Chrissie Hynde goes back to Ohio, leaves cows behind
I love the Pretenders. I’ll listen to just about anything they do, but I especially love some of their earlier stuff, like “Tattooed Love Boys,” “Brass in Pocket,” “Middle of the Road” and “My City Was Gone.” That last song is about Ohio, lead singer Chrissie Hynde‘s home state.
I went back to Ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown
South Howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
Eh, oh, way to go, Ohio.
In an effort to restore her city, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Hynde is going back in a big way: She’s opening a vegetarian restaurant in Akron. It will be called VegeTerranean, which is just about the worst business name ever (except for SpaOlogy, which is flat-out unpronounceable).
OK, so she won’t actually be running the restaurant — Hynde lives in England, so a local restaurateur will manage the daily menu. But Hynde will show up to do an acoustic gig at the grand opening on Sept. 15.
She just has to play “My City Was Gone” at the grand opening, doesn’t she?