1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: story about being there, about showing up early, about standing 3 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: close enough to history that you can feel the heat 4 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: coming off of it. This is about a woman who 5 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: found herself in the future, watching bands form, watching cultures collide, 6 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: in the world being remade in real time. Not as 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: a star, not yet anyways, but as a witness and 8 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: a survivor. This is also the story of an unprovoked attack, 9 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: about studded belts, bicycle chains, and a gun stashed underneath 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: the bar. It's about two marriage proposals and a woman 11 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: who wasn't about to be tied down, a woman who 12 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: responded to the chaos, violence and loss surrounding her by 13 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: making a lot of noise. This is a story about 14 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: Chrissy Heine from The Pretenders, so of course it's a 15 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: story about great music. Unlike that clip I played for 16 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 17 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called are 18 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:31,559 Speaker 1: You Ready Girls? Mk? Two. I played you that loop 19 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: because I can't afford the rights to le Freak by 20 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: Chic and why would I play you that specific slice 21 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: of stranded outside Studio fifty four Cheese Could I afford it? 22 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 23 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: January twentieth, nineteen seventy nine, and that was the day 24 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: that Chrissy Hines banned. The Pretenders released their first single, 25 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: A hard fought, hard won victory for someone who had 26 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: spent years lurking on the sidelines. As the Clash, the 27 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: Sex Pistols, and UK punk at Large were busy being born. 28 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: On this episode punk at Ground Zero, Chaos, Violence, Loss, Survival, 29 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: the origins of the Pretenders, Chrissy Hind, I'm Jake Brennan, 30 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. She was there. She was there 31 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two when the Starman Ziggy Starred Us 32 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: first fell to Earth and landed somewhere in Ohio. She 33 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: was there in London in nineteen seventy six, she watched 34 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: Mick Jones and Joe's strummer meet and play together for 35 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: the first time. She heard Joe say to Mick, don't 36 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: do it that way, You'll never make a dime as 37 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: she was there when the Clash rehearsed for the first time. 38 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: The Damned Too anyone could see they were born to kill. 39 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: She was there when two members of the Sex Pistols 40 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: agreed to marry her so that she could get her 41 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: citizenship in England. And she was there in nineteen seventy 42 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: seven at the Roxy when Don Lets the Rebel Dread 43 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: spun reggae and dub records at a punk show. She 44 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: watched as the culture clashed in real time and in stereo. 45 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: She was there in nineteen eighty one in Milwaukee when 46 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: the violent femmes were just buskers on a dirty street 47 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: corner waiting to be plucked from obscurity. Chrissy Hine was 48 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: there when punk rock in New Wave took their first steps, 49 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: but first. She was here on the campus of Kent 50 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: State University in nineteen seventy tin Soldiers and Nixon's coming, 51 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: when the crack of discharged National Guard rifles echoed nearby. 52 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: The scene was chaos, thousands of students refusing to leave. 53 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: They were thinking of Cambodia as flanks of olive green 54 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: reflected in the whites of their eyes. Rocks and tear 55 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: gas sword through the air. Car windows, smashed American flags, 56 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: burned garbage cans rolled into the middle of the street. 57 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: Their contents had flames. The rotc buildings smoldered in the 58 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: near distance, and the guardsmen were up on the hill. 59 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: Now they were outnumbered, but they had the power, They 60 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: had the m ones. They turned and faced the angry, 61 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: confused student body. Clarity was coming in the form of 62 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: a bullet. The guardsmen raised their weapons, and then they 63 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: fired for thirteen seconds. Shots rang out nearly seventy in total. 