then Lemmy was busted for drugs and the band fired him. Which was funny, because the rest of the band were out of their heads on LSD most of the time.

So Lemmy moved on to form Motorhead, I had some memories, and some accumlated advice from him on women, drugs and living the life.

Oh, and I got my authograph from Keith Emerson, and later, one from Greg Lake.

That's an amazing experience! Motorhead isn't one of my favorite bands, but Lemmy, his style/way of life, and bass preference always stood out to me.