''Extended Play'' is a 1981
EP released by
new wave band
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 ...
. "Message of Love" and "Talk of the Town" featured on this EP were also included on their second album ''
Pretenders II
''Pretenders II'' is the second studio album by British rock band The Pretenders, issued on Sire Records in August 1981. It incorporates two songs that had been released as singles in the UK and placed on an EP in the US. It peaked at #7 o ...
'' released later the same year. "Porcelain" and "Cuban Slide", outtakes from their ''
Pretenders'' debut album, were included on disc two of the 2006 and 2021 remastered editions of their debut album and on the
''Pirate Radio'' box set. The live version of "Precious" on this EP, recorded at their New York
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
performance on 30 August 1980, was finally released on CD on November 5, 2021. The booklet for disc one of the ''Pretenders'' debut album from the 2015 UK Edsel/Rhino Records box set ''1979–1999'' incorrectly states "Precious" (track 17) is from that Central Park performance. Instead, the box set version is from their Boston performance of 23 March 1980; it is also included on disc two of the 2006 remastered edition of ''Pretenders''.
This
EP was released in the US, and also in Australia, but not in the UK. In the UK, the tracks were released as the singles "Message of Love" b/w "Porcelain" and "Talk of the Town" b/w "Cuban Slide". "Precious" is unique to this release.
"Message of Love" contains the line: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" from the
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
play ''
Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...
''.
Track listing
All songs written by
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 ...
except where noted.
Side one
# "
Message of Love
"Message of Love" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and performed by the Pretenders. Released first as a single and then on the Pretenders' 1981 EP ''Extended Play'', it was later re-released on the band's 1981 album '' Pretenders II''.
A band ...
" – 3:24
# "
Talk of the Town" – 3:13
# "Porcelain" 3:53
Side two
# "Cuban Slide" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott) – 4:29
# "
Precious" – 3:17 (Live in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
, 30 August 1980)
Personnel
;The Pretenders
*
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 ...
–
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...
*
Pete Farndon –
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 ...
, backing vocals
*
Martin Chambers
Martin Dale Chambers (born 4 September 1951 in Hereford) is an English musician, who is best known as a founding member and drummer of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing the drums with the group, Chambers sings backing vocals ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
, backing vocals
*
James Honeyman-Scott
James Honeyman-Scott (4 November 1956 – 16 June 1982) was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band The Pretenders.
With the band, Honeyman-Scott established a reputation, in the words of AllMusic, as "one of the ...
–
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...
,
keyboards, backing vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
The Pretenders EPs
1981 debut EPs
Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)
Sire Records EPs