Blondie is a 12 time Grammy
Award-winning American rock
band that first gained global
fame in the late 1960s. 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 rega
more

Blondie is a 12 time Grammy
Award-winning American rock
band that first gained global
fame in the late 1960s. 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 a third album 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
1998, achieving renewed
success and a number one
single in the United Kingdom
the following year. 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 one of the band's
vocalists, 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 soon
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]

They became regulars at New
York's Club 51, Max's Kansas
City, and CBGB.[6] 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'. By this time,
Valentine had been replaced by
Nigel Harrison, and another
guitarist Frank Infante had
been added. Rolling Stone
wrote about Blondie for the
first time in August 1977[7]
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'.[8]

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.[9] 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.'[10]

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
cancelled a performance due to
illness. (less)

Category Music

Tags debbie, , harry, deborah, chris, stein, jimmy, destri, the, tide, is, high, 1980, autoamerican, pop