'Blondie are the superstars of tomorrow.'-Blondie producer Mike Chapman, 1979 (Green, 1979, 12)
 

Due to its influence and significance as a band, Blondie definitely has left a legacy. This chapter includes some of the band's own reflections on that legacy. Blondie has had the musical gravitas to set the stage for its reunion. The band itself and some commentators, however, have expressed concern that a Blondie reunion would somehow diminish or besmirch its legacy and reputation by producing a disappointing reunion effort. The majority of commentators, I believe, would say that the group, if anything, has enhanced its already considerable legacy with a new body of work with the reunion album, No Exit, and other albums to follow, which complements--not detracts--from its previous musical success. As is the case with its influence, the band's substantial legacy is undeniable as well.
 
 
 

Blondie hopes to recapture the success it achieved in the late 1970s and early 1980s when it "dominated the pop landscape." "...Blondie fashioned a band that started out in 1975 simultaneously spoofing and embracing trashy '60s pop. They evolved to pioneer the New York punk-rock and new-wave movements in the late '70s along with the Ramones, Talking Heads and Television, and, with the hit song Rapture, introduced rap to mainstream audiences." (Allan, Marc D., D1)
 

"...because the band is so good, they're reinforcing the notion of class to basically fun music."--On Blondie (Morris, 55)
 

"...represents the sexual/physical equivalent of a neon sign to a large portion of her audience."--On Deborah Harry (Morris, 55)
 

"One of the striking things about the record and, to a certain extent, their live set, is the way that the music can effectively emphasize some of the less obvious aspects of a song, like the almost melodramatic courageousness felt in Jimmy Destri's organ parts of "A Shark in Jets Clothing" or the teasing, tattletale way both the background vocals and drummer Clem Burke accent the best in "Little Girl Lies."--On the album, Blondie (Morris, 56)
 

"'...we weren't preconceived at all, just different, and that carries through to the music. We don't analyze it, we just DO IT.'"-Clem Burke on Blondie circa 1977 ("Excerpt From Interview....")
 

"'I don't think any artist ever really stays one way; artists always change and they always have different periods and different styles.'"-Deborah Harry circa 1977 ("Excerpt From Interview....")
 

"The group's punchy, melodic songs owed as much to girl groups of the previous decade as to the New York New Wave...."--On the album, Blondie (Boot and Salewicz, 68)
 

"Jiving words and music is something Debbie sees as basic to Blondie's style, and making sure that playing and arrangements stay true to the feeling of the songs is one of the band's major concerns." (Morris, 56)
 

"...the prime purveyors of Power Pop...."--On Blondie (Needs, 11)
 

"...it's good that the climate is right for the groups which pioneered fun music in the face of all odds, like the Groovies...and Blondie." (Needs, 11). This was written in early 1978.
 

"Although the album is basically Blondie's very special tacky-teen bop[,] they go for a lot of styles--rockers (the charging 'Detroit 442', about Iggy [Pop], and 'Youth Nabbed By Sniper'); ballads (the stately 'No Imagination')[,] big beat wall-of-sound whammer-jammers ('Denis', the single, which sounds like Peggy Sue meets the Ronettes and should be MONSTROUS) and even boogie woogie ('Kidnapper').--On Plastic Letters (Needs, 12)
 

"...there's enough hooks on this album to fill a whole cloakroom.--On Plastic Letters (Needs, 12)
 

"'Love At the Pier' is the Blondie Sound never better, blood brother to 'In the Sun' riding on a high-kicking Beach Boys roller coaster, Debbie soaring over the top."-- On two Blondie songs from the Plastic Letters album (Needs, 12)
 

"...a campy romp of a surf song that managed to evoke the California sun of both the Ventures and the Beach Boys while incorporating Blondie's very east coast attitude, where the closest beach was Coney Island." ("Blondie: The Life Story")
 

"Blondie's choice of cover versions have always been Just Right...[:] the Shangri-Las' 'Out In the Streets' [,]...the Daytona's 'Little GTO'...[, the] Doors' 'Moonlight Drive' [, and]...the Stones' 'My Obsession.'--Referring to Blondie's early UK tours (Needs, 13)
 

"American punks approached sex with real American frenzy and real punk parody. Some of the girls went tongue-in-cheek cheesecake; Debbie Harry of Blondie is a rock'n Monroe, Annie Golden of Shirts is a rock'n Shirley Temple." (Anscombe and Blair, 104)
 

"...eclectic, to say the least--ranging from the Shangri-Las to surf music, to sci-fi acid rock fusing with mambo."--On the Blondie sound (Barlowe, 86)
 

"Blondie has taken a great upbeat pop sound, added hilarious although subtle lyrics and pumped it all up with good, clean sex to achieve an act you can't refuse." (Barlowe, 86)
 

"...Blondie's mix of Sixties' style, pop, and punk power made the group stars...." (Cohen, Debra Rae, 1980, 42)
 

"...the real female sex-object star that rock 'n' roll ever produced."--On Deborah Harry (Cohen, Debra Rae, 1980, 42)
 

"The band boasted cartoon sensibilities, tongues firmly in cheek, kick-arse musicianship, and historical perspective...."--On Blondie (Cohen, Debra Rae, 1980, 42)
 

"...the first lady and man of post-punk-pop...."--On Deborah Harry and Chris Stein (Trakin, 37)
 

"The last four years have seen an explosion of female voices into pop music--Poly Styrene of X-ray Spex, Vanessa Ellison of Pylon, the Slits, the Raincoats, Robin Lane, Lora Logic, Lesley Woods of the Au Pairs, Liliput, Deborah Harry, Exene of X, Debora Iyall of Romeo Void, the Anemic Boyfriends, Eve Libertine of Crass, Marianne Faithfull, Chrissie Hynde, Alison Stratton of Young Marble Giants, Delta 5, scores and scores more. They've remade the terms of pop with cattiness, rage, sarcasm, nagging, squeals, sly asides, impatience, pain, acrid dismissals, shouts, antifeminine noise. They've slipped all pop female models and chipped away at the very idea of what it means to be a woman in public. Pop is about what's new, and to a good degree the surprise and challenge of these voices have been what's new in the music; these voices suggest a world less intractable than some presently imagine."--Music critic Greil Marcus cites Deborah Harry as among the large number of women on the pop music scene and comments on their collective impact on that music in the period 1977 to 1981, which coincided with Blondie's height of fame. Originally published in the October 1981 issue of the magazine, California (Marcus, 197)
 

"Many new stars like Blondie, The Go-Go's, and the B-52's all cite girl groups as a major influence, and incorporate not only the music, but the mood, message, and look of the era into their current activities."-Quote from the book entitled Girl Groups published in 1982 (Betrock, 1982, 173)
 

