“Thin Line Between Love And Hate” by The Pretenders

On Learning to Crawl in 1983, the Pretenders reached back to "Thin Line Between Love and Hate", the 1971 song by New York R&B vocal group the Persuaders, written by brothers Robert and Richard Poindexter with Robert's wife, Jackie Members. It's a cautionary tale with a sting in its tail: a man keeps rolling home at dawn to a wife who seems endlessly patient, until one morning too many he wakes up in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Chrissie Hynde delivers it with a cool, knowing relish that makes the twist land even harder.

Chris Thomas produced, and the track is crowded with players: Paul Carrack on piano, Hynde, Robbie McIntosh and Billy Bremner on guitars, Malcolm Foster and Andrew Bodner on bass, Martin Chambers on drums, and just about everybody chipping in on vocals.

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