After their formation in 1978, The Pretenders quickly shot to success thanks to hits like ‘Brass In Pocket’, ‘Kid’ and ‘Talk To The Town’. Despite originally hailing from Ohio, lead singer Chrissie Hynde was deeply embedded in the London music scene that spiralled around Vivienne Westwood’s King’s Road shop, with bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash influencing her own vision. Raised on a diet of British rockers, it’s no wonder she’s a tremendous fan of The Rolling Stones.
While finding her musical feet around the chaos of the 1980s punk scene in the English capital, Hynde’s own musical styling has always paid homage to her American roots. Staying more firmly in rock waters, mixing in elements of pop or alternative new wave details, The Pretenders might have been formed in London but feel connected to the classic rock and roll that was born stateside.
Kindred spirits with the highly Americanised Rolling Stones, who brought R&B to the finest London establishments, Mick Jagger and his band were the unlikely posh pioneers of a rough and ready rock sound in the UK.
When it came to The Rolling Stones celebrating the anniversary of their formation, 50 years after their 1962 debut show at the Marquee Club, Hynde picked her favourite Stones song for the Telegraph. Paying homage to the chaos and excitement of the 1970s music scene, just as the Pretenders were getting going and the Stones dominated the rock scene, her choice came from the 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
“It really captures the druggy, sloppy mood that everyone was in love with in the seventies, which I think was probably the most beloved era for the Stones,” she said of her choice – ‘Sway’.
The track holds fond memories for Hynde, and not just out of nostalgia. In the early 2000s, The Pretenders supported The Rolling Stones on their Licks tour, where Hynde remembers hearing the ‘70s track. She said: “I remember hearing it in a news stand in Spain one morning. The Pretenders were supporting them on tour and every night me and my band would make up a wish list of songs they didn’t play that night,” she told the newspaper.
“When I heard Sway that morning, I thought ‘Bingo! That’s my boys!’” she added.
Initially released as a B-side to ‘Wild Horses’, ‘Sway’ is the Rolling Stones at their blues rock finest. It’s rich and layered to sultry perfection, featuring the whole band coming together with slide guitars and even Mick Jagger’s first-ever electric guitar performance on a record.
As Mick Jagger puts on his best blues, country drawl that we’ve come to know and love, the words he’s actually saying have been up for debate for a while. Even Hynde admits, “I could never work out what the words in the chorus were. I still don’t know.”
