‘Tattooed Love Boys’: A song that describes the tragic assault of Chrissie Hynde
Though she was born in Akron, Ohio, Chrissie Hynde formed The Pretenders in Hereford in 1978. The aspiring singer and songwriter moved to London in 1973 following a stint at Kent State University’s Art School. Her time at art school had satiated a post-high school curiosity in theory, but in practice, she would need to relocate if she was ever to be heard.
“I was never too interested in high school,” Hynde reflected in a 1980 conversation with Rolling Stone. “I mean, I never went to a dance, I never went out on a date, I never went steady. It became pretty awful for me. Except, of course, I could go see bands, and that was the kick. I used to go to Cleveland just to see any band. So I was in love a lot of the time, but mostly with guys in bands that I had never met. For me, knowing that Brian Jones was out there, and later that Iggy Pop was out there, made it kind of hard for me to get too interested in the guys that were around me. I had, uh, bigger things in mind.”
Through the mid-1970s, Hynde worked for a brief period at the NME as a music writer before finding a more agreeable role at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s clothing store, SEX. It wasn’t long before she rubbed shoulders with the Sex Pistols and felt a career in rock music within arm’s reach for the first time.
After meeting Hereford hopefuls Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers, Hynde made her first palpable dent in the music industry with The Pretenders. The band’s eponymous debut record, released in 1980, impressively debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and pierced the top ten in the US.
While the hit singles, including ‘Brass in Pocket’, ‘Kid’ and a cover of the Kinks’ song ‘Stop Your Sobbing’ proved vital to The Pretenders’ immortal legacy, one track in the album’s underbelly brought one of Hynde’s most poignantly absorbing artistic moments.
‘Tattooed Love Boys’ arrived as the fourth track on The Pretenders. The elusive lyrics hinted at a harrowing case of assault involving “tattooed” men of some description. However, Hynde left the lyrics open to interpretation for many years. When Hynde finally divulged the true and profoundly upsetting story behind the song in her 2015 autobiography, it was easy to understand why she might have been hesitant to discuss the song during the height of her career.
It transpired that the song documented a real sexual assault that Hynde experienced in her early 20s after she and a friend were asked to go to a “party” with members of the Hells Angels. Hynde’s friend foresaw the danger and declined, but Hynde decided to go along for a few drinks despite the bikers’ image and reputation.
In her autobiography, Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, Hynde surprisingly took full accountability for the incident. “Now let me assure you that, technically speaking, however you want to look at it, this was all my doing, and I take full responsibility,” she wrote. “You can’t fuck around with people, especially people who wear ‘I heart rape’ and ‘On Your Knees’ badges.”
Hynde’s willingness to accept responsibility triggered a storm on social media as fans argued that the assault could only be blamed on the bikers. Hynde responded to the backlash in an interview with The Sunday Times while promoting the book.
She said: “If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk? Who else’s fault can it be? If I’m walking around and I’m very modestly dressed, and I’m keeping to myself, and someone attacks me, then I’d say that’s his fault. But if I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged – don’t do that. Come on! That’s just common sense. You know, if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him.”
“If you’re wearing something that says ‘Come and fuck me’, you’d better be good on your feet… I don’t think I’m saying anything controversial, am I?” she added.