"Blondie is the new wave success story, from Bowery boys--and girl--to glamorous chart-toppers. Yet the band has never felt it had to toe any musical party lines." (Green, 1982, 16)
 

"'One Way or Another' really helped us break through in America. I still hear it used as background during baseball games....[W]e've talked with Mike [Chapman] about consciously making songs that can [be] played at half-time."--Chris Stein on the song "One Way or Another" (Green, 1982, 19)
 

"...the bleach-blonde boy toy female rock vocalist sex symbol."--On Deborah Harry (Saban, 100)
 

"...punk-rock's first sex symbol."--On Deborah Harry (Kletke)
 

"...rock's It girl."--On Deborah Harry (Ervolino, 32)
 

"...a punk Harlow...."--On Deborah Harry (Ervolino, 32)
 

"All kinds of arguments can be made about the influence that Blondie had on pop music--then and now--but one thing is certain: No matter how they were categorized, their sound was refreshing and innovative." (Ervolino, 113)
 

"We wanted to do something really fresh, really poppy. And the bands we had to compete with for airplay were groups like the Allman Brothers and Chicago and Foreigner and stuff like that, and we were as different from them as could possibly be."--Deborah Harry on Blondie's uniqueness in relation to its contemporaries (Ervolino, 113)
 

"As for her personal influence, well, the comparisons are inevitable. After all, Harry was wrapping herself in Hefty bags long before Cyndi Lauper discovered her true colors. And she was walking on the wild side long before the Bangles started walking Egyptian. She was also an honest-to-gosh sex symbol a good five years before Madonna became a virgin." (Ervolino, 113)
 

"...a..true blue post-Punk Harlow."--On Deborah Harry (Ervolino, 113)
 

"The sound and the style created by...Blondie are synonymous with such pop music trends as the new 60's beat, reggae and rap." (Steranko, 22)
 

"Reggae has influenced musicians all over the world. Worldwide hits include Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion, Johnny Nash's I Can See Clearly Now, Eric Clapton's I Shot the Sheriff, Stevie Wonder's Master Blaster, [and] Blondie's The Tide Is High. The Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder, Joan Armatrading, the Clash, Elvis Costello, [and] the Police are other musicians who have embraced reggae."-Blondie within the context of other musicians who have incorporated reggae into their music ("Reggae Facts & Fancies," "Entertainment" section, p. 4)
 

"...responsible for popularizing musical trends."--On Deborah Harry (Steranko, 27)
 

"The [British] publishing industry has been alerted to the potential of the music market, realizing that music books can do almost as well as records. However, the glut is mainly in the number of titles, rather than variety or depth of subject-matter, for the same handful of women-Toyah, Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, Siouxsie-reappear time and time again."-Observations published in 1984 (Steward and Garratt, 10)
 

"She is a brilliant bubblegum compilation of American fantasy, the Hollywood blonde created in flesh, a kitsch game. And she used her looks to sell her music....Carefully posed photographs-often taken by her boyfriend, Chris Stein-were released in the press and the records duly charted. Then Debbie started to complain that people believed in this sex-goddess image."- Regarding the latter comment, Deborah Harry actually was poking fun at this commonly held societal perception/image. Observations published in 1984 (Steward and Garratt, 31)
 

"Given the pop world's emphasis on looks, a woman moving into her fourth decade is, simply, not on. Now that Debbie Harry has crossed the line, she is candid about her fears and is attempting to create a new career for herself as an actress. But it is only mainstream, Western pop and rock which sets such a premium on youth."-On the factor of age for women in the pop music industry. Observations published in 1984 (Steward and Garratt, 43)
 

"For women, especially, this [i.e. their size] can be difficult as weight gains and losses are often connected with emotional problems. Women in the public eye-from Lady Di to Debbie Harry-are under much greater pressure and more constant scrutiny than...[other women not in the public spotlight]."-Observations on women's weight published in 1984 (Steward and Garratt, 47)
 

"The name that crops up most often in connection with successful female artists is Brian Aris. Since changing from 'page three' pictures to rock publicity shots, Aris has worked with almost all of the top female stars, including Sheena Easton, Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Nina Hagen, and Grace Jones."-Observations published in 1984, which reflect the importance of image for women in the pop music industry (Steward and Garratt, 57)
 

"Women have continued to idolize women, to pin them up and objectify them in just the way any boy would. In the late 1970s, the most popular pin-up in girls' bedrooms was not John Travolta or Johnny Rotten, but Debbie Harry. It's often hard to tell if they just want to be them, or if they are in love with them."-Observations published in 1984 on the appeal of female artists like Deborah Harry to their female fans (Steward and Garratt, 150)
 

"With tongue firmly implanted in cheek, Blondie managed to win the hearts of the proles, the bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia, the punters and even the squares just by being themselves. It's no wonder their fans remain fans even today...." (Tiven)
 

"...got their start before anyone even thought of the term 'Punk Rock'....-On Blondie And The Bonsai Babies, an early incarnation of Blondie (Tiven)
 

"...combined equal elements of New York smarts, bad girl good looks, and Ronettes charm in a way that no previous female rock singer had attempted."-On Deborah Harry (Tiven)
 

"But while some groups were defined by their singles, Blondie used AM radio-and this was before talk radio ruled those waves-to attract the masses, all while keeping their artistic integrity throughout their albums." (Tiven)
 

"...they had bypassed Progressive Rock radio entirely which at that point was merely a middle-man to Top 40. They thumbed their noses at the Pink Floyd/Boston set and never looked back."-On Blondie and progressive rock radio (Tiven)
 

"...tuneful and self-mocking, combined punk-rock slash-and-flash, '60s girl-group glamour, the tropical lilt of reggae, the synthesized throb of Eurodisco and the urban rhythms of rap and hip-hop to become the first big commercial success of the new-wave era."-On Blondie (Snyder, 1994, "Sunday Datebook," p. 44)
 

"'I'm proud of 'Rapture' and 'Heart of Glass'--the obvious ones. I always liked 'Strike Me Pink,' but it didn't cause much of a splash. Neither did 'French Kissing in the U.S.A.,' but I'm proud of that one, too.'-Deborah Harry in response to the question "Which of your songs have held up the best?" (Snyder, 1994, "Sunday Datebook," p. 44)
 

"'I like Morphine and Soundgarden....'"-On a couple of Deborah Harry's musical preferences circa 1994 (Snyder, 1994, "Sunday Datebook," p. 44)
 

"...have been around for ten years, but it took a collaboration with Deborah Harry...to put them on the map."-On the Jazz Passengers (Scheck)
 

"She occupies a comfortable middle ground between Keeley Smith and Ann-Margaret, with the ensemble concocting a heady fusion of Sun Ra, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington and Spike Jones. - On Deborah Harry and the Jazz Passengers (Dominic)
 