64 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: Kent State freshman Chrissy Heine, who was then still going 65 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: by Christine or Christie or just playing Chris, ran her 66 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: hands across her arms and legs, assuming she'd be shot. 67 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: But she was lucky. Unlike the four who now lay 68 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: on the university campus dead, or the nine others who'd 69 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: been injured by the guardsman's gunfire. Chrissy Hein was there, 70 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: but she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. The disorder, 71 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: the violence, the death. None of it made sense. For 72 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: weeks later, it still didn't make sense. But Crosby, Stills, 73 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: Nash and Young had released a new single, Ohio, a 74 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: fiery piece of protest music that memorialized the unspeakable things 75 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: Chrissy and thousands of others had witnessed. The song didn't 76 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: bring those dead kids back but it brought a feeling 77 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: of catharsist to those who had been there. Rock and 78 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: roll was, by definition cathartic. It defended you, it supported you. 79 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: It didn't impose its will with brute's strength or bend 80 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: you into conformity. And it gave you freedom, if only 81 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: for two minutes and fifty eight seconds at a time, 82 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: as was the case with the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. 83 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: Song even better than a forty five spinning on a 84 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: turntable was live rock and roll. Later, Chrissy hin would write, 85 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: when a band played times stood still, A band was time. 86 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: It was a big bang, one song after another, these 87 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: sequential eras or periods of history being made. A band 88 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: was creation. It was life, a life made in God's image, 89 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: because God was absolutely a rock and roller. God wore 90 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: his hair in a cliff and wrapped his tattooed deltoids 91 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: in a biker jacket, except on Sundays when he put 92 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: on a proper suit and tie. But he did it 93 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: all casual, like the top button of his pressed white 94 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: shirt unbuttoned, his tie loosened. A band was not only 95 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: the way of the world, it was how the world 96 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: began and how it would end. And Chrissy Hine, for one, 97 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: would not rest like God on the Seventh Day, not 98 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: until she had a band of her own, until she 99 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: was the one making time stand still. Even before she 100 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: was an adult, bands were all Chrissy Hine cared about. 101 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: The other girls could have their boys and their Revlon 102 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,119 Speaker 1: and all that white picket fence stuff. Chrissy just wanted 103 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: a Gibson Melody Maker and a copy of The Stooge's 104 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: Funhouse to play along to. But this being in a 105 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: band business would never fly in Ohio, acron Kyahoga Falls, Cleveland. 106 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: They all felt like they were stuck in the past. 107 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: The future was across the pond in London, the only 108 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: place on planet Earth where somebody like Ziggy's Stardust could 109 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: be conceived. It was September nineteen seventy two, twenty one 110 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: year old Chrissy he found herself walking next to the 111 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: Starman himself, immediately after his American debut at the Cleveland 112 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: Music Hall. Was it fate, was it luck? It didn't matter. 113 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: It was opportunity, an opportunity to observe, to absorb, to 114 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: see firsthand how freedom simply took style and attitude and 115 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: badassor she wasn't one of those groupies. Ziggy knew that. 116 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: He knew that as he slipped into the passenger seat 117 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: of Chrissy's mom's Oldsmobile Cutlass and Chrissy, just twenty one 118 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: years old, took the Starman and the Spiders from Mars 119 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: to one of her favorite local spots for dinner. Months later, 120 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: she was still thinking about it, about Ziggi, about English bands, 121 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: about England period. She felt the island call to her. 122 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: The restlessness brewing at her core was switched on here 123 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: in Ohio. She was a known quantity. She was attracted 124 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,239 Speaker 1: to rock and roll, which meant she was attracted to toughness, 125 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: to danger, to trouble. The Kailudes were trouble, as were 126 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: the gang of bikers that circled around her one night, 127 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: like wolves sizing up their prey. But she was nobody's prey. 128 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: She was no lamb. She was a pack animal just 129 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: like the rest of them. She could run with the 130 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: toughest of the tough. She just needed her own gang 131 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: of outlaws, a gang to get you through, to help 132 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: you endure and become strong. But Chrissy Hine wasn't here 133 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: just to be strong. She was here to be free, 134 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: and soon she was. She was there in nineteen seventy three, London. 135 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: Paul It took was a one way ticket. Chrissy him 136 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: pushed open the door of the liquor store and stepped outside. 