THE PRETENDERS vs. The Dreaded Secind Album Syndrome...

Late one cloudless summer afternoon, Chrissie Hynde can be found in the historic English West Country town of Bath.

Another stop on another tour for the Pretenders, the groups first set of live dates since some ten months ago the curtain came down on the 120 or so shows the four-piece had played in support of Pretenders, a first LP that sold over two million copies worldwide and established the outfit as one of the most successful acts to arrive in the slipstream of punk.

Group songwriter and singer Chrissie is sitting on the bed in a modern automated hotel bedroom, the open window of which lets in a cooling light breeze and overlooks the slow flow of the River Avon and the white restored Regency buildings on its opposite bank.

Chrissie displays no great interest in the scenery, however. With drummer Martin Chambers gazing over her shoulder, her attention is focused on the costly appearance of the heavily posed, 60s-like front cover shot of Pretenders II, the art work for which has just been brought down from London by manager Dave Hill.