Debbie Harry/Blondie - Underated?

[Jonone]

There was a programme on recently which featured footage/shots of Debbie Harry 'back in the day'. I can't help thinking that contemporary icons like Kate Moss and Sienna Miller are kind of variant Debbie Harry, particulary Moss. Given the choice between Moss and Harry you'd have to go for Harry. They've both had substance misuse issues however Debbie Harry made better choices in terms of friends and lovers .. who is the greater talent Chris Stein or Pete Doherty? No brainer !

[The Last Word]

Great band with a great drummer and Eat To The Beat is a very, very underrated album.

[Robches]

Blondie were great, and they still play a mean live set. I go and see them whenever they play in England. I love to watch Clem Burke on the drums, he apparently based his style on Keith Moon, and it shows. X Offender is indeed a brilliant song, one of my favourites, there can't have been many upbeat pop songs about a street hooker seducing a cop, but this is one!

[Dave Wells]

Their comeback song Maria was fuckin great a few years back !

[laralatex]

you've got to see her......

Fantastic, love her stuff. Drives Jim nuts, so i crank it up even higher!!!!

[fudgeflaps]

I wouldn't say they were under-rated- I'm a big fan too- but, critically they have always been highly acclaimed (their recent stuff notwithstanding), and they are always cited as major, big exponents of 'New Wave' music of the 80s.

I think they have made a good name for themselves, are widely acknowledged and listeners of both old and new generations like them. Their music is accessible even for today's 'kidz', is used often for film soundtracks, adverts and cover versions and has aged well.

Under-rated? Where did you get that notion from?

If they were under-rated, they would have a niche status of the 'cult following' and all the attached kudos- like The Fall etc. Blondie win either way, and IMO, were never under-rated in the first instance being successful both critically and reasonably so commercially. They should be raking in a fair bit in royalties even now.

Dibble will agree- Debbie Harry? An awesome bird in her time.

[Officer Dibble]

Regarding Blondie being underrated.

Back in the day NME journos ? like Tony Parsons, Julie Birchill, et all, were in the sway of The Pistols, The Clash, Stranglers, Elvis Costello and similar. I used to get the feeling that Blondie wasn't taken to seriously - maybe regarded as a fluffy pop act with nothing much to say and of little cultural significance. But closer inspection of their lyrics reveals they did have stuff to say, they were reflecting life at the time. They just did it in a more accessible fashion. Looking back now it's amazing how many of their songs are as fresh in our minds today as they were back then - in that respect I'd put them in the same ballpark as the Beatles and the Stones. They may not have had the same instant brutal impact on rock and popular culture that the Sex Pistols did, but I'd suggest that Blondie's impact was similarly powerful - just more diffuse and longer lasting.

Debbie Harry - awesome bird? Debbie Harry was the most startling beauty in the entire history of pop music - which was no doubt a contributory factor in the band's wider success.




Officer Dibble