The Pretenders

The five-track EP approriately named Extended Play was a marketing tool released because of the differences between the U.S. and British approaches to record-making. The Pretenders scored on both sides of the Atlantic with their debut album in January 1980, then released two successful singles in Britain, "Talk of the Town" (March 1980), which made the U.K. Top Ten, and "Message of Love" (January 1981), which also was a substantial hit. But one-off singles are a rarity in the U.S., and since the band did not have a full-length album ready yet, Sire Record put the singles on this EP to forestall imports. They then appeared again on Pretenders II five months later. But the other three tracks, "Porcelain," "Cuban Slide," and a live version of "Precious" from the first album, did not, making this a necessary purchase for completists. (And they're not bad songs, either.) ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide