Music

September 28, 2024, Is the 45th anniversary of the album ‘Eat to the Beat’ – a breakthrough for the band Blondie and an early success for one of rock’s most consistent hit-makers. Some key points of their career:

• The band was formed in 1974 and made its mark at the tail end of the punk/New Wave explosion. Their short, sharp songs were perfect for the time. Singer Debbie Harry’s good looks and smart attitude were always showcased in the visuals and in interviews.
• The band proved to be very effective hitmakers, successfully switching genres over the years. The early rock-lite hits such as '(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear' and ‘Denis’ were followed by massive global hits such as “Dreaming” (from “Eat to the Beat”), the bouncy reggae of “The Tide is High” and “Call Me”.
• Although they proved to be great songwriters in their own right, Blondie have had several hits with other writers’ songs, such as “The Tide is High” (written by The Paragons), “Hanging on the Telephone” (written by Jack Lee and for his punky power pop group The Nerves) and “Denis” (written by Neil Levenson as ‘Denise’ for Randy & the Rainbows in 1963).
• Despite all the massive hits and tours, Blondie effectively went bankrupt in the eighties. The problem, according to Harry lay mostly with dishonest management and agencies, and the fact that the band wasn’t paying attention. “Musicians make easy pickings,” she has said. “Because no one [in the band] wants to know the financials or the numbers, they just want to go out there and perform.” The bankruptcy was followed by a long period where Harry put the band on hold and cared for her partner Chris Stein, who had fallen gravely ill.
• In 2019, Debbie Harry published her memoirs, “Face It”, published by HarperCollins. It offers a brilliant and witty account of the New York rock scene of the time, peppered with sometimes funny and at other times shocking episodes such as her rape in the seventies and experience with heroin. It is mostly, however, a warm and engaging account of the remarkable singer of a remarkable band – essential reading for anyone interested in Blondie or the period. Chris Stein published "Under a Rock" in June 2024 through the Little, Brown Book Group.

(Michael Leahy. Photo: (c) Chrysalis)