"The Passengers have fun stretching the boundaries of modern jazz, while the vocalists are delighted to stretch beyond our expectations of what we think they're capable of."-On the Jazz Passengers, Deborah Harry, and Elvis Costello (Dominic)
 

"The beginnings of a self-conscious and highly sophisticated pop revivalism first became clear to the general public well before Madonna's success, with the advent of Blondie in the mid seventies." (Greig, 182)
 

"If the Velvet Underground had tried to bring rock 'n' roll out of the dustbin of history in the sixties Blondie succeeded in restoring the next phase, quality pop-essentially that of the early girl groups and the British beat groups-to its rightful position in the seventies." (Greig, 183)
 

"...and the rest, as they say, is history."-On "Denis," Blondie's first hit single, and what followed after that for the band (Greig, 183)
 

"In a sea of pompous rock albums, and at a time when disco was dying, Blondie went on to pioneer a series of intelligent, succinct pop singles that met with tremendous commercial success." (Greig, 184)
 

"'It's not a nostalgia trip. We do original material. We're not like Sha Na Na saying, 'Hey, remember these songs?' We're saying, 'Do you remember when it sounded like this, do you remember when songs sounded like songs and you could turn on the AM radio and hear ten great songs in a row?'"-Gary Valentine on the early "Blondie sound" as quoted by Richard Cromelin in the April 1977 issue of Sounds (Greig, 184)
 

"Blondie's music was clearly the product of a sophisticated pop sensibility; the same went for the group's image." (Greig, 184)
 

"...by 1979, Blondie had reached a level of preeminence in the rock world. Through her group, Harry had advanced the boundaries of the punk music scene." (Advokat)
 

"Synthesized dance music, in the form of what's been dubbed 'electronica,' is in again, and it's

mixing with guitar rock in a way that seems to be picking up where the postpunk pop of groups like the Cars and Blondie left off." (Ashare, 4 September 1997)
 

"Remixes of Bow Wow Wow's 'I Want Candy' and Gary Numan's 'Cars' take you back...to glam's sources in Blondie and the tubular bells of Kraftwerk."-On the album, The World's Greatest Club Collection (Freedberg, 29 October 1998).
 

"...the cartoon that conquered the world, Blondie." (Heibutzki, 41)
 

"Few bands have been so extensively documented, or gossiped about...."--On Blondie (Heibutzki, 41)
 

"Almost 20 years have passed since Blondie ascended into platinum Valhalla, doing what more highly-touted peers never did: putting the 'singa-long' back into singles, and selling records by the gross." (Heibutzki, 41)
 

"Long before Madonna or Courtney Love parlayed their bowed mouths into icon status, Harry graced Rolling Stone's 'Random Notes' column whenever she changed her hair color..., yet never stopped presenting herself as smart, sexy and self-assured." (Heibutzki, 41)
 

"Few bands have been more analyzed, or misunderstood...."--On Blondie (Heibutzki, 41)
 

"Blondie's freewheeling aesthetics can accommodate whoever climbs aboard, such as U.K. bands like Sleeper covering 'Atomic' on the 'Trainspotting' soundtrack, or rapper Coolio on the swooning goth-pop of 'No Exit'...." (Heibutzki, 41-42)
 

"'One thing I can really say I'm happy about is that there was a point where Blondie could have become real pop fodder....'"--Deborah Harry on Blondie's staying power (Allan, Marc D., D1)
 

"'...to leave a legacy as strong as the one we left the first time around.'"--Jimmy Destri on his hopes for the Blondie reunion (Johnson, Jeff, 32)
 

"...'like a second opportunity to buy Microsoft.'"--Jimmy Destri on the Blondie reunion (Farber, 10 January 1999, "New York Now: Music" section, p. 19)
 

"...disregarding their own 1979 advice to 'Die Young Stay Pretty,' heeding instead the song's postscript, 'deteriorate in your own time'...."-On the Blondie reunion (Long, 24 November 1998)
 

"Keep on hangin' on the telephone, grab your heart of glass, get ready to feel the rapture, and rip her to shreds once more. You're not 'Dreaming....'"-On the Blondie reunion (Graff, 1999)
 

"Once again, it seems we're touched by their presence, dears."-On the Blondie reunion (Graff, 1999)
 

"Get ready, America. They're baaaack."-On the Blondie reunion (Ruggieri, 4 February 1999, D12)
 

"...what turned out to be...one of the most pleasantly successful Behind the Music-endorsed comebacks of '99."-On the Blondie reunion (Ashare, 2 December 1999)
 

"Blondie's little spot in pop's briar patch is guaranteed. For a couple of years at the waning of the 70s, they were the missing link between the New York art scene and the Shangri Las. Debbie Harry was a pure pop icon and her oppo Chris Stein had the tunes."--On Blondie's place in music history (Cowen, 15)
 

"...it has been the testbed for few musical innovations other than hip-hop. There were doo-wop groups, isolated incidents in the 60s such as the Velvet Underground about whom only a handful cared anything at the time and the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Television, Talking Heads, Blondie and the Ramones in the mid-70s and Sonic Youth later."-While the role of New York City in rock history is downplayed, Blondie is included as a musical innovator (Ellison).
 

Blondie has a "fabulous reputation." (Connolly, 23 January 1999, 12)
 

"For males of a certain age, Debbie Harry of Blondie had a major impact. Not only was she the first pop star crush of many, she was also lead singer of one of the greatest pop bands of all time. For edgy, sexy-guitar blasts they really were second to none." (Connolly, 23 January 1999, 12)
 

Blondie is "one of the most influential bands in pop music of our time." (Hudson, 34)
 

Deborah Harry is "possibly...the true innovator of grrrl power." (Hudson, 34)
 

"'When I was writing the history of women in rock, she really did stand out. She's said, 'Oh, I wish it had been me,' about Madonna, but I think Debbie, who created this cartoon of a blonde pin-up pop star and then satirized it, was just a bit too early to be playing with such loaded imagery. Madonna was able to keep experimenting and pushing doors open until people finally got it and there was no question of her strength and control. With Debbie, it was all a bit murky and I think most people read her quite straight as a sexy, bubblegum pop star. A lot of what she was doing was lost at the time, although in retrospect, you can see that the image she was presenting was quite rebellious.'"--Author Lucy O'Brien, She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul, on Deborah Harry and Madonna (Che, 1999, 152)
 

Blondie's hits "made them one of the world's biggest bands and turned Harry into an international sex symbol....In the late Seventies, at the height of the punk era, the band managed to inspire mass appeal without compromising their credibility with music critics. Parallel Lines is widely hailed as one of the greatest pop albums of all time and Andy Warhol hailed Blondie as his favourite group. One of their top 20 hits, Rapture, has gone down in music history as one of the first songs by a mainstream white band to include rap music."--On Blondie's achievements (Waddell, 5)
 

"[I]t's clear that, for once, we have a group [Blondie] which can genuinely lay claim to lasting influence....After all, you can hear echoes of the clinical pop perfection of 'Atomic' everywhere from Republica to Garbage. You can see ripples of Harry's hand on-hips sassiness during 'Dreaming' everytime Sophie Ellis Bextor takes to the stage. You can find enough pop suss in 'Heart of Glass' to make Steps retire." (Sutherland, 28)
 

"....During tracks from their new album [No Exit], their influence almost seems to work in reverse: 'Boom Boom In The Zoom Zoom Room' sounds like The Cardigans' more cocktail jazz moments, while the still-pretty-ace-actually single 'Maria' turns irony upside-down by resembling no one so much as Eighties arch-Blondie copyists The Primitives"--Influences on Blondie (Sutherland, 28).
 

