Blondie & Debbie Harry

by **Dreams** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:25 pm

Calling Blondini, NothingFails and anyone else who adores this band. 8-)

Let's begin the thread with their best song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB8X61ZiNRY

And let's discuss: favorite/least fav albums?/eat to the beat/debbie harry/bleach/and any sort of general blondie discussion there is

by **Dreams** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:29 pm

Call it a FLUKE or what you will, but I ultimately voted for EAT TO THE BEAT, I'm LOVING it these days and the fact that it contains four of my top ten Blondie songs (three of which are in the top three) is reason enough...although my mouse did hover over PARALLEL LINES for a good few moments.

by **Blondini** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:52 pm

Dreams wrote:Call it a FLUKE or what you will, but I ultimately voted for EAT TO THE BEAT, I'm LOVING it these days and the fact that it contains four of my top ten Blondie songs (three of which are in the top three) is reason enough...although my mouse did hover over PARALLEL LINES for a good few moments.

You changed from your recent Personal Chart! I also find Eat to have my three faves on there and the album probably sounds more modern than PL, but ultimately it just doesn't have the mastery of craft of Lines.

There's hardly anything in it, though!

Least fave: The Hunter (what i've heard which is about 80% of it- the only album i don't have).

by **Dreams** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:59 pm

Have you heard "The Beast", Blondini? It's truly horrendous and worth one listen for the ridiculousness factor. :lol:

Apart from that THE HUNTER is a decent 80s pop album, no better, no worse...

by **Blondini** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:51 am

No! Not heard it. It's most notable for featuring the Bond theme they didn't want- For Your Eyes Only.
It's good but you can see why they rejected it. Though it could well have slowed their downfall if it had been used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3anh2SV-7s

by **Dreams** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:59 am

"For Your Eyes Only" is a bit too washed out for me, maybe I would like it more if the chorus or tune was more PROMINENT. Anyway, it's an okay song, but damn that Sheena Easton for stealing that hit from Blondie at their most unfortunate hour.

A real forgotten little gem on The Hunter is "(Can I Find) The Right Words (To Say)?", it's very good lyrically and melody-wise. But of course, as you know, "Danceway" is my personal favorite off the album.

Whether one likes The Hunter or not, it's kind of a sneak peek of what never was, or what Blondie would've sounded like as the 80s progressed...as you know Autoamerican was all over the place and a bit too early to be regarded as an '80s album', The Hunter kind of fit that criteria...but of course as everyone already knew the band was done before then.

They call it the Church of Hot Addiction · by **volver** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:01 pm

I dont actually own any of their albums but I'm familar with most of their singles. The French version of Sunday Girl is amazing 8-)

by **Dreams** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:17 pm

volver wrote:I dont actually own any of their albums but I'm familar with most of their singles. The French version of Sunday Girl is amazing

You must at least investigate their greatest hits or best of, any music fan I think would enjoy it..they crossed so many genre lines from punk to new wave to pop to disco to rock to rap to jazz to funk etc.

by **FreakyFlyBry** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 4:05 pm

A legendary band with many classics. 8-)

I'd say my favourite from them is probably "Heart of Glass", but "Call Me" isn't very far behind.

by **Dreams** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 4:08 pm

It's amazing that songs like "Heart of Glass", "Call Me", "One Way or Another" etc remain so great, ludicrous overplay has not tainted these songs for me which is a miracle, because it's so common with songs such as these.

by **NothingFails** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:10 am

I voted for Parallel Lines tho it was tempting to vote for Eat To The Beat

by **Blondini** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:09 pm

Could you make this a Deborah Harry thread also?
Seems pointless to start a solo thread knowing it won't get many replies.

by **Dreams** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:47 pm

Blondini wrote:Could you make this a Deborah Harry thread also?
Seems pointless to start a solo thread knowing it won't get many replies.

done

by **theberen** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:34 pm

I voted for Paralell Lines because you really just can't be the excellence of Heart Of Glass 8-)

by **NothingFails** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:49 am

to be honest, while I love PL and the song in question, I hate the album version of Heart Of Glass with the long "da da da, duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh-uh-uh, da da da...." fadeout for two minutes. I actually replaced that on my iPod with the Best Of Blondie version, I love that version which has the instrumental synth/drum fadeout that IMO puts a better cap on the song than the male backing vocals singing it over and over and over and over for two minutes.

by **toni_pest** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:11 pm

I love them!

