Blondie is the name of an American rock band
that first gained fame in the late 1970s, and which has sold over 40 million records. The band was a pioneer in the early
American punk rock and New Wave scenes. Its first two
albums contained strong elements of these genres, and although successful in Australia and the
United Kingdom, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in
1978. Over the next three years, the band achieved several hit singles and was noted for its
eclectic mix of musical styles incorporating elements of disco, pop and reggae, while retaining a basic style as a New Wave band.
Lead singer Deborah Harry achieved a level of celebrity that eclipsed other band
members, leading to tension within the group. Following a poorly received album, and with core member Chris Stein diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, the group disbanded in 1982.[1] As members pursued other projects, Blondie's
reputation grew over the following decade and the group reformed in 1997, achieving renewed success and a number one single in
the United Kingdom with Maria in 1999. The group toured and performed throughout the world over the following years, and
was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the RockWalk of
Fame in 2006.[2]
Early career
In the early 1970s, Chris Stein moved to New York
City, and inspired by the New York Dolls, aimed to join a similar band. He joined
The Stilettos in 1973 as their guitarist and formed a romantic relationship with the band's
vocalist, Deborah Harry. A former waitress and Playboy
Bunny,[3] Harry had been a member of the folk-rock
band, Wind in the Willows, in the late 1960s. In 1974, she parted ways with The Stilettos and Elda Gentile, the band's
originator. Stein and Harry formed a new band with drummer Clem Burke, keyboard player
Jimmy Destri and bass player Gary
Valentine. Originally billed as "Angel and the Snake"[4] the band renamed themselves "Blondie" in late 1975. The name was taken
from comments from truck drivers who called "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove by.[5] Two former members of the original lineup were sisters Tish Bellomo and Eileen Bellomo (who is more commonly known as
"Snooky"), who were both vocalists[6]. The two left the
band, and now they are famous for starting the company Manic Panic[7]. The two of them are now the current vocalists in their band Sic F*cks[8], who only perform once a year.
Blondie became regulars at New York's Club 51, Max's
Kansas City, and CBGB.[9] They got their first record deal with Private Stock
Records in the mid-'70s and released their debut album Blondie in
1976,[2] along with the single
"X-Offender". Private Stock Records was then bought out by the UK-based company,
Chrysalis Records, and the first album was re-released on the new label in
1977[2] along with the single
"Rip Her to Shreds". Rolling Stone wrote
about Blondie for the first time in August 1977[10] and
observed the eclectic nature of the group's music, comparing it to Phil Spector and
The Who and commented that the album's two strengths were Richard Gottehrer's production and the persona of Deborah Harry, saying she performed with "utter
aplomb and involvement throughout: even when she's portraying a character consummately obnoxious and spaced-out, there is a wink
of awareness that is comforting and amusing yet never condescending." It also noted that Harry was the "possessor of a bombshell
zombie's voice that can sound dreamily seductive and woodenly Mansonite within the same
song".[11]
Their first commercial success occurred in Australia in 1977, when the music television program Countdown mistakenly played their video "In the Flesh", which was the b-side of their current single "X-Offender".[2] Jimmy
Destri later credited the show's Molly Meldrum for their initial success, commenting that
"we still thank him to this day" for playing the wrong song.[12] In a 1998 interview, bandmember Clem Burke recalled seeing the episode in which the wrong song was
played, but he and Chris Stein suggested that it may have been a deliberate subterfuge on the part of Meldrum. Stein asserted
that "X-Offender" was "too crazy and aggressive [to become a hit]", while "In the Flesh" was "not representative of any punk
sensibility. Over the years, I've thought they probably played both things but liked one better. That's all." In retrospect,
Burke described "In the Flesh" as "a forerunner to the power ballad."[13]
Blondie, 1976. From left to right : Gary Valentine, Clem Burke, Deborah Harry, Chris Stein and Jimmy Destri.
The single and album each reached the Australian top 5 in October 1977, and a subsequent double-a release of "X-Offender" and
"Rip Her to Shreds", was also popular. A successful Australian tour followed in December, though it was marred by an incident in Brisbane when disappointed fans almost rioted after Harry canceled a performance due to illness.[14]
1977 also saw the release of their second album, recorded as a four piece band because Gary Valentine had left.
Plastic Letters was promoted extensively throughout Europe and Asia by Chrysalis
Records.[2] The album's first single
"Denis", was a cover version of Randy and the Rainbows' 1963 hit. It reached number two on
the British singles charts, while both the album and its second single, "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear", reached the British top ten.
