Blondie
Let’s go Pop! Blondie, ‘Parallel Lines’, 1978. Their difficult third album. Blondie were from the CBGB school of Punk/New wave. They hadn’t hit ‘big’ Big beyond the Indie ghetto. What did they do? They got Mike Chapman of Chinn-Chapman, the men behind The Sweet, Suzi Quatro and other Glam Rockers. Of course! Mike knew Pop and how to get a good sound. On this album he created a Classic. 20 million copies sold.
For younger readers, here’s a question; “Is Blondie a Feminist?” Debbie Harry was assumed to be the Blondie in the band name, much to the chagrin of the rest of the band, but, hey, 20 million copies sold worldwide, whaddya gonna do? The band even wore T-shirts that said ‘Blondie is a band’. Back in the day Debbie/Blondie was seen as either Exploited Eye Candy Propping up the Capitalist Machine, or Gender Traitor, or Empowered Female Warrior in charge of her sexuality and using the System. Phew. And you thought Woke was a new thing?
Debbie probably didn’t care either way. She’s from Noo Yoik, geddouttahere! With 20 million copies sold I’m not going to go through the songs as you’ll know most of them. Four of them were released as singles, cracking the Top 10 and making the band regulars on Top of The Pops. They were probably the biggest band in the UK for about a year. In relation to the Feminist debate, check out ‘Picture This’, wherein Debbie speaks of watching her lover naked in the shower. He’s naked in the shower, not her. A twist on the norm. It’s adult-sexy smuggled into a pop song. John Peel once said that his Sex Education chat with his dad consisted of; ‘girls like it too’. Who knew? Debbie proved it.
A great pop album with hooks, riffs, solid drumming, garage band keyboards, hand claps, Punk sass and Debbie’s great pop voice with an almost-sneer. Total package.
Blondie
Let’s go Pop! Blondie, ‘Parallel Lines’, 1978. Their difficult third album. Blondie were from the CBGB school of Punk/New wave. They hadn’t hit ‘big’ Big beyond the Indie ghetto. What did they do? They got Mike Chapman of Chinn-Chapman, the men behind The Sweet, Suzi Quatro and other Glam Rockers. Of course! Mike knew Pop and how to get a good sound. On this album he created a Classic. 20 million copies sold.
For younger readers, here’s a question; “Is Blondie a Feminist?” Debbie Harry was assumed to be the Blondie in the band name, much to the chagrin of the rest of the band, but, hey, 20 million copies sold worldwide, whaddya gonna do? The band even wore T-shirts that said ‘Blondie is a band’. Back in the day Debbie/Blondie was seen as either Exploited Eye Candy Propping up the Capitalist Machine, or Gender Traitor, or Empowered Female Warrior in charge of her sexuality and using the System. Phew. And you thought Woke was a new thing?
Debbie probably didn’t care either way. She’s from Noo Yoik, geddouttahere! With 20 million copies sold I’m not going to go through the songs as you’ll know most of them. Four of them were released as singles, cracking the Top 10 and making the band regulars on Top of The Pops. They were probably the biggest band in the UK for about a year. In relation to the Feminist debate, check out ‘Picture This’, wherein Debbie speaks of watching her lover naked in the shower. He’s naked in the shower, not her. A twist on the norm. It’s adult-sexy smuggled into a pop song. John Peel once said that his Sex Education chat with his dad consisted of; ‘girls like it too’. Who knew? Debbie proved it.
A great pop album with hooks, riffs, solid drumming, garage band keyboards, hand claps, Punk sass and Debbie’s great pop voice with an almost-sneer. Total package.