Pretenders – Back on the Chain Gang 😎 ‘Back on the Chain Gang’ is a song written by American-British musician Chrissie Hynde, originally recorded by her band the Pretenders and released as a single in September 1982. The song was included on The King of Comedy soundtrack album in March 1983 and was later included on the Pretenders' third album, Learning to Crawl, in January 1984. ‘Back on the Chain Gang’ entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 5 to become the band's biggest hit i