Wow…I’ve stumbled across Gold here! Rare film of 2 great guys that formed a great band. I too…wish Pete and James were still here on this beautiful planet playing in this great band..The Pretenders. ❤
Good to know! My initial impression was that he was trying a little too hard to be cool and that he was a little dense, but in interviews and performances I see him being silly and laughing with his friends - he was no fool. Also he's great on piano! Proper musician. Very cool you knew him.
Thanks a million for this. I never knew what these members sounded like as persons sharing their band experiences and opinions. Rest peacefully Pete Farndon.
Yeah I thought the same..they just were cutouts before who existed in band shots and you had to imagine how they sounded..great to see! Pete Farndon was a bit of a style icon to me as a bass player back then..I copied his hair and leather jacket but had no idea he spoke!
Unbelievable, this guy is dead for 37 years... .... I really held onto Pete around met 30-ies, when i was playing bass in bands myself... I even played a white precision....I was searching for a hero, and found it in Pete... I saw the band in Holland three years ago... with the current bass player looking a bit like Pete, with his biker jacket on. His best look i think.... Henri Padovani describes his last days with Pete in his book Secret Policman and the moment that he found him dead... I'm really curious where his White Fender Precision is these days..... In the posession of Martin? Thanks for all your inspiration Pete, i really needed it back then....
I met him a time or two, and even did some equipment shifting for The Cheeks at two or three Hereford and Worcester venues. Not that anyone would ever remember my very minor role. I think I originally talked to Pete when he was playing for the Bushwackers at Aberystwyth Kings Hall about 1976. I commented on his non Australian accident and it turned out we lived in spitting distance of each other outside Hereford, and even had mutual friends. Later, I saw him at gigs without even realising he had worked with the Bushwackers on one tour. I also just happened to be in the same village on the day of his funeral, but only realised later that he was no longer with us. And my mother was a travelling companion of Pete's mother, Grace. I believe I talked to Grace myself about 1982. The Pretenders, minus Chrissie turned up in a certain notorious Hereford pub one night. I think James, Pete and Martin did not remember me by that time, so I got talking to a person who I assume was Grace (by the looks of my mother's travel photos and Christmas cards etc.) Grace died in Hay on Wye about ten years ago. Let's put it this way. She was not greatly impressed by Chrissie. I also used to live close to Mick Ralphs, and saw The Hoople at a few gigs. Also Verden Allen, who was in both Mott and The Cheeks. I went to his house in Hinton one time, to borrow some equipment for another band. Verden seems to live in Usk now. I am not sure where Mick lives these days, but I think he is now in pretty poor health. And Martin Chambers is living in a barn conversion somewhere in Herefordshire, and probably still more than a bit pissed off by Chrissie. ;-) Although I do know that Chrissie and the band visited Martin last year. So sad that the original band was so short lived. I particularly remember a gig at Malvern Winter Gardens, where The Cheeks supported Eddie & The Hot Rods. It was such a good gig that both bands, and their road crew got together in the band room for a very friendly chat afterwards.
@@222LightningI wonder the same.. Pete was one of the best bassists of that era for me. I think he could be sloppy on stage which he kind of admits to here but in the studio his work was excellent.
Interesting I just noticed Martin thinking to himself when he hears Pete talking. Martin was arguably the smartest of the bunch of the guys. He was more "careful" where the other two guys weren't. As fans, you will never know the real dynamics of the group. The money, the power struggles, relationships and of course "distractions". I am going to guess that these guys had some sort of limited deal as far as their share of the bands income. I think that changed later as I recall Martin saying he got back in the group by selling his limited rights etc back to CH? There was some publishing for them as there were some co written tunes but though they are a "group" it is CH first and last.
When bands like this oozed such cool naturally, tattoos were the last thing they needed. Whereas today, every other dime-a-dozen dork is covered in them thinking they're so 'cutting-edge' and 'rebelliously cool'. (yawn...)
As far as I can tell, Jimmy never gave an interview, or when there was an interview happening, he either got out, or if he was present, he didn't say a word.