137 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: Slim button down shirt, vertical stripes opened at the collar, untucked, 138 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: lived in low rise jeans, metal studs glittered down the legs, 139 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: dark ankle boots below, and Keith Richard's shock of hair above. 140 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: Her androgynist secondhand attitude was all confidence as she made 141 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: her way down the sidewalk, the stolen bottle of cheap 142 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: wine stuffed under one arm. From there she caught the tube, 143 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: wrote it from one stop to the next, wrote it 144 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: just because there was nothing like it to ride back 145 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: home in Ohio, before finally arriving at where she was 146 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: now living, a small rented room in a house in Clapham, 147 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: Southwest London. Inside her room she found the few things 148 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: she brought over from the States, a change of clothes, 149 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: a couple hundred bucks, Give her Take, and her copy 150 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: of the Velvet Undergrounds, White Light, White Heat, and Iggy 151 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: and the Stooges Is Funhouse and Rob Howard. She listened 152 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: to the records for the millionth time and imagined she 153 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: was fronting the bands. If only it were that simple, 154 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 1: like how some things in life were right place, right time, 155 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: that simple twist of fate that another of Chrissy's heroes, 156 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: Bob Dylan, was writing about somewhere at this very moment. 157 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: But fate didn't lead her to a band, not yet. Instead, 158 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: fate led her to the next best thing. Journalists, music journalists, 159 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: that is, the kind who fancied themselves a bit like 160 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: Hunter S. Thompson, fearing little and loathing only the music 161 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,439 Speaker 1: they couldn't stand, and who in nineteen seventy three seventy 162 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: four were diligently plying their trade long before Elvis Costello 163 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: or Frank Zappa or whoever. It was said, writing about 164 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: music is like dancing about architecture. I believe it was 165 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: actually Charles Pokowski, but there was no dancing around it. 166 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: Writers at The New Musical Express aka the NME aka 167 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: the premier weekly rock paper in the UK, writers like 168 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: Nick Kent and Ian McDonald were drawn to Chrissy's passion 169 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: for music in her acerbic American tongue, which would gladly 170 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: lash out at any fool Charlton or Pampus ass and 171 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: in print no less, it didn't matter if you were 172 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: Neil Diamond or Brian Eno. Nick Kent was drawn to 173 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: more than Chrissy's tough attitude. The two had barely met 174 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: when he moved into her place and they began a relationship. 175 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: And this happened simultaneously with Christy getting hired as a 176 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: music writer for the NME. But the critic thing was 177 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: never meant to be. She wasn't one to skulk on 178 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: the sidelines to simply observe and report. She was built 179 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: for the front mines. She just needed to get herself 180 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: closer to the real action. So when Malcolm McLaren and 181 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: Vivian Westwood offered Chrissy a job at their cutting edge 182 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,439 Speaker 1: fetish boutique on King's Road, she took the gig in 183 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: a heartbeat. The shop had been known as Let It Rock, 184 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: a haven for teddy boys. Soon it would be rebranded 185 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: simply as sex, but at the moment they were calling 186 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: it too fast to live, too young to die. The 187 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: shop was frequented by Chrissy's kind of people, creative types, outsiders, 188 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: restless oddballs and schemers. Susie Sue Adam Ann, John Leyden. 189 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: If you wanted a psychedelic suit, something Keith Richards would wear, 190 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: you went up the street to Granny Takes a Trip. 191 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: But if you wanted leather, rubber or vinyl. If you 192 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: wanted studs, chains, tip clamps, and stiletto's so sharp they 193 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: could slice open an envelope, then you went to Welcome 194 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: in Vivian's Place. Their shop was ground zero for what 195 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: was coming, but before punk actually broke, before it was 196 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: called punk. Malcolm and Vivian's shop was also ground zero 197 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: for where Chrissy Hines's first major professional and personal relationship 198 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: in London came to a loud, violent end. Nick Kent 199 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: was pissed. He burst through the front door at four 200 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: thirty Kings Road, dramatically enough for everyone inside Malcolm and 201 