Search and Destroy: Blondie

Was just coming to post this. Not sure what I think. At times it seems like a retread of "Maria," the previous comeback song, but it goes to some decent post-"Parallel Lines" places too.

OTOH I have a lot of questions about Chris Stein's wardrobe choices here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPKScyC9ozo

?

ok I see it now, previous browser failed

This song is okay-to-good. It's nagl on "Blondie" though, imo. Deborah Harry & Beth Ditto collaboration joint maybe, or even a Gossip single featuring Harry, but I kind of can't get past a song sounding like this being a Blondie single.

Of course, the new album's title is Ghosts of Download though, so wtf anyway.

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/blondie-40th-anniversary-photographs-chelsea-chris-stein/?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-61510-09-25-HD&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=${CAMPAIGN_ID}

Looks like only a few days left to see the Chris Stein photo exhibit in NYC

New Blondie album is pretty good but fucking hell some of it sounds terrible. My Monster in particular is a distorted mess. I thought companies were getting away from this kind of production?

There are many bands.

This is the best.

Afraid to listen to the new one though.

So Numero's going to be reissuing them now.

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/blondie-heart-of-glass

Full catalog following in fall 2019 per the PR mailout.

Available in a limited edition of 10,000

wow!

More about the reissues, box set, new 12” etc

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/blondie-box-set-coming-in-2019/

Mega Blondie Box From Numero

https://numerogroup.com/products/against-the-odds

Which I see now upthread has been in the pipeline for awhile!

Rather! Took 'em long enough but nice to finally have it here.

the super deluxe looks so nice but expensive, especially since their first six are relatively easy to find at record stores.

Wish they’d done an option for just the 6LPs but whatever.

There's an option for just the extras, which is nice. But it's $200 for 4 lps, which is not nice.

I'll take 8 CDs for $100, Alex.

i never, ever buy these kinds of box sets but after 2 years of fairly severe austerity i crumbled on this. it looks sooooo good.

Yeah this is a no-brainer.

There's an option for just the extras, which is nice. But it's $200 for 4 lps, which is not nice.

― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:42 AM (thirty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Looks like it's $100 for the 4 lps? Unless they charge another hundo for shipping or something. Here's what that consists of:

LP 1 Out-takes & rarities (‘Plaza Sound’):

Side A
01. ‘X Offender’ (Intro)
02. ‘X Offender’ (Private Stock Single)
03. ‘In The Sun’ (Private Stock Single)
04. ‘Little Girl Lies’ (Private Stock Mix)
05. ‘In The Flesh’ (Extended Intro)
06. ‘A Shark In Jets Clothing’ (Take 2)
07. ‘Kung Fu Girls’ (Take 8)
08. ‘Scenery’

Side B
01. ‘Denis’ (Terry Ellis Mix)
02. ‘Bermuda Triangle Blues – Flight 45’ (Take 1)
03. ‘I Didn’t Have The Nerve To Say No’ (Take 1)
04. ‘I’m On E’ (Take 2)
05. ‘Kidnapper ‘(Take 2)
06. ‘Detroit 442’ (Take 2)
07. ‘Poets Problem’

LP 2 Out-takes & rarities (‘Parallel Beats’):

Side A
01. ‘Once I Had A Love’ (Mike Chapman Demo)
02. ‘Sunday Girl’ (French Version)
03. ‘I’ll Never Break Away From This Heart Of Mine’ (Pretty Baby)
04. ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ (Mike Chapman Demo)
05. ‘Will Anything Happen’ (Instrumental)
06. ‘Underground Girl’

Side B
01. ‘Call Me’
02. ‘Spaghetti Song’ (Atomic Part 2)
03. ‘Die Young Stay Pretty’ (Take 1)
04. ‘Union City Blue’ (Instrumental)
05. ‘Llámame’

LP 3 Out-takes & rarities (‘Coca Cola’):

Side A
01. ‘I Love You Honey, Give Me A Beer (Go Through It)’
02. ‘Live It Up’ (Giorgio Moroder Demo)
03. ‘Angels On The Balcony’ (Giorgio Moroder Demo)
04. ‘Tide Is High’ (Demo)
05. ‘Susie & Jeffrey’

Side B
01. ‘Rapture’ (Disco Version)
02. ‘Autoamerican Ad’
03. ‘Yuletide Throwdown’