There was also that Tiswas interview where he speaks the most. There's also a hurting shortage of interviews. Go for the written interviews. He certainly wasn't shy but I think that he focused mostly on musical things.
Oh I’m sure Chrissie would have made it eventually. PF has very little to do with the success of Pretenders. Chrissie’s songs and Jimmy’s guitar playing was what elevated them to early greatness. Even in this video you can see how Pete would wind others up. It’s the arrogance without anything to justify it
@@vanstan7929 "Without James and Pete, there would be no Pretenders. Without the Pretenders, James and Pete would still be here." -- CH [Paraphrase, probably -- from Reckless]... Chrissie would've made it, but with another less innovative band, bc she admits she was too punk, and JHS was the one who brought out the melody in her. But who hooked her up with MC and JHS? Pete, so he *was* integral to the band's success; he got 50% of the band together. Add him, and that's 75% of the band. And the Hereford blokes were all mates, so the chemistry was good in the beginning. Pete wasn't arrogant; underneath all that leather, he was very sensitive, and CH admits she could've been kinder to him. She dumped him hard, and most arrogant guys wouldn't have cared much and just enjoyed all the groupies, but he held a torch for her for a long time. He's not winding up anyone here. Watch the only other interview of him on here and you'll see the rest of the band is winding him up. And he's very respectful talking about Pat Benetar and other bands. He was also thrust into fame practically overnight, and he probably battled imposter syndrome and needed reassurance like any sensitive person, and CH was always lavishing praise on JHS and MC and acting like PF was dispensable. My favorite Pretenders songs are the rockers ("Brass in Pocket" is actually my least favorite song on the first album), and Pete was the one fighting to keep the hard edge. I do love the ballads, but the haunting ones -- "English Roses," "Day After Day," and esp. "Lovers of Today." (LOVE that song.) "Talk of the Town" is more power pop. Also love it. "Learning to Crawl" is the best Pretenders album without JHS and PF, tho they did get to rehearse some of the songs before they died, so they probably contributed to the arrangements. These are all just opinions, but drugs change people, and I don't think it's fair to judge Pete by how he acted while battling substance abuse with the hardest substance. He was a good guy by all accounts. Then he started doing smack and acting out of character, like punching people and marrying a model overnight and leaving his longtime gf wondering what the hell was going on. Poor Pete, but he had a stellar run. Thank you for everything, Pete.
You are right to point out in the "other interview" about the rest of the band disrespecting him and in particular JHS who seems very much disdainful of him. I wonder where and why that change came about it. I think it's more complicated and personal than just, "Jimmy only cared about the music". @@lawnerd9263
Don"t fight about my name, it don"t mean that much, I wish you wouldn't mention me at all!. Prophetic words written by JHS a year before he joined the Pretenders whilst in another Hereford band called the Hawks.
You can say what you want, and it is very tragic that these guys died, and i have a lot of respect for Chrissie Hynde, but back in the late 70s, noone that i knew ever bought a Pretenders album. They were a bit if a laughing stock.
I'm sorry, I appreciate this post but it's clear that Farndon is a constant interrupter, thinks he knows it all and not focused on the music. A capable player for his times? Absolutely. But a good guys to be in a band with? NO. That's why he was kicked out, and took JHS along with him. Minimal sympathy for this guy.
Agreed. You can see why they fired him. Yes, romantic folks, he was fired for playing shit and being physically abusive to total strangers. JHS had had enough more than Chrissie and Martin
He actually comes across well in the two MTV interviews that are up but he did get caught up in the lifestyle and obviously the drugs. Interesting though Chrissie has said she could have been kinder to him as he never really got over her dumping him and even worse Ray Davis who she left him for was hanging out with the band, must have been tough. As Chrissie also said "If it wasn't for Pete and Jimmy we wouldn't be here, and if it wasn't for The Pretenders they'd probably both still be here".
@@nonnayoubuzinnes1669 Exactly. I obviously had your comment in the back of my head when I wrote a more longwinded version above. Haha. Wish CH had written more about Pete in Reckless. Lucky woman to have had Pete and Ray Davies!