Deborah Harry "after all, is no ordinary pop star. She's a veritable icon, a rock'n'roll goddess. What Marilyn Monroe was to Hollywood in the 1950s and Brigitte Bardot was to the swinging '60s, Debbie Harry was to pop in the late '70s: the absolute personification of desire. Sex on a record." (McCormick, Neil, 11 February 1999, 29)
 

"'We've been successful, and we have this legacy that we can cash in on. We'd be stupid if we didn't. How could we go through life being so stupid? But so far, we've managed to.'"--Deborah Harry on Blondie's legacy and reunion (McCormick, Neil, 11 February 1999, 29)
 

Blondie is the "quintessential new-wave pop group, combining the art-school leanings of American punk with surefire commercial instincts honed on a genuine love of trashy pop." (McCormick, Neil, 11 February 1999, 29)
 

"Pop has always been as much about image as sound, and never more so than in the case of Blondie. They traded in a post-Warholian pop-art aesthetic, flirting with concepts of glamour and sexuality, with Debbie Harry's extraordinary beauty employed as a potent weapon in their armoury"--On Blondie's "artful combination of music with images" (McCormick, Neil, 11 February 1999, 29)
 

Deborah Harry is a "punk-rock pin-up queen," "who blazed the trail for such future trendsetters as Madonna and Courtney Love." (McCormick, Neil, 11 February 1999, 29)
 

Blondie is a "vintage" band, a "pan-generational phenomenon," having been 'the band most likely to' [succeed], mainly because they leavened their punk-rock sound with a 1960s girl-group pop sensibility." (Boyd, 63)
 

Deborah Harry is a "pin-up for a generation." (Boyd, 63)
 

Blondie's legacy is the "real constant in their music [which] was an unerring ability to nail down a pop tune--glibly put, they were The Ramones meets The Ronettes" (Boyd, 63).
 

Deborah Harry has "enjoy[ed] a pop career spanning three decades of chart-topping hits and inspire[d] a generation of female stars from Garbage front woman Shirley Manson to Madonna." (Dingwall, 49)
 

Blondie "'had made an impact, but the music has to stand on its own after all this time. Maybe with all these girl groups coming up and all these female artists using Blondie as a reference, it's given us credibility and a lifeline'"--Deborah Harry (Dingwall, 49)
 

"'Debbie's not as scary because there is something sweet about her image. She doesn't have just that appetite, than [sic.] unapologetic hunger for attention and spotlight. She's not going to consume you like Madonna and Courtney Love are.'"--Music journalist Mim Udovitch on what distinguishes Deborah Harry from Courtney Love and Madonna, "the female pop stars who most benefited from her legacy" (Che, 1999, 151-152)
 

"Blondness was something Debbie would redefine. With her it was always an attitude, a state of mind...." (O'Brien, 1999 June, Playboy, 122)
 

"For better or worse, Harry's was a take it or leave it attitude about love, her looks, money and fame. She sang 'Just Go Away' with Blondie, a far cry from Madonna's 'You Must Love Me.'"-- Distinction between Deborah Harry and Madonna (Che, 1999, 152)
 

"By the early '80s, Blondie was genre-hopping, running the gamut from disco anthems to primitive hip-hop to Ms. Harry's sci-fi spoken-word rants....Haunted by the band's legacy, No Exit touches all aspects of Blondie's previous life, sounding like a tribute album full of unfamiliar songs. But it's still better than a live greatest-hits album with four meager new songs." (Webb, Jay, 21 February 1999, 6C)
 

"Garbage and practically every band with an Orange County zip code" has been reaping the Blondie legacy. (Mirkin, 140+)
 

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Blondie were "stars of rock's new wave...already integrating hip hop, disco, reggae and other untraditional elements into their sound. Basically, the genre-blending 'hip' feel of contemporary rock is exactly what Blondie captured nearly 20 years ago." (Linden, 37)
 

Blondie is a "group of enduring innovators." (Linden, 37)
 

Deborah Harry is the "cool bleached blonde who launched a thousand imitators." (Linden, 37)
 

No Exit is "filled with the sort of verve and attitude that Blondie's younger counterparts can only dream of." (Linden, 37)
 

People magazine's "bottom line [on Blondie]: '80s survivors prove they're more than a nostalgia band." (Linden, 37)
 

Blondie is the "most successful band punk ever produced." (Considine, 23 February 1999, 1E)
 

"[T]here was something both dangerous and attractive about Harry and her band mates." (Considine, 23 February 1999, 1E)
 

Blondie reunited "to make the most of its reputation." (Wener, 23 February 1999, F4)
 

Blondie's "music has a long rate of decay, a tremendous half-life." (Wener, 23 February 1999, F4)
 

Since 1993, the group's music has appeared "everywhere, especially in all the new female groups who all acknowledged Debbie as an influence." (Wener, 23 February 1999, F4)
 

Blondie "is in many ways the embodiment of a crossover sensation that rarely compromised its artistic integrity, scoring hit after hit while maintaining constant critical praise." (Wener, 23 February 1999, F4)
 

Blondie's "'rich legacy...[is] strong enough to exist outside of everything else. I mean, if it brings a little whimsical joy for someone to hear 'Flock of Seagulls' again, that's great. I've got nothing against that. But, you know, Blondie was always way more than that.'"--Jimmy Destri on the band's influence and legacy (Wener, 23 February 1999, F4)
 

"Before the Cardigans, before No Doubt, before Madonna, there was Blondie: the New Wave band with a sultry, cagey blonde at its center. From 1975 until its breakup in 1982, Blondie found commercial shape for the sounds of downtown New York night life. Its songs moved from ironic revisions of girl-group rock to urgent punk-rock to trim New Wave pop to disco, reggae and early rap. Deborah Harry, Blondie's singer and main lyricist, tucked an adult attitude between the pop hooks. She understood what it was to desire and be desired, and she knew when to keep her cool and whether to lose it." (Pareles, E5)
 