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: Vivian's boutique to notice him. Heads turned and eyes went wide. 202 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: Here comes the NME guy making a mad dash for 203 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: the counter for his girlfriend or should I say ex girlfriend, 204 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: seeing as she had just dumped him. Like yesterday's news 205 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: to Chrissy, Nick was fish and chip paper. Now Chrissy 206 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: Hine didn't own Nick Kent anything. The only thing Nick 207 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: Kent had given Chrissy Hine other than a byline was 208 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: an STD. In fact, she didn't know anyone anything, because 209 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: here in London and Malcolm McLaren's shop, Chrissy Hahn was 210 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: a person of her own creation. She was becoming someone 211 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: that no one back in Ohio would recognize. She was 212 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: becoming free. And now here came the jilted lover, upset 213 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: about the breakup or about her leaving the paper, whatever 214 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: it was, and he was ready to punish her for 215 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: that freedom. A bewildered customer inside of Sex looked on 216 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: as Nick Kent reached the counter. Nick's face went beat red. 217 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: He grabbed at his belt buckle with his hands, fumbling 218 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: the undo the clasp, and when he did, he then 219 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: yanked on the belt, pulling it clean off his waist 220 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: and one fell swoop. The belt was cheap, but it 221 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: was studded with large coins that could inflict maximum damage 222 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: if wielded like a whip. He wrapped one under the 223 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: belt around his fist and began to swing, and the 224 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: leather smacked the counter and the noise it made was 225 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: shockingly loud. Malcolm McLaren freaked out and hit the deck, 226 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: yelling something about a madman, and Nick Kent swung again, 227 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: this time whipping Chrissy with the weight of the heavy 228 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: coins on the belt, and Chrissie screamed. She could already 229 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: feel a welt forming in her periphery. She could now 230 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: see the bewildered customer mobilizing himself. The customer's fist came 231 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: quickly barreling into the melee, and it caught Nick Kent 232 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: in the mouth, and there was a sound of bone 233 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: and flesh, a flash of blood, and in a blink, 234 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: one of Nick's teeth tumbled from his gums as he 235 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: fell backward and hit the floor. He was out cold. 236 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: But Chrissie wasn't waiting around to see what would happen next. 237 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: She was already out the door, her heart pounding, running 238 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: toward the western end of King's Road, where the ghosts 239 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: of old Victorian songs haunted what was known as the 240 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: World's End. The next morning, the world was still there, 241 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: but Chrissy hins roll in it had changed again. For 242 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: a guy who trafficked in shock, Malcolm McLaren didn't quite 243 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: know what to say, so he said it as best 244 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: he could. It's too confusing you working here. It was 245 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: his roundabout way of saying you're fired. Vivian Westwood agreed, 246 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: too much drama. Chrissy found herself back where she'd started 247 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: when she'd first arrived in London. She had no money, 248 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: and she'd made great contacts, but she had no prospects. 249 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: Worst of all, she had no band. But the stakes 250 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: were higher now. She could no longer afford rent, which 251 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: meant she was sleeping on the desks and floors of friends, 252 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: And she had no permit, which meant her very status 253 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: in Europe was now illegal. She had no other choice, 254 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: so she went round all the record labels in town, 255 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 1: and because her split with the enemy had yet to 256 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: really be broadcast, she used her press credentials to procure 257 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: a stack of promotional albums, which she then took to 258 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: a record store and Soho sold them all, and then 259 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: used that money to a plane ticket that took her 260 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: right back to the belly of the most uninteresting, least 261 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: happening beast. Ohio, do you know how to use one 262 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: of these? The fat man at his stubby little fingers 263 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: wrapped around the handle of a revolver, which he just 264 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: pulled out of a drawer behind the bar at the 265 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: Hotel Garfield in Cleveland, Like this right, Chrissy hin said 266 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: nothing as the fat man cocked the gun with his 267 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: leathery thumb. God forbid you ever to use it. But 