Top 10 Songs: The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Reckless happened when producer Kato Khandwala paired singer/actress Taylor Momsen with guitarist Ben Phillips.
There are some people who seem destined for a career in showbiz. Momsen, who had been singing and acting since childhood, was one of them. She played Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl before adding modeling to her resume. Still, it was music that held the most appeal.
“Music is where I can be me,” Momsen stated. “Acting is easy. But you’re playing a character instead of yourself. Music is more personal because you’re writing it and you’re involved in every step of it.” Momsen’s music influences included Kurt Cobain and Joan Jett.
#10. Just Tonight
The music video for the song from their debut studio album, “Light Me Up” (2010), was directed by Meiert Avis who had previously directed the band’s videos for “Make Me Wanna Die” and “Miss Nothing.”
The “Just Tonight” video was shot in the Bronx, NYC.
#9. Miss Nothing
Momsen has said song, also from “Light Me Up,” was about “a loved one passing, losing your identity and your mind”, and described it as “not the happiest of songs.”
#8. Sweet Things
It’s off sophomore set “Going To Hell” (2014). The band had been recording at Water Music Recording Studios in New Jersey, when the studio was destroyed by Hurrican Sandy in 2012
Several “Going To Hell” tracks had to re-recorded.
#7. And So It Went
The track, from the band’s fourth studio album, “Death By Rock and Roll,” features Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
It topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
#6. Messed Up World (F’d Up World)
The song was the second single from “Going To Hell.” The music video, filmed in Miami, was directed by Momsen. The video starts light-hearted as an ironic counter-point to the song’s lyrical material but eventually alludes to various provocative situations.
It was another #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock survey.
#5. Death By Rock And Roll
The song, written by Momsen and guitarist Ben Phillips, served as a tribute to late producer Kato Khandwala, who had worked on the group’s first three albums. He was killed in a North Hollywood motorcycle accident.
The track became The Pretty Reckless’ fifth #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart where it remained for three consecutive weeks.
#4. Follow Me Down
The track’s intro featured former porno actress Jenna Haze, a close friend of Momsen’s, simulating an orgasm, which was, not surprisingly, removed from the radio edit.
The song, released in 2015, topped Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart, becoming the band’s third consecutive #1 tying Halestorm at the time for the most #1s by a female-fronted band since the chart launched in 1981.
#3. Make Me Wanna Die
Momsen described the first song written for “Light Me Up” as a “tragic love song… focused on Romeo and Juliet and a passionate love that might’ve not been appropriate.”
Speaking of which…according to Momsen, the video was “held up in legal for a long time because I was 16 when we shot that. We couldn’t release it because, yes, I actually got naked.”
#2. Take Me Down
The song is off their third studio album, “Who You Are Selling For” (2016).
It topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart making the band the first to have their first four songs on the chart go to #1. The song also extended the band’s record for most #1s on the chart by a female-fronted band.
#1. Heaven Knows
It was the band’s first single to top the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and was certified platinum in both the United States and Canada.
“We decided to film variations of all of the issues we as a people are facing, whether personal, political or social,” Momsen said of the accompanying video. “We took a lot of shots, each representing some social constant or emotional struggle. Some overt, some subtle, but it’s all in there. Everything is thrown at you from the day you’re born. Your only chance is to think for yourself… which is not as simple as it sounds.”
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