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Cover of Get Close by The Pretenders
Cover: Get Close

Song · The Pretenders

“Don't Get Me Wrong” by The Pretenders

From the album Get Close (1986)

“Don't Get Me Wrong” by The Pretenders appears on 26 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1986 and 2026. It was first released in 1986 on the album Get Close. Its best result is #8 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #6 alternative song of 1986, #1,076 alternative song of all time and #173 of the '80s.

26countdowns
12stations
#8best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1986–2026years charted

Watch

Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Pretenders). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Don't Get Me Wrong" led off Get Close, the Pretenders' fourth album, in 1986, and by then Chrissie Hynde was the last original Pretender standing. You'd never guess it from the sound: this is a jaunty, strutting pop-rock bounce, with Hynde and Robbie McIntosh on guitars, Steve Jordan on drums and percussion, Chucho Merchán on bass and Wix dressing it up with piano and synthesizer. Bob Clearmountain and Jimmy Iovine produced, and Hynde has said she wrote it with her friend John McEnroe in mind.

It became the band's second top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 10, and spent three weeks at the top of Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart in November 1986. It was also picked for the 1987 compilation The Singles.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 25 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107
1986 30 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 90
1986 8 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 399 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 180 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1996 488 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1998 368 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 316 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 316 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 324 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 440 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 324 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1616 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 324 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 948 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 324 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 432 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 326 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 420 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2006 218 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2014 671 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2021 615 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 1387 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 603
2022 209 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2024 305 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2026 482 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498

Also listed as: Don't Get me Wrong.

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →
  1. 1PanicThe Smiths
  2. 2AskThe Smiths
  3. 3Bigmouth Strikes AgainThe Smiths
  4. 4SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
  5. 5Wild Wild LifeTalking Heads
  6. 7Bizarre Love TriangleNew Order

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