268 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: then again, God help any of these fucking wackos, you 269 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: have to pull it off. Chrissy's eyes scanned the room 270 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: and saw a few of these wackos at work, nursing 271 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 1: rounds of Johnny Walker Red well before noon, maxing out 272 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: their credit lines at a table in the corner with 273 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: the Garfield's resident bookmaker. It wasn't just the hotel. The 274 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: whole city was crawling with dangerous types, all of whom 275 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: had their own itchy fingers on the trigger. She wasn't 276 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: crazy about the necessity of a gun to ten bar, 277 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: but it was a job, the job that paid her 278 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: one hundred bucks a week, a job which also allowed 279 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: her to sing in Jack Rabbit, a local R and 280 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: B covers band she'd recently joined. They played stuff by 281 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: the Isles and the Commodores. Not a dream gig by 282 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 1: any stretch, but it was a gig and a band, 283 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 1: which is better than nothing. And then fate blew in 284 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,680 Speaker 1: off the Cuyahoga River. Chrissy was fired from the Hotel 285 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 1: Garfield after one of the regular soldiers of Grass in 286 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: the apartment building she lived in a Denis squalor in 287 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: which one had to climb into the sink to bathe 288 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: because the actual bathtub was busted burned to the ground, 289 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: and then Jack Rabbit fell apart. Like most small time 290 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: cover bands do, Chrissy was drifting a complete unknown, like 291 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: your guy Dylan would say. Oh, and this is where 292 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: fate comes in. It came in the form of a telegram, 293 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: and the telegram read come to Paris, We'll send ticket 294 00:19:53,400 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: sing in band, We'll be right back after this. We're We're, 295 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: We're Paris was a red herring. The gig was real, 296 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: the band was real. It all came as advertised. But 297 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: this particular gig, this band, this moment, it wasn't right. 298 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: It turns out that it was just Fate's way of 299 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: luring Chrissy Hin back to Europe, because as soon as 300 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: she bounced from the City of Light and went back 301 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: to London Town, that's when everything started to happen. That's 302 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: when Chrissy Hin found herself nearly becoming a member of 303 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,959 Speaker 1: not one, not two, but three seminal English punk bands, 304 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: only to miss each opportunity just slightly. She had no 305 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: one to blame or thank for it all other than 306 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: her old boss, Malcolm McLaren. It was nineteen seventy five 307 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: or thereabouts, and McLaren knew that Chrissy Hin had it all. 308 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: The fuck you attitude, the get fucked swagger, the fuck 309 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: off fringe miniskirt, and the tongue in cheek fuck men, 310 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: Valerie Salona's Scum Manifesto T shirt that she'd cribbed from 311 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: his store. He never knew she'd actually paid for those things, 312 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: but that vibe of badassory was part of her lore. 313 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: Just months earlier, when Chrissy was back in Ohio, all 314 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: pathetic and pitiful like a dog with a tail between 315 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: its legs, McLaren had actually written to her. He offered 316 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: to pay her airfare she returned to London to join 317 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: a new band he was forming. But if Christy was 318 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: one thing besides being tough and restless, she was loyal, 319 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: and at that moment she was loyal to the po dunk, 320 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: R and B cover band that she was in, and 321 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: now here she was watching the band that Malcolm McLaren 322 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:43,400 Speaker 1: had assembled, The Sex Pistols as they began their noisy 323 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: crusade of anarchy across the UK, and that my Friends 324 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: is band number one. That Chrissy him maybe would have 325 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: could have should have been a maybe if she hadn't 326 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: been almost four thousand miles away at the time. Now 327 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: onto ban number two, mcl nothing if not a man 328 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: of opportunity. Following the creation of the Pistols, he presented 329 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: Chrissy with a new opportunity. He introduced her to the 330 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,919 Speaker 1: guitarist Mick Jones, who was looking for a songwriting partner. 