FROM THE BOWERY TO THE BEEB

WELCOME

Editor @ClassicPopMag Call me romantic, but in one

POP’S TRUE SURVIVORS

THE 40 YEARS THAT FOLLOWED THE END OF BLONDIE’S ORIGINAL HIGH-WATERMARK SIGNIFIED A TUMULTUOUS PERIOD FOR THE GROUP –A ROCKY ROAD OF BURN-OUTS AND BREAKS-UP, SEPARATION, REGROUPING AND ULTIMATE REDEMPTION. BUT THROUGH THE MURK, THEY GRADUATED FROM FADING SENSATION TO ENDURING POP ROYALTY

NOBODY CONTROLS BLONDIE...

EXCEPT BLONDIE!

JACKIE 60: THE 90S CLUB SCENE

As Blondie’s early days were centred around the

CHRIS STEIN: BLONDIE’S RENAISSANCE MAN

At the first Stilettos gig, Harry found herself

RECYCLING THE TRASH AESTHETIC

© Getty Woven into Blondie’s DNA right away

BLONDIE BLONDIE

ARRIVING THROUGH THE VAPOURS OF PUNK TO CONJURE A HIP RETRO SHEEN, AMIDST 60S HEARTBREAK HOOKS AND STRIKING POP SAVVY, BLONDIE’S DEBUT ALBUM DELIVERED AN INJECTION OF YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE LACED WITH A TOUCH OF NOIR

HEARTS OF GLASS

OF ALL THE BANDS TO EMERGE FROM THE NEW YORK PUNK SCENE, BLONDIE WERE THE MOST STYLISH – AND THE GANG WHOSE MUSIC HAD THE BIGGEST PURE POP SPIRIT. BUT SUCH STYLE AND SPIRIT DOESN’T COME EASY. RAIDED FROM THE CLASSIC POP ARCHIVE FROM 2013, THIS INTERVIEW WITH DEBBIE HARRY AND CHRIS STEIN REVEALS BLONDIE WEREN’T IN AS MUCH CONTROL OF THEIR DESTINY AS YOU MIGHT THINK

TOP 2O ESSENTIAL TRACKS

ENCOMPASSING GARAGE ROCK, DISCO, POWER POP, REGGAE AND RAP, THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF STYLES TO CHOOSE FROM WHEN COMPILING A BLONDIE TOP 20. OUR SELECTION INCLUDES ALL OF THE BAND’S SIX UK NO.1 HITS TOGETHER WITH SOME KILLER ALBUM TRACKS

NO EXIT STRATEGY

RECORD PRODUCER CRAIG LEON PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN TWO MAJOR MILESTONES IN BLONDIE’S CAREER: THEIR INITIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE NEW YORK SCENE AND THEIR PHENOMENALLY SUCCESSFUL COMEBACK SOME 20 YEARS LATER. CLASSIC POP CAUGHT UP WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY VETERAN

PLASTIC LETTERS BLONDIE

A CREATIVE STEP FORWARD FROM THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT AND BLESSED WITH A PAIR OF SWEETLY SEDUCTIVE SINGLES, ALBUM NUMBER TWO PROVIDES THE BAND WITH ITS FIRST, BIG COMMERCIAL BREAKTHROUGH

PARALLEL LINES BLONDIE

FORSAKING THEIR PUNK SOUND BUT NOT THEIR ATTITUDE, BLONDIE TEAMED UP WITH HITMAKER MIKE CHAPMAN FOR THEIR THIRD ALBUM WHICH EARNED THEM GLOBAL SUCCESS THANKS TO A STRING OF HITS AND THE UNDENIABLE STAR POWER OF THEIR CHARISMATIC FRONTWOMAN

THE SONGS

1 HANGING ON THE TELEPHONE Hanging On The

THE VIDEOS

PICTURE THIS A straight-up live performance clip, Picture

EAT TO THE BEAT BLONDIE

THE PRESSURE WAS ON TO MATCH THE SUCCESS OF THEIR PREVIOUS SMASH, WHICH MEANT THE RETURN OF PRODUCER MIKE CHAPMAN FOR ANOTHER HELPING OF HIGHLY-POLISHED POP

