"Don't Get Me Wrong" is a song released by British-American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

group

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

. It was the first single taken from the group's 1986 album, '' Get Close''. It can also be found on the band's ''

The Singles The Singles may refer to: * ''The Singles'' (Basement Jaxx album) by Basement Jaxx * ''The Singles'' (Bikini Kill album) * ''The Singles'' (Blank & Jones album), 2006 * ''The Singles'' (The Bluetones album), 2002 * ''The Singles'' (Chisato Mor ...

'' album, released in 1987.

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

said she was inspired to write the song for her friend

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

Background

The song features a

jangly Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly 12-strings) played in a droning chordal style (by strumming or arpeggiating). The sound is mainly associated with pop musi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

sound and an emphasis on melody. Hynde's lyrics contain literary references in addition to the more relationship-based subject matter typical for rock and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said that although Hynde is the only original Pretender remaining, this song represents "a pretty upbeat, strutting, confident Pretenders." '' Cash Box'' praised Hynde's "sultry vocal" and "powerful songwriting." ''Classic rock review'' describes "Don't Get Me Wrong" as a "jaunty rock track". ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Matt Wardlaw rated it the Pretenders 8th greatest song, saying that it " ammershome the point rather succinctly that when it comes to love from the female point of view, it's best to expect the unexpected."

Music video

The music video for the song is a tribute to the British 1960s TV spy series ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'', with Chrissie Hynde playing Emma Peel searching for John Steed, while being diverted by body doubles and rival agents. She drives a 1983

Reliant Scimitar SS1 The Reliant Scimitar SS1 is an automobile which was produced by British manufacturer Reliant from 1984. Aiming to fill a gap in the small sports car market, Scimitar SS1 was launched in 1984 at the British International Motor Show in Birmingh ...

. Steed actor

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

appears in the original series' footage, with Hynde electronically inserted. Two edits to the video were made, the second edit adds alternate shots (including a scene of one of the body doubles being revealed to be a woman) and inserts footage of the band performing in a studio.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

Robbie McIntosh Robbie McIntosh (born 25 October 1957) is an English guitarist. McIntosh is well known as a session guitarist and member of The Pretenders from 1982 until 1987. In 1988 he began doing session guitar work for Paul McCartney joining his band fu ...

–

s * T. M. Stevens –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

Additional Personnel

* Chucho Merchán – bass guitar *

Steve Jordan Steve, Stephen, or Steven Jordan may refer to: Music * Steve Jordan (guitarist) (1919–1993), American jazz guitarist * Steve Jordan (drummer) (born 1957), American drummer, studio musician * Steve Jordan (accordionist) (born Esteban Jordan) (1939 ...

– drums, percussion *

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon ...

– synthesizer, piano

Charts

In the US, "Don't Get Me Wrong" became the group's second Top 10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 10. Whitburn, Joel (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 505. Their first Top 10 pop hit, " Back on the Chain Gang", had reached No. 5 in 1983. "Don't Get Me Wrong" also spent three weeks atop the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in November 1986. It also reached No. 5 on the

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

CHR/Pop Airplay Chart on December 12, 1986 staying on that position for a week and remaining on the chart for eleven weeks. In the UK, the song also peaked at #10 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It was most successful in Australia, where it reached No. 8.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

* British pop singer

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

covered the song for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's 40th-anniversary celebrations in 2007 and was released on the subsequent compilation album. * Leigh Nash released a version in 2018. *

Hale Appleman Hale Isaac Appleman is an American actor. He is known for playing Tobey Cobb in the 2007 film ''Teeth'' and Eliot in the television fantasy series '' The Magicians''. Early life Appleman was raised in Manhattan, New York. He spent four summers a ...

covered the song in musical episode "All That Hard Glossy Armor" (Season 4, Episode 10) of The Magicians

Feature

The song was also featured in the 1997 movie Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, but this and a few other songs were omitted from the movie's soundtrack album due to copyright issues.

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles The Pretenders songs Songs written by Chrissie Hynde Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Iovine Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain Lily Allen songs