The platinum brilliance of Debbie Harry.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by dance_hall_keeper, Sep 3, 2017.

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  1. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Nice segment from today's CBS News Sunday Morning:
    "Call Me" was a big hit for the group Blondie and lead singer Debbie Harry back in 1980. She's still calling the shots in her band, and with our Tracy Smith this morning she offers a SUMMER SONG:
    ...
    The Shepard Fairey wall mural is pretty cool.
     
  2. Francisx

    Francisx Forum Resident

    That band was terrible then and even more terrible now. come on Debbie Harry?? No really Debbie Harry?
     
  3. boboquisp

    boboquisp Magic Prism Eyes

    Location:
    NE Ohio
    So what is it you're trying to say?
     
    Jimmy B., No Bull and ralphb like this.
  4. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    Yeah but debbie was smokin....
     
  5. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    The band was terrible in late '74/very early '75. But they woodshedded their butts off and emerged one hell of a great band, with a string of wonderful pop/punk albums that have stood the test of time far better than a lot of their contemporaries.
     
  6. Fullbug

    Fullbug Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    They were on a huge roll in 79, 80. Great times.
     
  7. No Bull

    No Bull Forum Resident

    Location:
    Orlando Florida
    lame threadcrap..
     
    bluesbro, scobb, Sneaky Pete and 4 others like this.
  8. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Love the mural. I used to see Deborah riding her bicycle around Chelsea. She looks great for her age. I'm glad she and Chris are still around and still working!
     
    autoamerican likes this.
  9. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I like the song Backfired, and the video directed by H. R. Giger. So cool!

     
  10. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member

    Location:
    Alabama
    Just a band that I never cared for.
     
  11. footstomper

    footstomper Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Well in my opinion that band was absolutely sensational then and even more terrific now!
    Go get "Pollinator" and you'll hear the greatest album of the year!
     
    Mike24137 and autoamerican like this.
  12. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    When they started out, they were very rough, but they learned on the job. They got pretty good.

    Clem Burke is/was the best musician in the group (if you consider drummers musicians......;-), followed by Jimmy Destri, then Nigel, then Chris, then the supporting cast (speaking of the original band in the main years). Chris can do some amazing little bits but he is not an all around rock and roll guitar player. (The new guy, Tommy, is a studio pro as is the keyboard player. ) I am not trying to be catty, that's just the cold truth. Losing Jimmy (who wrote 'Maria', which is why they have had a second career, and have been around longer and made more money this time than the first) was a big blow because he is a great songwriter.

    Pollinator is a good album, the best since No Exit. It does not, however, have a solid radio single. And to go over in the US it badly needed one.

    There will probably be one more Blondie album (maybe, maybe two, but I suspect next one is finis) and if D really wants a shot at that hear-yourself-on-the-radio feeling again, and all her fans would love to hear it, she and Chris need to call in the right people. I don't know who that is, but I am sure they don't either at this stage.

    Probably her best shot would be a duet with someone with a little bit of radio currency. Probably a man:from Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, to Ozzy and Lita, half the country acts out there and a third of the R&B ones, it's a formula that works. Boy and girl. Buckingham McVie is getting a little airplay, and for a while Knopfler and Emmylou were doing ok too on stations that would normally play neither. Stevie Nicks was talking about how she almost didn't put Stop Dragging my Heart Around on Bella Donna and how if she hadn't listened to Jimmy Iovine and did it she wouldn't be having a solo career today. That's almost certainly right.

    However, one thing they (Chris and D: they don't listen to Clem very much from what i can tell, and everyone else now is a hired gun) have succeeded at doing is doing it their way, so we'll have to see what they do. Personally, I'd rather see D do one good solid movie role than get back on radio rotation if I had to choose between the two, because no new Blondie music is going to outdo their early work and she's a better actress than any role she's done so far has really shown, I think.
     
  13. Maranatha5585

    Maranatha5585 BELLA + RIP In Memoriam

    Location:
    Down South
    They were great and full of talent late 70's through early 80's.
    Really something to see live in their prime.
     
  14. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York

    How nice for you.
     
    autoamerican likes this.
  15. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Very entertaining band. I didn't care much after their fourth album, but they were lots of fun, especially live. Clem Burke was an awesome drummer, but the band as a whole was not a bunch of slouches, either. And Debbie had a very distinctive voice that fit the material perfectly.

    And they were very New York, which here is a positive comment.
     
  16. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    It's nice to visit, but to live there......better them than me.
     
  17. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    I hung out with her one evening at a bar here in Baltimore while she was making Hairspray circa '82 or so:) she was really nice and as I was a big fan, could not help fawning. I remember having John Waters on my left, Debbie on my right, and we're all talking about how great the first album was...lol.
     
    Purple Jim and Jimmy B. like this.
  18. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    On a good night, they were a great show except at the end of their first go-around, when Chris was sick, they'd fired Frankie, and Deb was getting a little heavy and out of voice.
    After the comeback, they were still a good show if you caught them on a good night. In fact the videos and recordings of their first post-Maria tour was superb.

    However....as a live act consistency was never their thing.

    It used to be said of a certain band out of San Francisco, that you had to go to five of their gigs before you could understand them, because of any five shows, two would be mediocre or terrible, one would be pretty good, one would be almost great and the fifth would be transcendant. It was that fifth show that made following the band worthwhile and the band's dedicated fans did just that. Blondie weren't that bad, but they definitely had off nights. A big part of it is that Debbie does not work a "tough room" very well: if the crowd is not into it, she sees that and it affects her badly. Women tend to be more that way than men, but having said that, Chrissie Hynde doesn't back down an iota from a hostile or indifferent audience: it doesn't bother her in the least. If you are that one guy in the back really into it and everyone else is being a clown, you are going to see the full show in its full rock and roll splendor. With Blondie, the whole band, except for Clem, tends to get disillusioned and then just go through the motions to a jerky audience. I've seen the band enough times in enough places to have seen it more than once.
     
  19. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    If you are cool to her she is usually extremely nice.
     
    lennonfan1 likes this.
  20. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Debbie was never a great performer and seemed a little awkward and inhibited on stage but her good looks more than made up for it and she was so cool. Luckily for the band, she was a great singer and very versatile. I only have the first album (which I'm not really keen on) and a home made compilation which is great fun.
     
  21. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    I wouldn't say she isn't a great performer. She is not a first rate rock and roll frontwoman in that sense, but she is a very good singer and she has reasonable stage presence.
    She is klutzy, a little, and a little shy. That's part of the charm. On a good night with a supportive audience it's a good show.

    Clem's drumming covers up for a lot, and the songs are great, and it works.

    But if you are paying money to get in try to see them in a market where the place is going to be sold out and the hardcore fans are going to be out front. If you are a hardcore fan and live in flyover country, it's worth making it into a East or West Coast, or UK vacation, because the show is almost certainly going to be good. (Cleveland and Chicago are likely to be OK. Kansas City is guaranteed to suck. Here in STL, it's iffy.) By contrast, if you are going to see the Pretenders, the worse the crowd almost the better the show. Like her archnemesis Ted Nugent, Chrissie demands a response from the audience. Debbie will give it a good shot in the opening number and if it isn't happening, she's done for the night, pretty much.
     
  22. bluesbro

    bluesbro Forum Hall of Shame

    Location:
    DC
    :thumbsdow

    This thread
     
  23. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
  24. MarkTWIC

    MarkTWIC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bradford
    I recently got quite a bit of enjoyment out of watching these live shows from Blondie.

    Blondie on MV

    Blondie - 07/07/79 Convention Hall two shows in one day!
     
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