The guitar work of James Honeyman and Hynde is equally memorable, as the slight echo and distortion are truly perfect and almost mask the fact that the song revolves around a simple, three note progression. This unique playing time instantly makes the song like nothing else ever recorded, and yet it also gives the song a speed that is more akin to the punk rock style than that of the "standard" rock composition. Throwing all convention to the wind, "Tattooed Love Boys" is actually played in 7/16 time, a signature which is rarely found in any genre at any point in history.
While there are many amazing aspects to "Tattooed Love Boys," perhaps the most obvious is the seemingly odd rhythm which runs throughout nearly the entire song. The song kicks off in high gear, with a fast paced drum beat and the unmistakable, cycling guitar riff.
Though there are many fantastic tracks on the album, one can experience the true power and genius behind The Pretenders on their legendary 1980 single, "Tattooed Love Boys." Filled with some of the groups' most enduring songs, the album is a brilliant blend of musical approaches, and the album instantly solidified both the band, as well as frontwoman Chrissie Hynde as icons of music. To call The Pretenders "original" is a massive understatement, and though many have tried since, very few bands have been able to produce as unique and hard rocking a record at any point in their career as one will find on The Pretenders' indispensable 1980 self-titled debut. Emerging from the unexpected musical hotbed of Akron, OH along with the likes of DEVO and many other groups that walked this same line, The Pretenders managed a string of pop hits, nearly all of which were punk at their core, yet the general public failed to see this simple fact. Though their general public persona categorizes them as one of the most important early "alternative" or almost "new wave" bands, the fact of the matter is, The Pretenders were as punk rock as punk rock gets. One can easily fined examples of this in everything from jazz to hip-hop to metal, yet when one digs deeper, discovering the "true" genre of a song and be both surprising and rewarding. By this, one must understand that in many cases, a song is placed into a genre in which it does not belong, simply because the artist(s) in question have done such a fantastic job of hiding the true nature of their music. Often times, one of the most amazing things that can be accomplished in music is when a song is able to completely disguise itself and "pass" as something that it is not.
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