"...[N]early two decades after the band's heyday, Blondie has proved that its songs, and the emotions they harbor, have outlasted their original moment." (Pareles, E5)
 

"The New York ensemble made a lasting impact with its combination of punk attitude, 1960s-inspired pop kitsch, disco sass, downtown cabaret and uptown art-rock. In onetime Playboy bunny Harry, who was sexy, smart and a master of irony, the band had an alluring, charismatic lead singer whose influence extends from Madonna and Gwen Stefani to the Spice Girls and beyond." (Varga, 25 February 1999, 16)
 

"...Blondie was also the first American band to score mainstream success with rap and reggae songs (1980's 'Rapture' and 'The Tide is High')...." (Varga, 25 February 1999, 16)
 

Blondie "...found punk rock at New York's CBGB's (with help from the Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, et al.), invent the use of blond sex appeal and fetish fashion to sell records (thus anticipating Madonna), introduce white America to reggae via 'The Tide Is High' (albeit six years after Eric Clapton hit #1 with Bob Marley's 'I Shot the Sheriff'), introduce white America to rap via 'Rapture' (apparently no one noticed the Sugar Hill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'), and serve as role models to such current female-fronted groups as the Courtney Love Band and Gwen Stefani and Those Three or Four Other Guys."-On "the official biography of Blondie," with which the writer does not necessarily agree (Susman, 25 February 1999)
 

"She seems to be having the time of her life, as if she recognized what her official biographers deny: that all Blondie ever were or will be is merely smart fun."-On Deborah Harry and Blondie (Susman, 25 February 1999)
 

Blondie is a band with a "reputation burnished by nostalgia....Hits like 'Heart of Glass,' 'Rapture,' and 'The Tide is High' made Blondie among the most commercially successful bands to emerge from the punk rock scene. The band was engagingly eclectic and frontwoman Deborah Harry was a tough girl with pinup looks who could sing, too." (Bauder, 26 February 1999. See also Bauder, 28 February 1999, 3 and Bauder, 4 March 1999, 25)
 

With groups such as Garbage "successfully mining Blondie's territory," Chris Stein of Blondie thought the time was right to reunite the band. (Bauder, 26 February 1999. See also Bauder, 28 February 1999, 3 and Bauder, 4 March 1999, 25)
 

"Time...puts Harry's influence in better perspective. She wasn't afraid to use her sexuality and in a male-dominated business, that was something new....In the wake of Madonna and other strong women in music, it seems a lot longer ago than 20 years."--On Deborah Harry's influence (Bauder, 26 February 1999. See also Bauder, 28 February 1999, 3 and Bauder, 4 March 1999, 25)
 

A number of women have credited Harry as being an inspiration to pursue their own careers in the music business. Regarding the band's legacy, its male members cite Harry as a role model in this regard while Harry suggests as a milestone the rap song "Rapture," which first introduced rap music to many white music fans (Bauder, 26 February 1999. See also Bauder, 28 February 1999, 3 and Bauder, 4 March 1999, 25).
 

Blondie represented the "pinnacle of the American new wave." (Wirt, 9)
 

"Near the epicentre of that minor musical revolution was a group called Blondie."-On New Wave (Flynn)

"'There was punk and then punk didn't suit people like myself so they called it new wave. That was made up by some marketing guy. I hated being lumped together. If you think about the groups that were actually called new wave, the Police, ourselves [Elvis Costello and the Attractions], the Boomtown Rats, Blondie, they have as little in common as Pulp, Oasis, Blur, Menswear, Elastica.'"-Elvis Costello on New Wave and the labeling of musical styles/genres (Stevenson, 9 June 1996)
 

"In the late '70's and early '80's, Debbie Harry and Blondie were so popular and influential that, even today, their name seems almost synonymous with the New Wave Era." ("Billboard Charts....")
 

"'When we started with new wave, it was a backlash against all this serious music, like the Eagles and Chicago. When you think about it now, Nirvana and all this rock stuff today fits in that same slot. All that stuff is deadly serious.'"-Chris Stein (Flynn)
 

"After a hot run in the late '70s and early '80s, the genre-crossing Blondie exited the pop stage. The group's legacy included the rock-disco hit 'Heart of Glass,' new wavish 'Dreaming,' reggae-inflected 'The Tide Is High' and rap-sodized 'Rapture.' But Blondie was too good to be forgotten, and its music has often been reissued." (Wirt, 9)
 

"Back when there was no such thing as 'alternative rock,' Blondie emerged as punk-rock's Nirvana, projecting the essence of underground cool while capturing the popular imagination with such sexy No. 1 singles as 'Heart of Glass' and 'Rapture.' More than a decade later after its last album, the group's formula proves savvy enough to make Blondie a pop catalyst all over again," reflecting its "own staying power." (Nichols, 27 February 1999, F10)
 

"Considered one of the best bands in the late 70s and early 80s, Blondie combined rock, reggae, disco and punk with craft and imagination. Debbie Harry, a former Playboy Bunny, was the front [wo]man of the band, possessing a high, eerie voice and good looks. They scored several Number Ones on both sides of the Atlantic, with songs like Heart of Glass, Dreaming and Atomic." The new single, "Maria," "stylistically harks back to the days when Blondie ruled the charts."--On Blondie's significance and achievements (Martinez, 23)
 

"When they burst on to the scene at the height of the miserblist grind of the punk phenomenon, Blondie were a genuine blast of fresh air, with Deborah Harry's only slightly tarnished post-Playboy Bunny features providing just the right amount of sleaze to wise, blase songs that seemed to embody the trash pop aesthetic."--On Blondie's musical significance (Steel, F4)
 

"Debbie, as Blondie's front woman, was the undisputed goddess of the late '70s and early '80s, with five albums chock-full of New Wave essentials like 'Denis', 'Hanging on the Telephone' 'Picture This', and 'Atomic.' But always the driving force was Harry's unique charisma." ("Goddess Still Rocks," 57)
 

While Autoamerican "faced some tough criticism upon its initial release, in retrospect it stands out as one of the first multiculti [i.e. multicultural] rock records, mixing in Caribbean and dance rhythms at will."-- On the musical legacy of Blondie's fifth album, Autoamerican ("Suggested Listening: Blondie," 42)
 

Blondie has "somehow remained untouched by the '90s disco revival and its ensuing backlash. Neither totally pop, punk, disco or new wave, yet all of the above, there's a certain nudge-nudge-wink-wink wit that has kept the band's integrity intact during its time out of the spotlight." (Dunlevy, D14)
 