FULL SCREEN

The band cut a video for every one

AUTOAMERICAN BLONDIE

WITH A BOLD NEW DECADE UNDERWAY AND AT THE PEAK OF THEIR POWERS, FOR ALBUM NUMBER FIVE THE BAND SWAPPED NEW YORK FOR HOLLYWOOD, PUSHING SONIC BOUNDARIES WITH A PALETTE OF SKA, REGGAE, BLUES, FUNK… AND EVEN RAP

MARS RAPPER

Debbie, Fab Five Freddy, Grandmaster Flash and Tracy

THE HUNTER BLONDIE

DESPITE THE CHART SUCCESS OF AUTOAMERICAN FILLING THEIR SAILS, AS THEY ENTERED A NEW DECADE, BOTH THE NEW YORKERS’ BOND THEME AND THEIR LATEST STUDIO ALBUM WOULD REMAIN OVERLOOKED – BUT WERE FANS REALLY JUST AFTER THE BLONDIE OF OLD?

NO EXIT BLONDIE

IT WAS THE COMEBACK RECORD THAT REAFFIRMED BLONDIE’S RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE ROCK ELITE, BUT THE HIT TRACK BELIES ITS EXPERIMENTATION. ALBUM NUMBER SEVEN IS AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION FROM A GROUP STILL UNAFRAID TO TAKE CREATIVE RISKS AND ALSO HAVE SOME FUN ON THE WAY

THE CURSE OF BLONDIE BLONDIE

BY THE TURN OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, BLONDIE HAD RETURNED TO FULL STRENGTH WITH AN INTERNATIONAL HIT SINGLE AND ITS ACCOMPANYING – CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED – ALBUM CLOSING OUT THE PREVIOUS DECADE. FRUSTRATINGLY FOR DEBBIE AND THE BOYS, WITH LOST TAPES AND FALSE STARTS, THE CURSE OF BLONDIE WOULD SPLIT THEIR AUDIENCE…

PHOTOGRAPHY FEELS LIKE TIME TRAVEL

ALONGSIDE HIS GUITAR WORK IN BLONDIE, CHRIS STEIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CAPTIVATING PHOTOGRAPHER WHOSE PORTRAITS OF FELLOW MUSICIANS AND THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF NEW YORK IS RESPECTED IN THE VISUAL ARTS WORLD. CHRIS EXCLUSIVELY DISCUSSES HIS OTHER MAJOR PASSION, TELLING CLASSIC POP WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR FRIENDS

PANIC OF GIRLS BLONDIE

WHILE THEIR PREVIOUS ALBUM IS NOTORIOUS FOR BEING THE LOWEST-CHARTING ALBUM IN THE BLONDIE CANON, AT LEAST IT DIDN’T SUFFER THE FATE OF ITS WOODSTOCK-RECORDED FOLLOW-UP, THE FIRST TO BE MADE WITHOUT JIMMY DESTRI AND THE FIRST SINCE THEIR DEBUT TO SWERVE THE US CHARTS ALTOGETHER

GHOSTS OF DOWNLOAD BLONDIE

THIS LATE CAREER OUTLIER IN BLONDIE’S CATALOGUE SEES THEM JETTISON THE TRADEMARK BAND DYNAMIC FOR A RAZOR-SHARP, SYNTHED-UP COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY ELECTRO-POP

POLLINATOR BLONDIE

WITH A PLAN TO TAKE OTHER PEOPLE’S SONGS AND GIVE THEM THE BLONDIE STAMP, DEBBIE AND CO FINALLY PUT THEMSELVES BACK IN THE FRAME WITH THEIR HIGHEST-CHARTING ALBUM FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES, A SET THAT TURNED UP THE GUITARS TO RECLAIM PAST GLORIES

FAIREY DUST

Debbie sidles up to Pollinator cover artist Shepard

EAST SIDE STORY

ONE SCRUFFY VENUE CAUSED A MUSICAL REVOLUTION IN A ROUGH, DANGEROUS NEW YORK IN THE LATE-70S – AND DEBBIE HARRY BECAME ONE OF THE 80S MOST TALKED-ABOUT POP STARS BECAUSE OF IT. THIS IS THE CBGB STORY…

