Get Close is the fourth studio album by rock band the Pretenders, released on 20 October 1986 in the United Kingdom by Real Records and on 4 November 1986 in the United States by Sire Records. The album contains the band's two highest-charting Mainstream Rock Tracks entries, "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "My Baby", both of which reached number one. Background The Pretenders' previous album, Learning to Crawl (1984), was a critical and commercial success. On the heels of its success the band performed at Live Aid in 1985. The same year Chrissie Hynde appeared with UB40 on their number-one single "I Got You Babe". Get Close, recorded during a particularly transitional period of the band's career, consisted of a variety of sessions and included multiple personnel. The early recording sessions, produced by Steve Lillywhite, started with the Learning to Crawl lineup put together by Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers (following the deaths of fellow founding Pretenders James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon) including guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bass guitarist Malcolm Foster (in addition to the band's touring keyboard player Rupert Black). These first sessions resulted in the recording of a cover version of Jimi Hendrix's "Room Full of Mirrors", which would become the album's closing track. Shortly after the sessions, Hynde decided that Chambers' playing had deteriorated: "Martin was playing crap. Martin just fucking lost it, and to think about it, why shouldn't he have lost it? He'd just lost his two best friends. I was insane. I was traumatised. But you don't know it at the time. I was trying to keep my shit together. To be honest Martin was playing crap and I knew musically I was losing my inspiration. But I'd tried too hard and come too far to let it all go, so Martin went instead." Having fired Chambers from the band, Hynde was left as the only remaining original member. Foster's departure shortly afterwards left the band without a rhythm section. With Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain taking over production duties, about half of the album was recorded by Hynde and McIntosh with high-profile session players. Bass guitar was provided by Bruce Thomas (of the Attractions), Chucho Merchán and John McKenzie, and drums by Simon Phillips, Steve Jordan and Mel Gaynor, then of Simple Minds, with assorted keyboards and synthesizers provided by Tommy Mandel, Patrick Seymour, Funkadelic's Bernie Worrell, Bruce Brody (ex-Patti Smith Band) and