Occasional Albums Thing 040 - Blondie “Plastic Letters/Parallel Lines/Eat To The Beat”

A 3-in-1 special today…Blondie formed out of the scene that developed at the Mercer Arts Center (home gig for the New York Dolls for a time) in Greenwich Village, NYC in the early to mid 1970’s. Always featuring Chris Stein and Debbie Harry they went through various line-ups until they settled on a grouping including drummer Clem Burke, keyboardist Jimmy Destri and bass player Gary Valentine. They made their name playing around New York at Max’s Kansas City and of course CBGB’s, alongside the Ramones, Television, Richard Hell & The Void-Oids, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs and Talking Heads, the bands that became synonymous with the “punk” scene in the US. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be around NYC at that time.

They signed with Private Stock Records (much better known for releases by David Soul, Frankie Valli and Jose Feliciano) and released their first album in 1976. That one completely passed us by but we began to take notice when the UK music papers started to print pictures of the divine Ms Harry and their first release in the UK for new label Chrysalis (housed in a picture sleeve featuring just Debbie in a sultry pose and figure hugging leopard print dress…it’s all in the marketing guys) stormed the charts and radio airwaves. “Denis” was a cover of Randy & The Rainbows 1963 Doo Wop hit “Denise” and Blondie took it to #2 in the UK charts. It’s accompanying album “Plastic Letters” also housed #10 hit “(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear” (written by Gary Valentine who had left the band by now to be replaced by British bass player Nigel Harrison). I’ll also make mention of “Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)” my favourite Blondie tune. Absolute nonsense lyrics about going on holiday to Bermuda (“cousin Billy said enjoy the watersports” !) but Chris Stein’s guitar playing is just gorgeous.

Blondie were big time by the end of 1977. They were talked about alongside the Ramones, Television and New York “punk” was on the rise. Was it punk ? Naaaaaah, Blondie were part of the New Wave at most but what it was was bloody fantastic pop music. The marketing push by Chrysalis was huge. Debbie was always front and centre, particularly on single sleeves where Debbie Harry was almost always pictured alone, presented as though Blondie referred only to her, but Blondie was always a band.

They made a play for world domination in 1978 with a fistful of killer singles and an album called “Parallel Lines”. It felt like everybody owned a copy of “Parallel Lines”. Boys liked it cos of Ms Harry, girls liked the pop tunes and wanted to be Debbie, Moms & Dads liked the vaguely 60’s feel about it all and I guess the Dads were quite taken with La Harry too. 

You couldn’t get away from “Parallel Lines”  or its singles on the radio. Five of its 12 tracks were released as singles in the UK (“Hanging On The Telephone” #5, “One Way Or Another” #98 (not sure how hat happened given its popularity these days!), “Picture This” #12, “Sunday Girl” and “Heart Of Glass” both went to #1). Even now when I go to look at record collections owned by people around my age it’s a surprise if “Parallel Lines” isn’t in there, but unlike many other albums like that (I’m looking at you Mike Oldfield, Sky, Rod Stewart et al) it’s always a pleasure to see this one. This, as I keep saying, was imperious Pop Music and it sold millions and millions of copies.

So how do you follow up a multi-million selling album like “Parallel Lines” you may ask ? Well if you’re Blondie you make another one. “Eat To The Beat” may not have been the all conquering behemoth that its predecessor was but it also sold millions. It’s not one I know as well the previous 2 but oh my those singles, “Dreaming” #2, “Union City Blue” #13 and, of course, “Atomic” #1, and in-between “Union City Blue” and “Atomic” they also rode “Call Me” to #1 from the soundtrack of the movie “American Gigolo”. 

Blondie are still at it , they had another #1 single in 1999 with “Maria”, they released their last album, “Pollinator”, in 2017 and toured in 2024 alongside Alice Cooper (!) plus they are due to release a new album in 2025. These days the band is just Harry and Stein, after various line-up changes and Clem Burke’s passing in 2025, and Chris Stein no longer tours due to a heart problem. If you say “Blondie” to almost anyone of a certain age the response will likely be an enthusiastic “Debbie Harry” or maybe someone bursting into song with one of their many hits. They honestly became part of the furniture for a while back there.

Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) - https://youtu.be/CLgD05Tk3Zw?si=_R1GDEUwrMjHUpYN