@@lawnerd9263 I felt a bit for Pete. Must have been gut wrenching when she started seeing Ray as he knew he was Chrissie's idol and he was left in the dust. He already had drug issues as he lost all his teeth before he even joined The Pretenders but her hooking up with Ray just tipped him further over the edge. Would have loved him and JHS to have lived and made more music, drugs took and still take far too many lives😟
Wow…I’ve stumbled across Gold here! Rare film of 2 great guys that formed a great band. I too…wish Pete and James were still here on this beautiful planet playing in this great band..The Pretenders. ❤
Went to school with Pete! He was a good guy! RIP
Wow small world
Good to know! My initial impression was that he was trying a little too hard to be cool and that he was a little dense, but in interviews and performances I see him being silly and laughing with his friends - he was no fool. Also he's great on piano! Proper musician. Very cool you knew him.
Why do talented people die so young?
RIP Pete. 🏴🇺🇸
@@saturnsabyssaccording to Chrissie Hynde your first impression was correct
Thanks a million for this. I never knew what these members sounded like as persons sharing their band experiences and opinions. Rest peacefully Pete Farndon.
Yeah I thought the same..they just were cutouts before who existed in band shots and you had to imagine how they sounded..great to see! Pete Farndon was a bit of a style icon to me as a bass player back then..I copied his hair and leather jacket but had no idea he spoke!
what if pete and james were still alive??? all the music we missed..The Pretenders were such an influence on me...what a band!!
Fascinating that a band that went away 40+ years ago is still interesting.
the pretenders never went away.....they still tour..
@@davidmack4495 My bad. Was referring only to their original lineup. Saw them in concert last month of this year. Chrissie still rocks!
@ david Only the bones, not the flesh and blood…
Unbelievable, this guy is dead for 37 years... .... I really held onto Pete around met 30-ies, when i was playing bass in bands myself... I even played a white precision....I was searching for a hero, and found it in Pete... I saw the band in Holland three years ago... with the current bass player looking a bit like Pete, with his biker jacket on. His best look i think.... Henri Padovani describes his last days with Pete in his book Secret Policman and the moment that he found him dead... I'm really curious where his White Fender Precision is these days..... In the posession of Martin? Thanks for all your inspiration Pete, i really needed it back then....
the white Fender is with his family so is thejapanese sun
Long live Pete Farndon.
Farndon is the most charismatic musician I've ever seen. He was the perfect specimen
No, he wasn't the perfect specimen. He was using drugs heavily and wasting away. Don't glamorize drug use.
@kenblair6622 that's not what I said
Pete was barrel-rolling “The Hokey Pokey” there on the pi-an-O!..
I met him a time or two, and even did some equipment shifting for The Cheeks at two or three Hereford and Worcester venues. Not that anyone would ever remember my very minor role. I think I originally talked to Pete when he was playing for the Bushwackers at Aberystwyth Kings Hall about 1976. I commented on his non Australian accident and it turned out we lived in spitting distance of each other outside Hereford, and even had mutual friends. Later, I saw him at gigs without even realising he had worked with the Bushwackers on one tour. I also just happened to be in the same village on the day of his funeral, but only realised later that he was no longer with us. And my mother was a travelling companion of Pete's mother, Grace. I believe I talked to Grace myself about 1982. The Pretenders, minus Chrissie turned up in a certain notorious Hereford pub one night. I think James, Pete and Martin did not remember me by that time, so I got talking to a person who I assume was Grace (by the looks of my mother's travel photos and Christmas cards etc.) Grace died in Hay on Wye about ten years ago. Let's put it this way. She was not greatly impressed by Chrissie. I also used to live close to Mick Ralphs, and saw The Hoople at a few gigs. Also Verden Allen, who was in both Mott and The Cheeks. I went to his house in Hinton one time, to borrow some equipment for another band. Verden seems to live in Usk now. I am not sure where Mick lives these days, but I think he is now in pretty poor health. And Martin Chambers is living in a barn conversion somewhere in Herefordshire, and probably still more than a bit pissed off by Chrissie. ;-) Although I do know that Chrissie and the band visited Martin last year. So sad that the original band was so short lived. I particularly remember a gig at Malvern Winter Gardens, where The Cheeks supported Eddie & The Hot Rods. It was such a good gig that both bands, and their road crew got together in the band room for a very friendly chat afterwards.