LP 4 Out-takes & rarities (‘Home Tapes’):

Side A
01. ‘Nameless’ (Home Tape)
02. ‘Sunday Girl’ (Home Tape)
03. ‘Theme From Topkapi’ (Home Tape)
04. ‘The Hardest Part’ (Home Tape)
05. ‘Ring Of Fire’ (Home Tape)

Side B
01. ‘War Child’ (Chris Stein Mix)
02. ‘Call Me’ (Chris Stein Mix)
03. ‘Heart Of Glass’ (Chris Stein Mix)

At minimum will pick up the 3 CD set...I'm a little wary of Blondie remasters in general, but if these are done right with no brickwalling and no treble spike, I'll definitely splurge for the eight disc set.

i dunno, it looks like $200 to me, unless it's mis-listed.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1TBQNNY?tag=sdepcwus-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

Good thread from Erin Osmon here on what she was aiming to do with the liner notes

The word is out! I spent much of 2020 reporting and writing 35k words on Blondie. I also assembled a track-by-track oral history, and co-authored an extensive international discography. I consider this work my third book and I am damn proud of it. https://t.co/CUcFroPKpP

— Erin Osmon (@ohnoerino) June 8, 2022

xp its $100 on the numero site, so someone goofed

those seem like awfully short LP sides, just sayin'

I dunno, I already own most of this on vinyl and earlier CD reissues. The rest of it seems like too many demos or versions of the same song to me (‘Kung Fu Girls’ Take 8.)

Re: the box set, this is pretty amazing:

[Chris Stein] said, “You know, I have some stuff in my garage upstate. Would you like to come and look?” Of course, my eyes lit up, and I said, “Yes.” Then he said, “But there’s a problem with it. It’s all been underwater.” There was a flood in the garage and all of the assets were flooded. As the three of us know, because we do this, analog tape is a resilient format. We can triage it, vacuum the mold off, bake them, and then play them. I was not freaked out at all.

https://tapeop.com/interviews/153/making-box-set-blondie-against-odds-1974-1982?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-tapeopmag&utm_content=later-33823689&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio

a tad damning of a sell point.

Peak Deb'n'Clem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98SShgcYYtw

There are many bands.

This is the best.

OTM.

I highly recommend Debbie's autobiography. It's a great read. She comes across as truly authentic.

indeed! i just finished it and she and she comes across even more authentically than i could have imagined. a delight to read and spend some time in her head.

i was thrilled to find out she was pals with jg thirwell.

And Alannah Currie!

yes! i had no idea they were such great friends.

I am super confused about this thread. I may have started it, but I wasn't on ilx until maybe 2002 and I definitely didn't start using the gypsy mothra handle until ... 2003? 2004? Weird.

Also, I too really enjoyed Debbie's autobiography.

She is and always will be my first, best and only celebrity crush.

she's a multicellular individual imo

She's a dang force of nature.

Going back to the first post, I'd definitely, absolutely add "11:59" to the search pile.

Will check autobio, thanks yall. Listening now to this & suspecting that Debbie might cover or at least get a kick out of many tracks:

Performing as her poppier alter ego Kitty Ford, these restored acetates and publishing demos show another side of country and rockabilly trailblazer Mimi Roman. Her golden voice adorns songs of teen love, angst, heartbreak and more. This cataphonic delight is highlighted by the sultry-edged title track!
credits
released August 26, 2022

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2100960490_16.jpg

Chris Stein's daughter Akira passed away earlier this year from a fentanyl overdose. I'm heartbroken for him.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/blondies-chris-stein-pays-tribute-after-death-of-daughter-akira-3471957

https://www.nme.com/news/music/blondies-debbie-harry-speaks-out-on-loss-of-chris-steins-daughter-akira-3473273

aw fuck.

That's hearbreaking.

so sad. there is a bbc doc from around 15 years ago that shows Blondie on tour with Chris Stein's family all there they all seem like one big happy family; i guess they showed that to show how close Debbie and Chris still are. brutal!

i had no idea re the connections to jim thirlwell.
thats a curveball i never expected.
in other news : chris stein is a twitter/mastodon regular.
he has answered me a couple of times.
but hey blondie vs foetus !?
well i never.

if you can find a way to see it, the BBC doc When Blondie Came To Britain is highly, highly recommended.

