‘It’s a pretty dark tale,’ says Miles Salter, regular York Calling contributor and author of a new book about The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde’s ill-fated band of Hereford musicians.
‘I had been intrigued by it for years. I suppose when two young musicians die in a famous band, it leads to a sort of grim fascination. But it wasn’t just that. Their first album is one of the great rock ‘n’ roll records. I first heard it when I was seventeen or eighteen and was blown away. Just extraordinarily good, and totally distinctive. They were a fantastic band. They had soul and swagger. Great songs, great voice, great musicians.’
The band were super successful. Brass In Pocket was a global smash at the dawn of the 1980s, but tragedy followed. Guitarist James Honeyman Scott died from drug use in 1982, aged just 25, followed ten months later by Pete Farndon, who was a heroin addict. But the tale turned out to be even darker and stranger than the author expected.
‘I was amazed,’ Miles says. ‘Every time I thought this can’t get any stranger, something else came up. It was a cornucopia of strange things and human imperfection.’
The author is proud of what has emerged.
‘This is definitely the most comprehensive account of what happened that is out there,’ he says. ‘There are other books, but none has this level of detail or interpretation.’
During lockdown in May 2020, Miles was sitting near York Minster, talking to his friend, York cameraman Dave Thorp.
‘I told Dave I really wanted to make a documentary about The Pretenders,’ says Miles. ‘I said to Dave, it’s a hell of a story and nobody’s done it. We went to Hereford in 2021 and filmed a bunch of interviews, thanks to a lady called Sue Watkins, who was very kind and generous. Sue knew the three musicians from Hereford who became Chrissie Hynde’s sidekicks: James Honeyman Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Sue really helped to make the whole thing happen.’
Interviews were filmed with Chambers and Lyn Honeyman-Scott, sister of James. Other contributors included Jonathan Farndon, brother of bass player Pete Farndon. But the documentary plan hit problems.
Four years went by.
Like an itch that wouldn’t go away, Miles started to write in 2025, using the recorded interviews. He also spoke to friends, journalists and people who knew the band. He spoke to Robbie McIntosh, Paul Gambaccini, TV Smith, Jah Wobble and Edward Tudor Pole to gain their memories of the punk and new wave era and The Pretenders. He read books by people who were around at the time, including music mogul Seymour Stein, Viv Albertine from The Slits, and Don Letts.
One of the key witnesses was Conover Kennard, Pete Farndon’s widow, who today resides in North Carolina and writes about American politics.
‘Conover’s story took the book to another level,’ says Miles. ‘I was very lucky that she opened up because it was incredibly personal for her and she hadn’t spoken about it before. It was a huge privilege to hear so many stories associated with the band, especially Conover’s. Hers is a story of survival, a genuinely remarkable life story. It was so moving to hear from her what happened. She discovered Pete Farndon’s body on the day he died.’
Did Miles talk to Chrissie Hynde?
‘In the end,’ he says, ‘I felt it was better not to. She can be somewhat controlling, and I wanted to retain the authentic and objective tone that the book has. Some things emerged that were rather risqué. I agonised over whether to include them or not. I did not set out to embarrass anyone, but in the end, I think your job as a writer is to tell the truth. There were lots of archive interviews to draw on, and I used these to paint a vivid picture of her journey.’
The book is a sort of Faustian tale, says Miles.
‘It’s that old saying: be careful what you wish for. People think showbusiness is glamorous, and there is that element of it. It can be intoxicatingly exciting if you’re in the middle of it, a huge buzz. But fame can be dangerous. People lose their moorings. It does weird things to one’s psyche. Sometimes it’s better to live quietly. Like Van Morrison sang, “ordinary life, be my rock in times of trouble.” Chrissie Hynde said several times that she wouldn’t do rock ‘n’ roll if she could live her life over. I think she was haunted by what happened and felt a profound sense of guilt. She’d been the band leader, led them all into this crazy world of excess, but Jimmy and Pete just couldn’t cope with the fame and success. It was too much for them. You have to be very grounded to survive fame, with all the madness that comes with it.’
Miles’ book is self-published, using his publishing handle Winter and May.
‘It was the least favourite option,’ he says. ‘The publishing industry depresses me. If you’re a celebrity, you’re given lots of money for a memoir or a kids’ adventure story. Meanwhile, lots of great projects get ignored. I didn’t want to go it alone. It’s a huge amount of work and I had to pay for printing etc. But am I glad I did it? Absolutely. It’s like a film. There were so many different levels of conflict. I got lucky, really. An amazing story. It was a privilege to hear it from so many people’s perspectives. In the end, it’s a story of fragility.’
A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978–1983 will be published by Winter and May on 1 November 2026, in hardback, price £17.95. The book is available to pre-order from Amazon here.
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