331 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 1: Chrissy and Mick went to his apartment, guitars in hand, 332 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: trading chords, trading vocal lines. Chrissy came into her own 333 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: with Mick sitting across from her. She was finding her voice, 334 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 1: finding like minded souls and maybe maybe it would have 335 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,680 Speaker 1: worked Chrissy and Mick in a band together if only 336 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: John Graham Miller aka Joe Strummer had not walked into 337 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: the picture and changed everything in an instant. Joe Strummer 338 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: couldn't even play guitar as well as Chrissy, but even 339 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: she had to agree the chemistry. The way that Joe's 340 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: grittiness balanced mixed sweetness was undeniable. Then that Folks was 341 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: the clash band number two that Chrissy high nearly helped launch, 342 00:22:55,560 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: which brings us to band number three. Malcolm McLaren was persistent. 343 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: Next he introduced Christy to a bass player named Ray 344 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: Burns and a drummer named Chris Miller. The trio called 345 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: themselves Masters of the Backside, which yeah, I know, and 346 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: they jammed in a church hall for some friends, mostly 347 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,480 Speaker 1: the sex boutique crowded. But no sooner was that performance 348 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: over than ray Burns started calling himself Captain Sensible and 349 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: Chris Miller was now going by rat Scabies. And before 350 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: she knew it, Chrissy hadn't dropped by the guys who 351 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: were about to be known as the Damned. So as 352 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: punk band number three soldiered on without Chrissy Hind in 353 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: their ranks, Chrissy was feeling that familiar sting of deja vu, 354 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,159 Speaker 1: no work, nowhere to live but an illegal squat, trying 355 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: not to take it too hard that she was always 356 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: the bridesmaid and never the bride when it came to bands. 357 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,959 Speaker 1: But wait, oh shit, that was it the bride? What 358 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: if she could literally be the bride? The bride of 359 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 1: an Englishman, that is, so that she could be granted 360 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: citizenship and could therefore prolonger time abroad. It was a 361 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: goofy enough proposition that John Lyden aka Johnny Rotten of 362 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: the sex Pistols agreed to do it when Chrisy asked. 363 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,879 Speaker 1: But that was just a few days before the Pistols 364 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: blew up. Now there was the talk of the town 365 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: courtesy of a scandalizing, profanity laced appearance on British television. 366 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: John now had a reputation to protect her something like that, 367 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: which was the excuse he gave Chrissy when he backed 368 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: out of the whole thing. No matter, Chrisy knew she 369 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: could convince Sid to do it. Sid Vicious was nineteen, 370 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: not yet a member of the sex Pistols, but everyone 371 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 1: who went to show's knew Sid. Sid had the look, 372 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: he had the sneer. He was Skinny Elvis on skid Row. 373 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: Sid walked the walk at a Pistol show, again before 374 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: Sid was in the Sex Pistols. Sid walked that walk 375 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: right up to one Nick Kent, Chrissy's ex and also 376 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: an ex Pistols of sort, having allegedly rehearsed with an 377 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: earlier version of the band, only to now talk shit 378 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: about them In the Enemy. Sid was a staunch defender 379 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: of his friends and the sex Pistols, especially when some 380 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: failed musician turned hack rider had to go. So Sid 381 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: look Nick Kent right in his eyes. I don't like 382 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: your trousers, Kent laughed. Was that supposed to scare him? Nah, 383 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: that's Sid scaring him. Well, that's what this was for. 384 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: Sid then produced a bicycle chain, which he proceeded to 385 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: use to beat Nick Kent with mercilessly. Chrissy had to 386 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: admit it was pretty funny watching Sid vicious tune up 387 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: the guy who once attacked her at her place of business. 388 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: So she took the wiry punk down to the local 389 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,880 Speaker 1: office to tie the knot, but the place was closed 390 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: bank holiday. Going back the next day was out of 391 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: the question because Sid was dueing court to answer for 392 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: his involvement in another violent altercation, this time for throwing 393 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: glass that shattered and cut a woman's eye during a 394 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: show by the Damned. And so it continued living illegally, 395 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: living unfulfilled, living in neutral while the rest of London's 396 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: movers moved forward. At this point, Chrissy knew all the 397 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: players moving around, even if she wasn't one herself. There 398 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: was DJ don Lett spinning reggae and dub forty fives 399 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: for the punks down at the Roxy. There was Lemmy 400 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: Killmeister leaving Hawkwind forming motorhead, shifting into a higher, meaner 401 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: gear and getting higher. Not through sheer ambition alone. Amphetamines helped. 