While Deborah Harry "is more maternal den mother than rebel sex symbol these days,....there's a strength in her and her music that's transcended time and left her righteously in the heart of cool." The U.S. music industry is paying close attention to rap music just as it did to Blondie, which has "long [been] integrated into the hallowed halls of the mainstream...."--On the current music scene (Dunlevy, D14)
 

"...[L]ike it or not, nostalgia rules in pop culture. And while current taste-makers shun the tired face of retro (see Beatles, Stones...), Blondie is safe, underexploited territory for another episode of 'Back in the day....'"--On Blondie's current relevancy (Dunlevy, D14)
 

"Now, MTV and VH1 have certainly done their part in keeping the Blondie vibe alive. But so has the dance community, which has been a faithful contingent since the group's salad days (pre-'Parallel Lines')."--On Blondie's longevity, despite the fact that the band had been inactive since 1982 prior to its reunion (Paoletto, 35)
 

"Blondie was a punk-era pop band that had its biggest successes with dilettante-ish genre experiments such as rap, Eurodisco and worldbeat ska. Derivative and proudly fake, Blondie was nevertheless trail-blazing, reclaiming a measure of dignity for the sorely underrated era of trashy girl groups. By now, however, Garbage and Bjork have taken the formula lots further than Blondie ever did." (Menconi, G1)
 

"'Maria' and 'Nothing Is Real But the Girl' hark back to classic Blondie power pop."--On two songs from the No Exit album (Ross, Curtis, 31 August 1999, "Baylife" section, p. 1)
 

"Twenty years ago it [Blondie] was the darling of the new world. With the sunny Debbie Harry fronting a handful of glum mugs, the band almost single-handedly brought trashing fun back to rock and roll. Harry's hip, ironic (and yes, even cynical) pose eventually hit with huge artistic and commercial success. Even if listeners didn't get the joke, at least the songs had the hooks."--On Blondie's significance and achievements (Prekop, 27)
 

"...most successful band of the American new wave."-On Blondie (White, Russell, 28)
 

"Thanks to the success of many hit singles, the band would...become a household name on both sides of the Atlantic....Blondie will be remembered as the most successful American export of the 1970s....A great singles band--and arch survivors of the legendary CBGBs--Blondie were never punk rock, they were the perfect epitome of punk as pop."--On Blondie's importance and legacy (White, Russell, 28)
 

"...the perfect pin-up girl for the new wave era...."-On Deborah Harry (Flynn)
 

"...she still personifies Blondie--and the era...."-On Deborah Harry and New Wave (Flynn)
 

"...the closest thing that punk ever had to a diva."-On Deborah Harry (Vivinetto, 2 September 1999, 2B)
 

"...punk cult figures...."-On Debbie Harry, Richard Hell, and Violent Femme Gordon Gano, who all contributed to the Heads' album, No Talking, Just Head (Milano, 14 November 1996)
 

"Don't blame Deborah Harry for being a star. The girl can't help it. As the alluring center point of new-wave pop group Blondie, Harry got more than her fair share of attention in the late '70s and early '80s."--On Deborah Harry's star quality (Guerra, 30 August 1999, "Zest" section, p. 1)
 

"...still the cool-as-ice ringleader of the reunited group, a precursor to stars such as Madonna and Courtney Love."--On Deborah Harry and Blondie (Guerra, 30 August 1999, "Zest" section, p. 1)
 

"...riffs that would scare most of Lilith Fair ladies off the stage and give Shirley Manson or Courtney Love a run for her money."--On Blondie in concert (Guerra, 30 August 1999, "Zest" section, p. 1)
 

"Don't call it a comeback: These guys are back for the long haul."--On the Blondie reunion (Guerra, 30 August 1999, "Zest" section, p. 1)
 

"...the trashy punk goddess"--On the persona Deborah Harry assumes on stage (Ross, Curtis, 3 September 1999, 6)
 

"Although it's been 17 years since the band released the album The Hunter and subsequently disbanded, the music and image Blondie created has stayed as fresh as its origin almost two decades ago." (Fitzpatrick, "Calendar" section, p. 8)
 

"...it was the creative mix and constant experimentation with musical genres that catapulted Harry and the band Blondie onto the musical landscape in the late '70s and have kept their sound there until the late '90s. With No. 1 hits such as the reggae infused 'The Tide Is High,' the disco hit 'Heart of Glass' and the breakthrough rap of 'Rapture,' Blondie is not a band to be duplicated or for that matter classified."--On Blondie's musical styles (Fitzpatrick, "Calendar" section, p. 8)
 

"'Chris [Stein] and I were both very influenced by different styles and wanted to have Blondie incorporate different elements....Today it's common, but back then it wasn't, we got some flak for it. People were hesitant, they wanted to stay in their little genres. I think we stated in the first album we were about a new blend and we wanted to make that clear.'"--Deborah Harry on Blondie's diverse musical styles (Fitzpatrick, "Calendar" section, p. 8)
 

"...the coolest, most alluring band of the punk and new-wave explosion...."--On Blondie (Piccoli, 3E)
 

"...a band credited with helping acquaint the top-40 crowd with New York punk."--On Blondie ("Fans Fanning....")

"...the band that gave punk a place on the pop charts. While they were never as deep and daring as other groups from the same late '70s era--think The Sex Pistols and The Clash--they defined a rock ideal: This was dangerous yet danceable music...."-On Blondie (Passy, 2 September 1999, 3B)
 

"...the 'new wave' band that brought us perennial radio favourites like Heart of Glass, Call Me and the first No. 1 rap song, Rapture."-On Blondie (Ostroff)
 

"...has...evolved into a mega-influential popular and critical darling."-On Blondie (Ostroff)
 

"...the seminal new-wave rock band."-On Blondie (Snyder, 1994, "Sunday Datebook," p. 44)
 

"...one of the seminal bands of that decade...."-On Blondie and the 1980s (Stevenson, 7 August 1998)
 

"...Deborah Harry...put the blonde in Blondie."--On Deborah Harry (Passy, 3B)
 

"...its success [was] driven not simply by nostalgia, but by the fact that there's still something about the band--and the girl."--On the hit single "Maria" (Passy, 3B)
 

"...an anthemic pop ballad that rocks like Learning to Crawl-era Pretenders...."--On the hit single "Maria" (La Grone)
 

"...a song as exciting as anything from their heyday that became a European smash."--On the hit single "Maria" ("Blondie: The Life Story")
 

"If the reunion of these '70s New Wave icons is responsible for nothing else but this exhilarating slice of vintage power pop, it will all have been worth it. The year's first killer single."-On Blondie and the hit single "Maria" (Sakamoto, 12 January 1999)
 

"...as sharp and melodic as anything the band wrote during its heyday."--On the hit single "Maria" (Ruggieri, 4 February 1999, D12)
 

"Who'd would've guessed it? Seventeen years after they split, Blondie releases a new single that enters the British charts at No. 1, selling 128,000 copies in the process."--On the hit single "Maria" (Sakamoto, 9 February 1999)
 

"She may be Queen of the sales chart but Britney Spears can't yet lay claim to the airplay apex. Her ...Baby One More Time single advances...but its still over 3m listeners short of wily old Debbie Harry and the rest of Blondie, who take pole position for the second week with Maria." (Jones, Alan, 20). This is probably referring to the British charts.
 

