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

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British 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 Farndon (ba ...

. It was the first single released from the band's fourth studio album, ''

Get Close ''Get Close'' is the fourth studio album by rock band the Pretenders, released on 20 October 1986 in the United Kingdom by Real Records and on 4 November 1986 in the United States by Sire Records. The album contains the band's two highest-cha ...

'' (1986). It was also included on the band's compilation album, ''

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 ...

'' (1987). Frontwoman

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she and drummer Martin Chambers are the ...

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 ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

Background

The song features a

jangly Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble (sound), treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly twelve-string guitar, 12-strings) played in a drone (music), droning chord (music), chordal style (by strummi ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

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

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.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

Critical 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 ...

'' wrote that although Hynde is the only original Pretender remaining, this song represents "a pretty upbeat, strutting, confident Pretenders." '' Cashbox'' 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' eighth-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."

Chart performance

In the United States, "Don't Get Me Wrong" became the group's second top-10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at 10. It also spent three weeks atop the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart in November 1986. In the United Kingdom, the song also peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart. In Australia, it became a top-10 hit, reaching No. 8 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

Music video

The music video for the song is a tribute to the British 1960s espionage television series ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'', with Chrissie Hynde playing

Emma Peel Emma Peel is a fictional character played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series '' The Avengers'', and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight. ...

searching for

John Steed Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed usually known as John Steed, is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the 1960s British spy series '' The Avengers'' and its 1970s sequel '' The New Avengers'', played by Patric ...

, 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 to 1995. Aiming to fill a gap in the small sports car market, Scimitar SS1 was launched in 1984 at the British International Motor Show in ...

. Steed actor

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

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

The Pretenders *

– lead vocals,

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

Robbie McIntosh Robbie McIntosh (born 25 October 1957) is an English guitarist. McIntosh is best 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 ...

– guitars *

T. M. Stevens Thomas Michael Stevens (July 28, 1951 – March 10, 2024) was an American bass guitarist from New York City. He recorded and toured with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician and also worked as a solo performer. Career Earl ...

– bass guitar Additional personnel *

Chucho Merchán Jesús Alfredo Merchán (born December 24, 1952)), known professionally as Chucho Merchán, is a Colombian session jazz and rock bassist and guitarist. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1980. He has performed ...

– bass guitar * Steve Jordan – drums, percussion *

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul "Wix" Wickens is an English musician best known as keyboardist and musical director of Paul McCartney's touring band since 1989. In a career that started in 1973, Wickens has also worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni ...

– synthesizer, piano

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

Leigh Nash Leigh Anne Bingham Nash ( ; born June 27, 1976) is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist for the Christian alternative rock band Sixpence None the Richer and was also a member of Fauxliage. Her debut solo album, ''Blue on ...

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 the musical episode "All That Hard, Glossy Armor" (Season 4, Episode 10) of '' The Magicians''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Get Me Wrong 1986 singles 1986 songs The Pretenders songs Sire Records singles Songs written by Chrissie Hynde Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain Song recordings produced by Jimmy Iovine