NEW YORK

BEST 10 TRACKS

AT OM IC

BLONDIE FOUND (ALMOST) INSTANT MAINSTREAM SUCCESS IN EUROPE, AND EVEN THOUGH DEBBIE AND HER MOVIE-STAR LOOKS WOULD TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT, WITH THE US SOON TO SHARE THE LOVE, THERE WAS CLEARLY GOING TO BE FAR MORE TO THE PHENOMENON THAT WAS BLONDIEMANIA…

BEYOND BLONDIE

IT WAS EVIDENT RIGHT FROM THE OUTSET THAT ALL THE CORE BAND MEMBERS COULD TURN THEIR HAND TO SONGWRITING, BUT HOW DID THEY GET ON WHEN THEY WENT ON TO PURSUE SEPARATE PROJECTS?

GIGER COUNTER

But who exactly is H.R. Giger, the inspiration

VIDEO ZONE

GOING IT ALONE Catch this fascinating round-up of solo artist Blondie clips on a YouTube near you…

HAVANA AFFAIR

IN 2019, BLONDIE PLAYED AN HISTORIC SET OF GIGS IN COMMUNIST CUBA, SHORTLY BEFORE A GLOBAL LOCKDOWN PUT LIVE MUSIC ON HOLD INDEFINITELY. THE POP MILESTONE WAS CAPTURED IN A THRILLING NEW LIVE EP AND SHORT FILM, VIVIR EN LA HABANA – AND THERE IS A NEW STUDIO ALBUM ON THE WAY, TOO. DRUMMER CLEM BURKE AND FILM DIRECTOR ROB ROTH REVEAL ALL…

ON THE RECORD: A NEW BLONDIE STUDIO ALBUM?

“We have a lot of material in the

Q&A: DIRECTOR ROB ROTH ON THE ‘HAUNTED’VIBE OF HAVANA

“I’ve known Debbie for more than 30 years.

NEW NORMAL

AS THE FULL-TIME KEYBOARDIST IN BLONDIE SINCE 2008, MATT KATZ-BOHEN HAS LONG SINCE GOT OVER BEING A FANBOY AROUND DEBBIE, CHRIS AND CLEM. BUT HE STILL GETS TO DELIGHT IN THE TALES OF THE BAND’S EARLY YEARS – WHEN MATT’S NOT BEING A VERSATILE MUSICIAN CASUALLY ABLE TO WRITE CLASSIC BLONDIE-ESQUE SONGS. MATT TELLS CLASSIC POP OF HIS UNUSUAL EARLY ENCOUNTERS WITH DEBBIE…

A VISION OF YOU

AS DISTINCT A PRESENCE ON CELLULOID AS SH IS ON VINYL, THE FILM CAREER OF DEBBIE HARR SURPRISINGLY PROLIFIC. CLASSIC POP REACHES FOR THE POPCORN AND SETTLES BACK TO WATCH TH POP-PUNK PRINCESS IN ACTION…

SHIRLEY MANSON

GARBAGE FRONTWOMAN AND ALL-ROUND CLASS ACT TELLS CLASSIC POP WHAT MAKES BLONDIE SO IMPORTANT TO HER AS AN ARTIST AND THE PIVOTAL ROLE THAT THE GROUP HAVE PLAYED THROUGHOUT HER CAREER

UNION CITY

AS SUCH AN ECLECTIC BAND, IT’S LITTLE WONDER THAT BLONDIE’S EXTRA-CURRICULAR SONIC INTERESTS ARE DAZZLINGLY DIVERSE TOO. FROM ARTY JAZZ TO 90S COVERS BANDS VIA PLAYING IN THEIR OWN TRIBUTE GROUP, IT SEEMS THAT ANYTHING WHICH LOOKS LIKE FUN IS SOMETHING BLONDIE ARE HAPPY TO CONSIDER. CLASSIC POP TRACES THE HISTORY OF CROSS-POLLINATION OUTSIDE OF BLONDIE

YOU’VE GOTTA SEE HER

IN A CLASS ALL OF HER OWN WHEN IT COMES TO STYLE, DEBBIE HARRY IS KNOWN – AND ADORED – FOR HER COMPOSED SENSE OF GLAMOUR AND DARING ATTITUDE. NO WONDER SHE’S REACHED ICON STATUS IN BOTH MUSIC AND FASHION

BLONDIE AT THE HALL OF FAME 2006

© Getty Blondie were finally given their spot