402 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: Lemmy was the only one in town tougher than Chrissy. 403 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: But how Chrisy wanted to know? How do you stay 404 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: tough when you couldn't get anything going? She laid out 405 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,239 Speaker 1: her sob story to Lemmy like he was some kind 406 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: of guru on the mountaintop. She had all this opportunity, 407 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: all this right place, right time, but no simple twist 408 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,239 Speaker 1: of feet. Lemmy didn't sugarcoat it. Who told you it 409 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: was gonna be easy? Tough was tough? That was the message, 410 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: the softer all back in Ohio, Chrissy watching the city 411 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,199 Speaker 1: slowly turn into parking spaces. Let me tell Chrissy what 412 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: she needed to hear. He also told her the name 413 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: of a drummer she should track down, a guy called 414 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: gas Wild, tell him let me sing you. And with 415 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,879 Speaker 1: that time was no longer in neutral for Chrissy Heine, 416 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: time was about to stand still. All right, disc goes. 417 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: Earlier in this episode, I mentioned how Chrissy hin discovered 418 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: the Violent Fems back when they were an unknown band 419 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: busking on the streets of Milwaukee. Some say that it 420 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: was the Pretender's guitarist, James Honeyman Scott who actually did 421 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: the discovering, but it doesn't matter. The story of how 422 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: the Violent Fems were given their first shot at the 423 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 1: big time by Christy Hine is wilder than you're thinking. 424 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: I just didn't have enough time to get into it here, 425 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: but if you want to hear that story, you can 426 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 1: do so right now in this week's brand new Disgrace 427 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: and Mini episode, which is available exclusively for our All 428 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: Access members. To become a member of All Access, where 429 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: you can not only hear this mini episode, but also 430 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,959 Speaker 1: get ad free listening and other exclusive content like our 431 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,919 Speaker 1: video podcast. This film should be played loud. Just go 432 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: to Disgrace dampod dot com for more details and sign 433 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: up today. All Right, now back to our regularly scheduled 434 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: programming and the conclusion of our Chrissy Heines story. The 435 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: drummer known as Gas Wilde did not share Chrissy Hines's toughness. 436 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: He did share her fondness for the high life, uppers, downers, Cooke, 437 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: smack web, whatever was going around, but he tended to 438 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: let the high life get the better of him more 439 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: often than not. Luckily for Chrissy, gas Wild also shared 440 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: something else before he was sacked, the name of a 441 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: bass player he'd once toured with Pete Farndon. He looked 442 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: like Dwayne Eddie by way of The Hell's Angels. Well 443 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but he looked apart and 444 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: he was as much in the pocket basis as gas 445 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: wild was a loose cannon. And Pete also happened to 446 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: know a guitar player looking for her gig, James Honeyman 447 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: Scott Jimmy was tight, fast and this futuristic rockabilly thing 448 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: or whatever his style was, it didn't sound like anyone else. 449 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: And both those guys just so happened to know a 450 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: drummer who could fill the empty stool left by gas Wilde, 451 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: a human rhythm machine with great nuance named Martin Chambers. 452 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: The moment that Chrissy, Pete, Jimmy, and Martin got in 453 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: the same room together and tore through one of Chrissy's 454 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: original songs, Precious. Chrissy had to turn and face the 455 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,480 Speaker 1: wall so as not to betray her own toughness and 456 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: show her hand. She was laughing. She was laughing because 457 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: she had never heard such a beautiful, perfect sound in 458 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: her life. She was laughing because she knew she had 459 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: finally gotten what she'd wanted ever since she had left 460 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: Ohio for the first time five years prior. A band, 461 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,959 Speaker 1: her band, and her band was playing her songs, songs 462 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: she'd written while trying to get something going with Mick 463 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: Jones and Captain Sensible and all those other guys. Songs 464 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: that weren't built around traditional verses and bridges and choruses. Instead, 465 