That chart success, along with a successful 1978 UK tour including a gig at the Roundhouse (the Boomtown Rats opened), made Blondie one of the first American new wave bands to
achieve mainstream success in the United Kingdom.[2] By this time, Gary Valentine had been replaced by Frank
Infante (Bass Guitar / Guitar), and shortly after
that Nigel Harrison (Bass Guitar) was added,
expanding the band to a six piece for the first time.
All Music Review later described Plastic Letters as inferior to its predecessor, saying that with the exception
of the two singles, it appeared to have been constructed from "leftovers" from the Blondie album. It noted that
Gottehrer's production could not compensate for the "pedestrian musical tracks" or save the album from "general
mediocrity".[15]
Mainstream success
Parallel Lines, Blondie's third album, was produced by Mike Chapman. Its first two singles were "Picture This" and "Hanging on the Telephone." "Heart of Glass" was
their first U.S. hit, and was a reworking of a rock song that the group had performed since its formation, but updated with
strong elements of disco music. Clem Burke later said the revamped version was inspired partly by
Kraftwerk and partly by the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive," whose drum beat Burke tried to emulate. He and Stein gave Jimmy Destri much of the credit
for the final result, noting that Destri's appreciation of technology had led him to introduce synthesizers and to rework the
keyboard sections.[13] Although
some members of the British music press condemned Blondie for "selling out," the song became a popular worldwide success. Selling
more than one million copies and garnering major airplay, the single reached number one in many countries including the U.S.,
where, for the most part, Blondie had previously been considered an "underground"
band. The song was accompanied by a music video that showcased Deborah Harry's hard-edged and playfully sexual persona,
and she began to attain a celebrity status that set her apart from the other band members, who were largely ignored by the
media.
Blondie's next single in the U.S. was a more aggressive rock song, "One Way or
Another," and reached the top 30. The band's greatest success continued to be in the UK, where an alternate single choice,
"Sunday Girl," became another number one smash.
Their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, was well received by critics as a
suitable follow-up to Parallel Lines but in the U.S. it failed to achieve the same level of success.[2] In the UK, the single "Atomic" reached number
one, "Dreaming" number two, and "Union City Blue" was another substantial hit, while in the U.S. their singles did not chart as
strongly.[2]
Deborah Harry worked with the Italian songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder, who had been responsible for Donna Summer's
biggest hits, and they composed the song "Call Me" for the soundtrack of the film
American Gigolo. The song became the biggest hit of Blondie's career, spending
six weeks at number one in the U.S. and becoming a hit throughout the world.[2] Their album Autoamerican was
released shortly thereafter and contained two more worldwide hits, the reggae-styled "The Tide
Is High" and the rap-flavored "Rapture", each hitting number one in both the U.S.
and UK.[2] "Rapture" was the first song
containing elements of rap music vocals to reach number one in the U.S. and helped
introduce the then-underground rap genre to a larger audience. "Rapture" would be their only single to achieve a higher chart
position on the U.S. charts than in the UK, where it peaked at number five.
Hiatus, The Hunter, and breakup
Following their success of 1978-80, Blondie took a brief break in 1981. That year, Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri both released
solo albums; Stein helped out with Harry's album Koo Koo, and Burke with Destri's
Heart on a Wall. Also in 1981, Blondie was offered the chance to perform the
theme to the new James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. They were under the impression that they had been asked to compose
the track as well, but when they presented their song to the film's producers, they learned the offer was to record the theme
already written by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson. The producers rejected Blondie's song and passed the offer on to Sheena Easton,
who had a top ten hit with the Conti/Leeson song. Blondie's composition for the film was, however, included on their next
album.
The band reconvened in 1982 to record and release The Hunter. In
contrast to their earlier commercial and critical successes, The Hunter generally received lukewarm-to-negative reviews,
and failed to hit the top 20 in the US top charts. The album did spin off two fairly minor hit singles: "Island of Lost Souls" (#11 UK, #37 US), and "War
Child" (#39 UK).
With tensions within the band on the rise due to the commercial decline and the constant press focus on Harry to the exclusion
of the other band members, events reached a breaking point when Stein was diagnosed with the serious, life-threatening illness
pemphigus. In August 1982, Blondie canceled their tour plans early and announced their
break-up.
