ott ▁( of ▁the ▁P ret enders ) ▁on ▁August ▁ 2 3 , ▁ 1 9 8 1 ▁when ▁the ▁band ▁was ▁bus king ▁on ▁a ▁street ▁corner ▁in ▁front ▁of ▁the ▁Oriental ▁Theatre , ▁the ▁Mil w au kee ▁ven ue ▁that ▁the ▁P ret enders ▁would ▁be ▁playing ▁later ▁that ▁night . ▁Chr iss ie ▁Hy nde ▁invited ▁them ▁to ▁play ▁a ▁brief ▁ac oust ic ▁set ▁after ▁the ▁opening ▁act . ▁ ▁Later ▁years ▁and ▁brief ▁split ▁( 1 9 8 4 – 1 9 9 2 ) ▁ ▁After ▁their ▁debut ▁album ▁Vi ol ent ▁Fem mes , ▁the ▁band ▁released ▁Hall owed ▁Gr ound , ▁which ▁moved ▁the ▁group ▁toward ▁a ▁country ▁music ▁sound ▁and ▁introduced ▁Christian ▁them es . ▁Mark ▁Van ▁He cke ▁produced ▁the ▁band ' s ▁first ▁two ▁efforts , ▁but ▁their ▁third ▁album , ▁The ▁Bl ind ▁Le ading ▁the ▁N aked , ▁saw ▁a ▁change ▁in ▁the ▁studio . ▁This ▁time , ▁another ▁fellow ▁Mil w au kee ▁native , ▁Jerry ▁Harrison ▁of ▁T alk ing ▁He ads , ▁did ▁the ▁producing . ▁It ▁was ▁more ▁main stream ▁and ▁pop - orient ed , ▁resulting ▁in ▁a ▁minor ▁hit ▁with ▁" Children ▁of ▁the ▁Revolution ", ▁originally ▁by ▁T . R ex . ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 5 , ▁Van ▁He cke ▁ended ▁his ▁collaboration ▁with ▁the ▁group ▁and ▁became ▁a ▁composer ▁and ▁producer ▁in ▁the ▁rapidly ▁growing ▁video ▁game ▁industry . ▁He ▁would ▁return ▁later ▁to ▁produce ▁two ▁more ▁albums