Writer: Chrissie Hynde
Producer: Chris Thomas
Recorded: Summer and fall 1979 in London
Released: January 1980
| Players: | Chrissie Hynde — vocals, guitar, harmonica James Honeyman-Scott — guitar, vocals Pete Farndon — bass, vocals Martin Chambers — drums, vocals |
| Album: | Pretenders (Sire, 1980) |
“Mystery Achievement” was the closing track of the Pretenders' self-titled debut album in 1980.
The group formed in 1978, led by Chrissie Hynde — an expatriate from Akron, Ohio, who moved to London to write for New Musical Express and work in Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren's clothing store, which was called Sex.
The Pretenders' first single was a 1979 cover of the Kinks' “Stop Your Sobbing.” Hynde began dating Kinks leader Ray Davies a year later and had a daughter with him in 1983, though they never married.
Pretenders reached Number Nine on the Billboard 200, while it was a Number One hit in the U.K.