Stein and Harry (a couple) stayed together, and retreated from the public spotlight for a few years. After Stein recovered
from his illness, Harry resumed her solo career in 1985, with active participation from Stein in all her recordings. Meanwhile,
Burke became a much-in-demand session drummer (and played for a time with Eurythmics), and
Destri also maintained an active career as a producer/session musician.
Regeneration
During the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, Blondie's past work was recognised by a new generation of fans and artists
including Madonna[16] Speaking in 1998, Clem Burke said he had recognized elements of Blondie in the band
No Doubt, and Harry commented that she began to realize "our reputation had grown since we
stopped".[13] Chrysalis and EMI
Records also released several compilations and collections of remixed versions of some of their biggest hits.
In 1996, Stein began the process of reuniting Blondie and contacted Burke and Destri, who was then producing. In 1997, the
band reformed, performing live three times without Harrison and Infante, who had unsuccessfully sued to prevent the reunion under
the name "Blondie". An international tour in late 1998 - early 1999[17] followed. The resulting album, No Exit
released in February 1999 and described by Jimmy Destri as "15 songs about nothing",[13] reached number 3 on the UK charts, and its song "Maria" — which Destri had written thinking about his high school days[18] — became Blondie's sixth UK number one single exactly twenty years after their
first chart-topper "Heart of Glass" in 1979, giving the band the distinction of being the only American act to reach number one
in the UK singles charts in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. During this time, Harry also worked as a vocalist for the
avant-garde jazz troupe, The Jazz Passengers,
having collaborated with them on their 1997 debut album Individually Twisted.
Blondie performing in September 2006.
"Atomic" is featured in the 2002 PlayStation 2
videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as
part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103, with "Heart of Glass" on
its 2006 prequel game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the
same station. "One Way or Another" also made it to the
soundtrack of Driver: Parallel Lines, which interestingly shares the same name as
the song's original album.
They released the album The Curse of Blondie in October 2003, followed by
the single "Good Boys". As of 2004 Jimmy Destri has retired from touring, leaving only Harry,
Stein and Burke from the original lineup appearing at live shows.[19]
In 2006, a mash up of Blondie's "Rapture" and The
Doors "Riders on the Storm" was released as a single titled "Rapture Riders", and reached the top 30 on the Australian
ARIA charts, and the top 10 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club chart in the U.S. Neither Harry nor Stein were involved in the song's
production, but Harry commented that the song was "Amazingly good... It's rare that I really love something"[20] and Stein also approved of the song, the
two allowing it to be included on Blondie's [[Greatest Hits: Sight + Sound]] album.[21]
Legacy
By 1982, the year the band broke up, Blondie had released six studio albums, each exhibiting a stylistic progression from the
last. The band is known not only for the striking stage persona and vocal performances of Harry but also for incorporating
elements in their work from numerous subgenres of popular music, reaching from their
punk roots to embrace new wave, disco, and hip hop.
In March of 2006, Blondie — following a touching introductory speech by Shirley Manson
of Garbage[22][23] — was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All seven members from the original lineup were invited to the
ceremony, which led to an on-stage spat between the extant group and their former bandmates Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante, who
asked during the live broadcast of the ceremony to be allowed to perform with the group — a request refused by Harry.[24]
A BBC documentary on the group, aired Friday, July 21, 2006, discussed a new legal battle Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante
have undertaken against the present day band (most likely over terms of their implied 'partnership' agreement as members of
Blondie). This has something to do with the frosty reception they received from Harry and Stein at the induction.[25]
On May 22, 2006, Blondie was inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame at Guitar Center on
Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. Especially important regarding Blondie's Rock Walk induction is the fact that currently, Rock Walk
inductions are voted on by previous Rock Walk inductees, making this truly a musician's award.[26]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year |
Album |
US |
UK |
US Sales |
| 1976 |
Blondie |
- |
75 |
200,000 |
| 1977 |
Plastic Letters |
72 |
10 |
600,000 |
| 1978 |
Parallel Lines |
6 |
1 |
7,300,000 |
| 1979 |
Eat to the Beat |
17 |
1 |
1,300,000 |
| 1980 |
Autoamerican |
7 |
6 |
2,800,000 |
| 1982 |
The Hunter |
33 |
9 |
500,000 |
| 1999 |
No Exit |
18 |
3 |
400,000 |
| 2003 |
The Curse of Blondie |
160 |
36 |
160,000 |
Compilations