Almost 40 years now since Pete Farndon passing Rest in Peace
I wonder why Chrissie described him as being limited as a musician. Could have been more of personality conflict than lack of talant.
@@222LightningI wonder the same.. Pete was one of the best bassists of that era for me. I think he could be sloppy on stage which he kind of admits to here but in the studio his work was excellent.
@@222Lightning Chrissie's favorite subject is herself can't stand her
@@222Lightning Pete was the real deal a true rocker which Chrissie could never be.
Interesting I just noticed Martin thinking to himself when he hears Pete talking. Martin was arguably the smartest of the bunch of the guys. He was more "careful" where the other two guys weren't. As fans, you will never know the real dynamics of the group. The money, the power struggles, relationships and of course "distractions". I am going to guess that these guys had some sort of limited deal as far as their share of the bands income. I think that changed later as I recall Martin saying he got back in the group by selling his limited rights etc back to CH? There was some publishing for them as there were some co written tunes but though they are a "group" it is CH first and last.
When bands like this oozed such cool naturally, tattoos were the last thing they needed. Whereas today, every other dime-a-dozen dork is covered in them thinking they're so 'cutting-edge' and 'rebelliously cool'. (yawn...)
A valid point. The lead singer of AIR SUPPLY! is covered in Tats.
@@anthonyv1719 Exactly! 🤣🤣
As far as I can tell, Jimmy never gave an interview, or when there was an interview happening, he either got out, or if he was present, he didn't say a word.
Not so. Jas Obrecht did an excellent interview.
Actually there is a great one on You Tube
There was also that Tiswas interview where he speaks the most. There's also a hurting shortage of interviews. Go for the written interviews. He certainly wasn't shy but I think that he focused mostly on musical things.
Where's Jimmy? False advertising.
In the backyard of a church in Hereford. St. Peter's? Pipe and Lyde? Across from the water gardens off A49?
00:00 Bottom left of the screen. If you blink you'll miss him👀
@@yournamehere7182 And we did
@@yournamehere7182 Just enough time to have a laugh at the camera and say "I'm outa here guys!"
@@PoppysGuitar really?
Pete Farndon talking about the "bad luck" of meeting Chrissie Hynde. If it wasn't for PF there wouldn't be a Pretenders.
Oh I’m sure Chrissie would have made it eventually. PF has very little to do with the success of Pretenders. Chrissie’s songs and Jimmy’s guitar playing was what elevated them to early greatness. Even in this video you can see how Pete would wind others up. It’s the arrogance without anything to justify it
@@vanstan7929 Well I think arrogance comes with the territory especially when you realize how difficult it was/is to make it in that business.
Read Chrissie Hyndes book 'Reckless.`
@@vanstan7929 "Without James and Pete, there would be no Pretenders. Without the Pretenders, James and Pete would still be here." -- CH [Paraphrase, probably -- from Reckless]... Chrissie would've made it, but with another less innovative band, bc she admits she was too punk, and JHS was the one who brought out the melody in her. But who hooked her up with MC and JHS? Pete, so he *was* integral to the band's success; he got 50% of the band together. Add him, and that's 75% of the band. And the Hereford blokes were all mates, so the chemistry was good in the beginning.
Pete wasn't arrogant; underneath all that leather, he was very sensitive, and CH admits she could've been kinder to him. She dumped him hard, and most arrogant guys wouldn't have cared much and just enjoyed all the groupies, but he held a torch for her for a long time. He's not winding up anyone here. Watch the only other interview of him on here and you'll see the rest of the band is winding him up. And he's very respectful talking about Pat Benetar and other bands.
He was also thrust into fame practically overnight, and he probably battled imposter syndrome and needed reassurance like any sensitive person, and CH was always lavishing praise on JHS and MC and acting like PF was dispensable.