Their best is Parallel Lines, but their best single is Maria, a timeless classic!

by **Dreams** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:28 pm

NothingFails wrote:to be honest, while I love PL and the song in question, I hate the album version of Heart Of Glass with the long "da da da, duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh-uh-uh, da da da...." fadeout for two minutes. I actually replaced that on my iPod with the Best Of Blondie version, I love that version which has the instrumental synth/drum fadeout that IMO puts a better cap on the song than the male backing vocals singing it over and over and over and over for two minutes.

I am so used to the album version that I prefer that, I think the 'da da da etc etc's add some bittersweet feeling to the song, cause since it's primarily DISCO people tend to overlook the fact that the song has some sad tones about it. But definitely, the 2 minutes of 'da da da's are unnecessary, 20 seconds and a fade out would've been sufficient....save that overlong stuff for the remixes.

In a song like "Rapture" I think the drawn out factor of it, sort of serves more of a purpose.

by **Blondini** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:05 pm

The disco mix on the single of HOG is best i think, though i'll gladly take any version. (except the 95 remix).

by **Dreams** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:21 pm

God those '95 remixes were an abomination...

by **NothingFails** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:27 pm

I generally love remixes but those mid-90's Blondie remixes did nothing for me. But I suppose it did do it's job, they did in a sense introduce Blondie to a new generation, but the originals are so much better.

by **Blondini** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:41 pm

Dreams wrote:God those '95 remixes were an abomination...

I LOVE the Atomic and Union City Blue mixes by Diddy (not THAT one- the one that forced him to go for a "P" in the UK!).

And the Black Dog mix of Fade Away And Radiate is stunning.

I also like the 88 mix of Denis.

Those handbag hardcore mixes were beyond awful, though. Sunday Girl

by **Dreams** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:20 am

NothingFails wrote:I generally love remixes but those mid-90's Blondie remixes did nothing for me. But I suppose it did do it's job, they did in a sense introduce Blondie to a new generation, but the originals are so much better.

They are just tainted versions of the originals, I think... some songs (like most of Blondie's discography) just shouldn't ever be remixed.

But yes, as bad as I think that remix project was its success opened the door to a Blondie reuinion...according to Chris, I believe.

by **Dreams** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:22 am

And JESUS CHRIST, Debs and Chris circa THE HUNTER TOUR:

by **NothingFails** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:31 am

it's such a miracle Chris is still alive, my older sister who was a big fan of theirs in the day figured he had died and was so excited to see him alive and healthy in concert

by **Blondini** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:57 pm

Yes, you could see the change in his face on the Eat To The Beat album- the beginnings of it.

Let's do a discography.

I like tracing the chronological progression of an artist. Concentrating on just the singles (as that was arguably their strongest point):

X Offender
The first single, released on Private Stock label in 1976 before being reissued when they signed to Chrysalis. Co-written by Harry and original bassist Gary Valentine, the song was called Sex Offender before the slight name change, it is about a prostitute attracted the policeman who arrests her (which i never knew till i Wiki-ed it!).
Sixties girl group style with added sleaze factor.
Debuts are rarely this beguiling!

Check out the lads over-performing to the camera! :lol:

In The Flesh

Gorgeous slowdance song that unexpectedly went to number 2 in Australia- it was part of the first UK Chrysalis single with X Offender and...

Rip Her To Shreds

Incredible rare TV clip there!
I thought this was just a bitchy song from one girl to another but it's actually a comment on the effect of gossip columns on people's lives, something Debbie learned the hard way some years later.

Blondie & Debbie Harry

Best Blondie album?