Song · The Pretenders
“The Wait” by The Pretenders
From the album Pretenders (1980)
“The Wait” by The Pretenders appears on 9 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1980 and 2003. It was first released in 1980 on the album Pretenders. Its best result is #2 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1980. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #2 alternative song of 1980, #2,726 alternative song of all time and #452 of the '80s.
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"The Wait" tears out of the Pretenders' 1980 album, Pretenders, like a car peeling off the lot with the door still swinging. Chrissie Hynde wrote the words and shares the music credit with Pete Farndon, and the song is all nervy momentum: clipped, stuttering guitars, a rhythm section that refuses to sit still, and Hynde's voice sliding from purr to snap inside a single line.
Chris Thomas produced it, with Bill Price engineering and mixing and Steve Nye adding extra recording, and they keep the whole thing lean and bright, new wave with a punk engine rattling under the hood.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1980 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 243 | 95.5 KLOS | KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) | 499 |
| 1988 | 63 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1989 | 369 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1989 | 157 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 166 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1996 | 481 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) | 500 |
| 1998 | 406 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) | 488 |
| 2003 | 1935 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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