Before now, I’d never heard a Pretenders album all the way through. I finally made the leap with Learning to Crawl, the latest album I’m including in my ‘Decades’ exploration of the year 1984.

Learning to Crawl was the rock band’s third album, and their first with a new lineup, after two of the original four members died of drug overdoses. Lead singer/songwriter Chrissie Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers eventually enlisted guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster to flesh out the band for the album’s recording. But first, another duo recorded the single ‘Back On the Chain Gang’ backed with ‘My City Was Gone,’ two songs that would number among the band’s most popular.

In addition to those tracks, Learning to Crawl featured singles ‘Middle of the Road,’ ‘Show Me,’ the cover ‘Thin Line Between Love and Hate,’ and ‘2000 Miles,’ which became a Christmas staple in the UK.

The album offers a refreshing blend of alternative rock, New Wave, rockabilly, and even something resembling funk in ‘My City Was Gone,’ a track Rush Limbaugh used (without permission) to open his radio broadcast. Hynde later negotiated a financial settlement allowing Limbaugh to use the song in exchange for money that she promptly donated to PETA, an organization he hated.

I really enjoyed this album, especially the aforementioned singles. Hynde is a sharp lyricist and a nimble vocalist, and the band (rotating members and all) gives her music urgency and bite. This listen has me interested in checking out their first two, equally celebrated, albums.