"...a pop princess."--On Deborah Harry (Passy, 3B)
 

"'...the princess of punk.'"-H.R. Giger on Deborah Harry (White, Fraser)

"...Blondie's secret weapon. Burke is one of rock 'n' roll's most precise and powerful drummers, without ever overplaying. Small wonder performers such as Iggy Pop and the Ramones employed him during Blondie's hiatus."--On Blondie drummer Clem Burke (Ross, Curtis, 3 September 1999, 6)
 

"'Anyone who dug deeper than face value knew we all contributed to Blondie....It wasn't just this gorgeous woman at the front of the band and that's all there was."--Clem Burke on Deborah Harry and Blondie (Christensen)
 

"'Certainly at that time, there weren't too many bands around fronted by a woman....I think that definitely influenced bands today, like Garbage and No Doubt....'"--Clem Burke observing that Deborah Harry served as an inspiration to numerous contemporary rock groups (Christensen, 63)
 

Blondie's influence "extends far beyond female musicians. Basing its songs on everything from rap to reggae to disco, Blondie helped break the mold of the new wave-punk band." (Christensen, 63)
 

"'As much as I like three-cord punk-rock, we found it was a very narrow path to go down....There's a real eclecticism that exists within Blondie....With 'Heart of Glass,' we were trying to emulate German synthesizer bands like Kraftwerk, and there were also a lot of film noir, B-movie influences and R&B and rap influences, too."--Clem Burke on the eclecticism of Blondie's music (Christensen, 63)
 

"...Harry's detached vixen [persona] was as much a rebellion against mainstream rock as Johnny Ramone's insistence that real rock doesn't have lead guitar."--Argument against the notion that Blondie "sold out" with its disco-flavored ditty "Heart of Glass" (Webb, Steve)
 

"Deborah Harry has a particularly interesting relationship to the term wannabe. As the originator of the female pop pin-up archetype, she's the artist who paved the way for Madonna. After Madonna, whose accomplishments changed the world's view of women in pop, there are hundreds of artists who are Madonna wannabes. One could deduce that they are therefore Deborah Harry wannabes, one or two generations removed." (Che, 1999, 148)
 

"...radio-friendly white reggae...."--On the hit song The Tide Is High (Du Noyer, 182)
 

"The first reggae tinged hit...."-On the hit song The Tide Is High (O'Brien, Glen, 1999, "Blondie: A Biography")
 

"...playing with and against the bimbo stereotype in an ironic art-pop way...."--On Deborah Harry (Du Noyer, 182)
 

"The music is stunningly slick and emotionless and quite wonderful."--On Blondie's music (Du Noyer, 182)
 

"...one of the drawbacks of fame."--On the Chipmunks' cover of the hit single "Call Me" (Du Noyer, 182)
 

"...flaunt an enthusiasm for pop-effluvia that's absolutely contagious. Surf music, girl groups, Motown, bubblegum, glitter rock, even a touch of heavy metal--everything gets boiled down into sweet little concoctions that release surprisingly complex, lasting pleasures."--On Blondie and its music (DeCurtis and Henke, 67)
 

"...her sex symbolism exuded street smarts and a knowing sense of humor. Clearly, this woman was nobody's bimbo."--On Deborah Harry (DeCurtis and Henke, 67)
 

"You have to admire Blondie's artistic gumption." (DeCurtis and Henke, 67)
 

"Moving comfortably from punk to funk and back again, D, D & B recaptures Blondie's musical flair and flexibility--while steadfastly avoiding new-wave nostalgia."--On Deborah Harry's album Def, Dumb & Blonde (1989) (DeCurtis and Henke, 309)
 

"...that quintessential 1970s punk-rock band...."--On Blondie (Gale, E2)
 

"...pioneers of punk."--On Blondie (Gale, E2)
 

"...icons in the music world."--On Blondie (Flynn)
 

"Blondie brought punk to the masses via such songs as 'One Way or Another,' revolutionized disco rock with 'Heart of Glass,' launched rap into the mainstream with 'Rapture' and inaugurated the idea of the video vixen frontwoman."-Blondie as musical pioneers (Freydkin)
 

"...that other Bowery Babe..."--On Deborah Harry in relation to Patti Smith (McCormack, 1999, 91)
 

Blondie "surveyed the last 30 years of music history." Just one song, "Atomic," combined "elements of ska, disco, new wave, surf-rock and spaghetti Western soundtracks" while other Blondie numbers "touched on '60s Brit-pop, girl group music, jazz, punk rock, reggae, rap--everything but zouk."--On Blondie's Madison Square Garden concert performance, June 1999 (Farber, 12 June 1999, "Arts and Lifestyle: Music" section, p. 29)
 

"'Bands seem to be all in cycles. You work together a certain period of time. You break up for a certain period of time. Then you have a reunion. Look at what the Sex Pistols did. Van Halen's getting back together.'"--Deborah Harry on the cyclical nature of bands (Mills, 14)
 

"With smash hit singles like 'Heart of Glass' and 'Hanging on the Telephone,' Blondie left an indelible mark on American pop music." ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript])
 

"1978's 'Parallel Lines' is still regarded as one of the great rock albums of all time." ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript])
 

"Those songs, those shows, the way she projected them, the way they backed her up, the way they played as a unit, was really what captivated people's attention."--Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke on Blondie and Deborah Harry ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript] and "Fans Fanning....")
 

"In the age of super-groups like Foreigner, Journey, and the Eagles, they were musical outsiders, charter members of New York's punk rock scene."--On Blondie ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript])
 

"The ingenuity of the music, the way they were able to incorporate rap, and disco, and punk, and the girl-group thing, the garage-rock thing, all that stuff into two and three-minute songs."-- Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke on Blondie's music ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript] and "Fans Fanning....")
 

"'I think, in retrospect,...Blondie's reputation has grown actually for not working, for not performing and not being out there, which says something, really--I think it says a lot for the music.'"--Deborah Harry on the different paths the band members followed after Blondie's breakup in 1982, which, ironically, later enhanced their status even beyond the point achieved at the height of their popularity ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript])
 

"In the meantime, something began to happen to the band's reputation. Slowly, they were becoming respected for all that had been controversial about them the first time around."-Referring to the period between Blondie's breakup and its reunion (Farber, 10 January 1999, "New York Now" section, p. 19)
 

"...the odds are good, because they are good songwriters, they're a good band, they're a great band, and they can play."--Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke on the prospects for the Blondie reunion ("Blondie Makes a Comeback" [transcript] and "Fans Fanning....")
 