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: Chrissie's songs were built around attitude and defiance up the neck, 466 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: the weight private life. There were confidence songs, songs written 467 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: by a person who knew her place, even if that 468 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: place had been denied her for years. They had hooks 469 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: as heavy as a coin studded belt or a bicycle chain, 470 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: and mostly they felt real, even if the band performing 471 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: them were now calling themselves the pretenders. With the connections 472 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: Chrissy had built up over the years, the Pretenders went 473 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: into the studio, first with the great Nick Lowe, who 474 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 1: produced their version of the Kinks deep cut Stop Your Sobbing. 475 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: The song was released as the Pretender's first single in 476 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: early nineteen seventy nine, just weeks before Chrissy's one time 477 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: near husband said Vicious die of a fatal hotshot, but 478 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: I digress. Stop Your Sobbing did well, cracking the UK 479 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: Top forty, but it didn't yet reveal the true power 480 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: of the Pretenders. Soon the band were back in the studio, 481 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: this time with producer Chris Thomas, whose stacked resume included 482 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: the debut album by Chrissy's friends, The Sex Pistols. By 483 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: the end of that year, the Pretender's self titled album 484 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: was ready, but first in November of seventy nine, ahead 485 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: of the album's January release, the band put out another single, 486 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: an earworm called Brass in Pocket. The song was an 487 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: instant hit in the UK, riding up the charts, where 488 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: it was still gaining traction on Christmas Day, when, for 489 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: the first time in nine years, tragedy struck too close 490 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: to home. The house was on Endel Street in Covent Garden, 491 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: London's West End. It was a proper house, not a 492 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: squad with a shared filthy kitchen or a sink that 493 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: doubled as a bath. She had a mattress, and she 494 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: had ordered and routine she paid rent each month. Chrissy 495 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: lived on Endels Street with two housemates, two fellow creatives, 496 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: a typesetter Steve Mann and an artist Kevin Sparrow, who 497 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: designed album artwork for bands of the Stranglers and Eddie 498 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: and the Hot Rods. Christy wasn't home on Christmas Day 499 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: that year. She was at a friend's house where she 500 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: was celebrating the holiday. Also the fact that the song 501 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: that she had written and performed was actually heating up 502 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: the charts. Kevin wasn't at home either, he was at 503 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: another friend's place, and it was at that other house 504 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,959 Speaker 1: that Kevin Sparrow's body was found on Christmas, dead with 505 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: lethal amounts of whiskey and heroin in his system. Only 506 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: two weeks later, Brass and Pocket hit number one in 507 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: the UK. For Chrissy, the achievement was bittersweet, trying to 508 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: wrap her head around all this sudden success after years 509 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: of trying, years of lurking on the sidelines, and now 510 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: once again trying to make sense of something that made 511 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: no sense, disordered death. It was like Kent State some 512 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: nine years prior, a moment of crisis turned cathartic by 513 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and now 514 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 1: Chrissy was creating her own outlets for Catharsis, her own music, 515 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: her own words. The music promised freedom for the feelings 516 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: she couldn't explain away. Eventually, Chrissy would express her own 517 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: Catharsis in a song for Kevin, but that would be 518 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: years later, after the losses had begun to pile up, 519 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: after the pretender's original lineup had been reduced from four 520 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: to two. But that's another story. I'm Jake Brennan and 521 00:33:48,160 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: this this Disgraceland. All right, thanks for checking out this 522 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:08,240 Speaker 1: Chrissy Hine episode of Disgracelam. This is an easy question 523 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 1: of the week for us guys. Who's the most badass 524 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,319 Speaker 1: female musician in rock and roll? I mean, it's hard 525 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 1: to think of somebody other than Chrissy hin although there 526 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: are a ton of candidates, but Christy kind of broke 527 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,439 Speaker 1: the mold. Get at us and let us know your choice. 528 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 1: Six one seven nine oh six six three eight voicemail 529 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:29,520 Speaker 1: and text, or at Disgracelam pod. 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