Blondie

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Blondie is an American rock band that first gained fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Blondie was a pioneer in the early American punk rock and New Wave scenes. Since their debut they sold over 130 millions records Blondie 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, Blondie 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, Blondie disbanded in 1982. As members pursued other projects, Blondie's reputation grew over the following decade and Blondie reformed in 1998, achieving renewed success and a number one single in the United Kingdom the following year. Blondie 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.

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, 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" 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.

Blondie became regulars at New York's Club 51, Max's Kansas City, and CBGB. They got their first record deal with Private Stock Records in the mid-'70s and released their debut album Blondie in 1976, 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 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 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".

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". 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. 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."

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 Blondie fans almost rioted after Harry cancelled a performance due to illness.

The following year Blondie released their second album, Plastic Letters which Chrysalis Records promoted extensively throughout Europe and Asia. The album's first single which won Blondie their first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocals Performance "Denis", a cover version of Randy and the Rainbows's 1963 hit, reached number two on the British singles charts, while both the album and the second single, "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear", each reached the British top ten, making Blondie one of the first American new wave bands to achieve mainstream success in the United Kingdom.

Parallel Lines, Blondie's next album, was produced by Mike Chapman and eventually won them a Grammy for Best Rock Album. Its first two singles were "Picture This" and "Hanging on the Telephone." "Heart of Glass" was Blondie's first U.S. hit and garnered Blondie another Grammy for Best Disco Recording. It was a reworking of a rock song that the Blondie 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. 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 until this point Blondie had been largely 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 Blondie 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," which picked up a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocals Performance, and it reached the top 10 but Blondie's greatest success continued to be in the UK, where an alternate single choice, "Sunday Girl," became another number one smash.

Blondie's 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. 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. Blondie achieved far lesser success.

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. 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. "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 Blondie's only single to do better on the U.S. charts than in the UK, where it peaked at number five.

With tensions within Blondie on the rise due to the commercial decline and the constant press focus on Harry to the exclusion of other Blondie members, events reached a breaking point when Stein was diagnosed with a serious, life-threatening illness. In mid-1982, Blondie announced their break-up.

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