My favorite Pretenders songs are the rockers ("Brass in Pocket" is actually my least favorite song on the first album), and Pete was the one fighting to keep the hard edge. I do love the ballads, but the haunting ones -- "English Roses," "Day After Day," and esp. "Lovers of Today." (LOVE that song.) "Talk of the Town" is more power pop. Also love it. "Learning to Crawl" is the best Pretenders album without JHS and PF, tho they did get to rehearse some of the songs before they died, so they probably contributed to the arrangements.
These are all just opinions, but drugs change people, and I don't think it's fair to judge Pete by how he acted while battling substance abuse with the hardest substance. He was a good guy by all accounts. Then he started doing smack and acting out of character, like punching people and marrying a model overnight and leaving his longtime gf wondering what the hell was going on. Poor Pete, but he had a stellar run. Thank you for everything, Pete.
You are right to point out in the "other interview" about the rest of the band disrespecting him and in particular JHS who seems very much disdainful of him. I wonder where and why that change came about it. I think it's more complicated and personal than just, "Jimmy only cared about the music". @@lawnerd9263
Cocaine is a helluva drug
He looks like Chrissie Hynde’s brother
Peter Farndon - STOP YOUR DRUGS
Don"t fight about my name, it don"t mean that much, I wish you wouldn't mention me at all!. Prophetic words written by JHS a year before he joined the Pretenders whilst in another Hereford band called the Hawks.
Thats Martin, not James...
Farndon and Honeyman-Scott were blasted out of their gourds on H. Sad stuff.
not quite
They didn’t need it either . They were naturally talented. They could be just enthusiastic .
That's not JHS
You can say what you want, and it is very tragic that these guys died, and i have a lot of respect for Chrissie Hynde, but back in the late 70s, noone that i knew ever bought a Pretenders album. They were a bit if a laughing stock.
Should have stayed away from dope.
Jimmy: Booze, cocaine......Pete: Herion.
Farndon speedballed. He used heroin and cocaine
Who is the guy in the red shirt???
that is Pete Farndon, the original bassist of the Pretenders
@@wasr10a lol I know who Pete is I meant the guy standing in the background
@@PoppysGuitar That would be Pete's reflection in the mirror...
@@TweedSuit bahahah
@@PoppysGuitarPete's backup, Pete
Was a funk jonkie😡😡😡
Surprised no tatts
Stoned.
Not an interview with James Honyman Scott. Bogus title.
I'm sorry, I appreciate this post but it's clear that Farndon is a constant interrupter, thinks he knows it all and not focused on the music. A capable player for his times? Absolutely. But a good guys to be in a band with? NO. That's why he was kicked out, and took JHS along with him. Minimal sympathy for this guy.
he came across as a twat in this interview and clearly no respect for the drummer, Martin Chambers
Agreed. You can see why they fired him. Yes, romantic folks, he was fired for playing shit and being physically abusive to total strangers. JHS had had enough more than Chrissie and Martin
He actually comes across well in the two MTV interviews that are up but he did get caught up in the lifestyle and obviously the drugs. Interesting though Chrissie has said she could have been kinder to him as he never really got over her dumping him and even worse Ray Davis who she left him for was hanging out with the band, must have been tough. As Chrissie also said "If it wasn't for Pete and Jimmy we wouldn't be here, and if it wasn't for The Pretenders they'd probably both still be here".
@@nonnayoubuzinnes1669 Exactly. I obviously had your comment in the back of my head when I wrote a more longwinded version above. Haha.
Wish CH had written more about Pete in Reckless. Lucky woman to have had Pete and Ray Davies!
@@lawnerd9263 I felt a bit for Pete. Must have been gut wrenching when she started seeing Ray as he knew he was Chrissie's idol and he was left in the dust. He already had drug issues as he lost all his teeth before he even joined The Pretenders but her hooking up with Ray just tipped him further over the edge. Would have loved him and JHS to have lived and made more music, drugs took and still take far too many lives😟
HE WAS GORGEOUS