In 1977, a small and relatively unknown group called Blondie arrived in Bournemouth ahead of their first ever UK tour. This is the story of the key part Britain played in helping break one of the world’s most influential bands and examines a special relationship that has endured for nearly 50 years.

beautifully done and made with all the love. it was shown as part of a whole Blondie evening last night on BBC2.

Available on iPlayer for another year ^

If any non-UK ilxors would like to see it let me know

I can't stop thinking about "Picture This" and the frenzy it works up into during the chorus when everything seems to fly apart. The verses are so simple and beautiful and direct and universal, and then the chorus starts to twist in on itself, with allusions to incredibly specific moments, the details accumulating like the detritus spun up by a tornado, and the grammar doesn't even really make sense anymore, until eventually, angrily, we climax with "if it weren't for your job at the GARAGE!!!" which doesn't rhyme with anything, and then we come back to earth. It's just extraordinary

Picture This is one of my favorite Blondie songs. Particularly when she analogizes her telephone number to a sky full of thunder. All the potential for passion and beauty if he would just pick up the phone and call her.

The garage line is hilarious. Yes, it's earth-shaking romantic thunder and lightning, but it plays across the small-stakes world of a woman and her mechanic.

I haven't listened to it yet, but this week's episode of Bandsplain is about Blondie.

xxp I would dearly love to see it. My love for Debbie, and for this band, is beyond reason.

watched it on YouTube the other day (in full quality). great watch and fortunate to have all the principal players around and interviewed.

I don't hate it, but it's not a track I find myself much taken with. I respect her willingness to break the "Blondie" mold, especially on Kookoo, which was a noble if only partially successful experiment, but she's never hit the highs alone as she has with whatever configuration of Blondie she's played with.

I also respect the hell out of her for continuing to perform very well at nearly 79 years old. She was doing anything but phoning it in.

Yeah i really liked dog star girl i didn’t know it, and so did my kid. i was baffled by kessler on guitar for a minute i was like whoa stein has changed everything and also can play eruption style solos.

dude, i was apparently the other guy noting down the setlist , real lol.

i’m on the wagon, i think that is where my drinking energy has gone. taking fucking songlist notes.

I only recently found out about this album, debbie harry's first band, from 1968, doing some 'psych folk'. Caution: it sucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA6IY6qc6zQ

like my main takeaway after shock from being reminded of her age was being aftershocked, thinking “wait she was like 30 when blondie formed?!”

tons of great stuff in Please Kill Me about the early Blondie years

One funny realization about that for me was thinking about how Blondie in their early days were doing Shangri-Las covers in their live shows, as if paying tribute to a bygone era of rock ‘n roll, when in fact Debbie was older than any of the Shangri-Las.

Saw Blondie last night as part of the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena. The band sounded great and she is iconic, amazing presence. Glen Matlock was playing as the touring bassist. Felt very privileged to have seen them play.

Yeah as docent when she announced matlock i grabbed my kid in shock and was blabbering “hfs if it’s the same guy that’s the guy WHO OMG!” *thoughtful appraisal* “he looks rather well, that’s nice.”

Matlock could’ve been Blondie’s bassist in 1978, wonder why that didn’t happen. I would maintain that his style was more like original bassman Gary Valentine’s style than Nigel Harrison’s was

He does look good! Only 67, too.

Numero offering 50% Off list on remaining copies of the Super Deluxe VINYL Box: https://numerogroup.com/products/against-the-odds

Hnnnnghghghghnnnnnnh

Do they charge you more to leave out The Hunter?

I wish you could get the remastered albums separately. (Maybe when the box sets sell out?)

Hayley Williams cosplayed as Debbie and it was Coool

https://consequence.net/2024/09/paramore-blondie-iheart-radio-festival/

Hayley Williams of Paramore:

"Project 2025 is Donald Trump's playbook for controlling and punishing women, poor people, people of color & the LGBTQ+ community... Do you want to live in a dictatorship? Well show up and vote!"pic.twitter.com/kBIN01kfov

— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) September 21, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N3Qwskjkdc

So Long, Clem.

Wow, what a shock. He was such a distinctive drummer. RIP.

Damn. Rest in Peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5VZkXjg8xY