Every generation gets the sex symbol it deserves; for many of us creeping towards puberty in the late 70’s Debbie Harry was our It Girl.
I remember seeing Blondie perform “Hanging on the Telephone” on TV at a tender age. Debbie Harry was doing her standing-still-at-the-mike pose and was decked out in a glowing-red dress. I didn’t fully understand my reaction to the line, “I'd like to talk when I can show you my affection” but it may have influenced my decision to buy a cassette tape of Parallel Lines soon thereafter.
Of course, a dream of Kristy McNicol may have convinced me to watch the execrable show Family but that phase passed. Blondie remained. However, these years later it seems that of all the class of CBGB’s graduates, Blondie still gets the least respect (well other than The Shirts or The Tuff Darts). The Ramones were lionized for milking every last drop from their distillation of rock history. Blondie accomplished the same thing but since they insisted on moving “forward” (in a manner –disco, rap, old reggae – not so different than the Clash) and had hits, they grew critically marginalized. Yet, as a singer, songwriter, bandleader and sex symbol Debbie Harry belongs on a rarefied list of performers (Maybelle Carter, Billie Holliday, Joan Jett et al) who re-defined the role of women in music. Plus, the hits Harry and her band (remember "Bondie is a band"?) livened up the radio and jump-started a thousand underground bands.
Live at the Old Waldorf (1977) link is in the comments
Speaking of comments, tell us of your first contact with Blondie.
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A BLONDIE COMMENT WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL:
http://www.mediafire.com/?hjtvxv16daj63b2
My first contact was when my pal Neil wrote to them and bought a copy of their very first single "X Offender." They signed it! At the time (1976), they must have been surprised to get an order from the suburbs of San Francisco, as they had never played outside of the New York area.
ReplyDeleteI have this show already...but notice it's marked "deluxe" edition...What's different about it?
Blondie was no doubt a band ahead of their time.....First album, Plastic Letters, and to a degree Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat were great albums....Debbie had a voice that could be terrifying...Listen to "fan mail" on Plastic Letters...or just so damn CUTE (the line "Nitro...and accetalyne" from "The Hardest Part").....she also had, other than maybe Lita Ford, the finest ass in rock n roll in the late 70's...a musician friend of mine, now deceased, claims to have slept with her.....if he did, well, more power to ya bro.
ReplyDeleteGreat band....I already have this boot, its a good one and you guys will enjoy it if unfamilar
The first time I ever made out with a girl and got a girl semi naked, Blondie's video for "Dreaming" was on the telly.
ReplyDeleteDouble bonus.
I went over to a friend's house to see his new projection tv and the first thing he showed was a Blondie video from MTV. I must have revealed my reaction, because my girlfriend got pissed for nothing right in the middle of the video.
ReplyDeletePeople magazine's 1977 (or so) article on punk music had a photo of Debbie Harry crawling across broken glass---schwing!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the first instance but very early on in 7th grade i went to a party a friend threw. Heart of glass had just come out that week and he had the 45. he must have played a few hundred times during the nite. there was a strobe light on constantly , a long game of spin the bottle, a party crasher with weed who almost got us all in trouble, and a lifelong promise made to bum never to drink lite beer. Still love Blondie but will pass on ever listening to that particular song again. Thanks for Waldorf show - there is a Television show at the same venue from the same era that is quite enjoyable as well.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Harry has always been one of my faves---Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFirst time I heard of Blondie was when an article appeared in our local newspaper that the city council banned a forthcoming gig from 'soft-punk band Blondie' because there were afraid that there was going to be a fight at that gig.
ReplyDeleteWhether there had actually been fights at Blondie gigs or whether they just thought that everything with 'punk' attached to it was dangerous and should therefore not enter our city I don't recall anymore (I was probably eleven years old at the time).
And yes - they actually called it 'soft-punk' and went on to explain that the Sex Pistols were more 'hard-punk' and therefore a bit different.
Some time later (a couple of months, maybe), Blondie were allowed to perform in our town - and the same newspaper ran an interview with them where they explained that fights did not normally happen at their gigs, and that they were not into fighting at gigs at all (well, duh...)
And not long after that (weeks, perhaps), 'Denise' became a number one hit - and I really liked that song (still do), but at the same time thought: people were afraid of this?!?
Wich led me to believe that if this kind of music provoked those kinds of reactions, all music before punk must have been incredibly boring...
It took me a litle while to get rid of that prejudice.
My first 'encounter' with Blondie was by chance. It was the spring of 1979 and I was in the basement with my brother's friend's sister and she had a stack of 45s and when "Heart of Glass' was played it hit something me deep within. When sis went back upstairs for more 'milk n cookies' I took the opportunity to replay HoG over and over and over. I was even allowed to borrow it and tape it. Not long afterward I was given 'Parallel Lines' and was completely devoted.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cranky_old_mission_guy/5455886054/
ReplyDeleteWow. Takes me right back ... my toddler used to beg me to go "round to Debbie Harry's house" to visit her, didn't understand she was thousands of miles away. Good times. :)
ReplyDeleteFat Hamster
ReplyDeletenow there's a toddler with discriminating taste!