Pete Farndon
| Pete Farndon | |
|---|---|
Farndon in December 1981
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| Background information | |
| Born | 12 June 1952 |
| Origin | Hereford, England |
| Died | 14 April 1983 (aged 30) |
| Genres | Rock, new wave |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass |
| Years active | 1976–1983 |
| Associated acts | The Pretenders |
Peter Granville "Pete" Farndon (12 June 1952 – 14 April 1983) was an English bassist and founding member of the rock band the Pretenders. Farndon attended Hereford Cathedral School in his home city of Hereford, before embarking on his musical career with the Pretenders. In addition to playing bass with the group, Farndon sang backup vocals and co-wrote two of the group's songs ("The Wait" and "Space Invader"), before an increasing drug problem resulted in his being dismissed from the group on 14 June 1982.
Farndon's musical influences included Stanley Clarke and Jeff Beck. Farndon played with Cold River Lady until the summer of 1976, and then toured with Australian folk-rock band The Bushwackers prior to the Pretenders in 1978.
Farndon joined the Pretenders in early 1978 and was the first member of the 1978-82 lineup to be recruited by Chrissie Hynde. Farndon recalled their first rehearsal: "I'll never forget it, we go in, we do a soul number, we do a country and western number, and then we did 'The Phone Call' which is like the heaviest fuckin' punk rocker you could do in 5/4 time. Impressed? I was very impressed." A guitarist was still needed, and Farndon recruited lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott into the group that summer. Farndon, Honeyman-Scott, and bandmate Martin Chambers all hailed from Hereford, England.
Chambers worked with Farndon to adjust to Hynde's timing: "Pete and I did a fair amount of work on our own, in terms of the rhythm section being able to play Chrissie's odd timing things. So Pete and I would come in a couple of hours ahead of the others and baby talk our way through the songs. You know, 'da dad da, boom boom.' She didn't count in the traditional way so we had to reinterpret the counts. Once we made the adjustment and learned to go with her flow, so to speak, it became second nature. It's the bedrock of Pretenders music."
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