"To [Clem] Burke, rock'n'roll means the clothes, gestures and songs that make a band great." (Heibutzki, 42)
 

"...Blondie often suffered for being ahead of its audience...." (Heibutzki, 49)
 

"'Their aesthetic was, 'girl group-meets-Velvet-Underground-meets-New York Dolls.'"--Clem Burke on Chris Stein and Deborah Harry (Heibutzki, 49)
 

"'...we had the producer, the hit songs and the sound. That was the pure power of Blondie.'"-- Former Blondie member Frank Infante on the album Parallel Lines (Heibutzki, 49)
 

"The glamour lady from the aggressive punk era of  '78....Even when disguised beneath the excesses of punk fashion, her distinctive features have captured the attention of the world's press just as Blondie's albums have established an amazingly successful and consistent position in the UK charts."--On Deborah Harry and Blondie (Ellis, 41)
 

"'It's a small contribution to the culture, but to know that it did have an effect on people is very gratifying.'"--Former Blondie member Gary Valentine on his song "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" (Heibutzki, 49)
 

"The Bowie/Alice Cooper/Donna Summer/Malcolm McClaren/Blondie lessons in star-making were learnt by everyone."--On British popular music (Frith, 1988, 165)
 

"...Chrissie Hynde, Siouxsie Sioux, Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, the Slits, the Au Pairs, Marine Girls, the Go-Go's, the Belle Stars, the Bangles, Bananarama, Alison Moyet, Annie Lennox, the Thompson Twins, Madonna, L7, Bjork, Polly Harvey, and Courtney Love."--Role models cited by a younger generation of British female musicians (Bayton, 18)
 

"...guaranteed to blow minds and proof that Blondie have gelled as a band."--Melody Maker's take on the Plastic Letters album at the time of its release (Johnstone, 231; Doherty, 20)
 

"Blondie's best album yet."--Melody Maker's take on the Eat To The Beat album at the time of its release (Johnstone, 244; Brazier, 30)
 

"...a good white pop singer...."--On Deborah Harry (Frith, 1988, 181)
 

"Blondie were never touted as being musical innovators [when the band started out], but we really had a terrific amount of feeling for the songs and the lyrics we did. They really meant something to us, and we did them with everything we could put into them. That's what made it happen with the audiences."--Deborah Harry in an interview in 1996, around the time that Blondie reunion was in the initial planning stages (Bockris, 54)
 

"Disco's steady, pounding beat was an important influence on music during the eighties and nineties, particularly on American new-wave bands such as Blondie."--On disco's impact on Blondie (Charlton, 163)
 

"Many of the bands formed during the mid- to late seventies played with enough of the musical characteristics of punk or new wave to gain a reputation within those styles, even though much of their music did not really fit into the new-music genre. Blondie, for example, formed in 1975 and debuted at New York's CBGB's. Their first album, Blondie (1976), put them on the commercial outskirts of new wave, but their later music was even less characteristic of the style. Deborah Harry, their blond lead singer after whom the band was named, seldom sang in a new-wave monotone and tended more toward pop-style melodies. Blondie toyed with disco in 'The Tide Is High' (a 1980 cover of a reggae song by the Jamaican, John Holt), and a commercial brand of rap in 'Rapture' (1981). Blondie broke up in 1982 and individuals members pursued solo careers, but none matched the success they had known as Blondie."--On Blondie's musical style (Charlton, 215)
 

"...the group that...[had]...the first dance rock hits."--On Blondie (Marsh, 116)
 

"...modern Pop at its ultimate: brief, shallow, disco-distant, as blandly evocative as the magazine covers on which Debbie so often features."--On the Blondie songs 'Atomic,' 'Heart of Glass,' and 'Call Me' and Blondie's music generally (Norman, 61)
 

"...Pop music's first pin-up and, as such, ministers to needs more complex than mere listening and dancing."--On Deborah Harry (Norman, 61)
 

"...the Monroe of the Eighties."--On Deborah Harry (Norman, 61)
 

"The woman who epitomises New York, in all its seedy and chic allure...."--On Deborah Harry (Norman, 62)
 

"Strange as it may now seem, the idea of a female 'fronting' a Rock group used to be thought highly eccentric.--On Deborah Harry and Blondie's groundbreaking and pioneering roles (Norman, 62)
 

"Their style was mid-Sixties: the era of sighing girl groups and Phil Spector's 'wall of sound' technique....--On Blondie's musical style (Norman, 62)
 

"Rock as an industry finally awoke to the possibilities in simple female sex appeal."--On the impact of Deborah Harry on the rock/popular music industry (Norman, 63)
 

"New wave garage-retroactivists...."--On Blondie (Eddy, 66)
 

"...already paved the way for the late '80s bubblesalsa with 'The Attack of the Giant Ants' on their 1976 debut album...."--On Blondie (Eddy, 66)
 

"From 1978 to 1981...[Blondie] was among most successful in world. Winning formula combined commercial material, clear, pop-style vocals, and rock backing with hint of punk aggression. Audiences were drawn from both pop and rock aficionados. Harry became much-photographed sex symbol of rock." (Clifford, 1992)
 

"...it is the 'pop sensibility' in the history of American punk that requires deeper scrutiny. Greater recognition needs to be given to the way artists such as the Dictators, the Ramones, Blondie and Johnny Thunders drew influence not only from the post-progressive fall-out of the Stooges and MC5, but also from a pop heritage that encompassed the bobby-soxed girl groups of the 50s and the rough-and-ready surf, 'frat rock' and garage bands of the early to mid-60s." (Osgerby, 165)
 

"A few entered the commercial mainstream, but at that point the pressure was to be like Debbie Harry, the pneumatic pretty punk, or Chrissie Hynde, one of the guys."--On women in punk rock circa late 1970s (O'Brien, Lucy, 1999, 194)
 

"...more characteristic of the band's core style."--On the Blondie songs "Dreaming" and "One Way or Another" (Jenkins, 21 May 1999, C8)
 

"...the most exquisitely tired singer in history."--On Deborah Harry (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"...the ultra-femme lead singer of...Blondie."--On Deborah Harry (Peraino, 30)
 

"...paved the way for the likes of the Material Girl-cum-Spiritual Girl [Madonna], as well as other female performers, including Grammy nominees Shirley Manson of Garbage and Courtney Love of Hole."--On Deborah Harry (Freydkin)
 

"By the nineties, artists such as Paula Cole, Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Madonna and more were sighting [sic] Blondie's influence on their work. Others would find success with covering Blondie hits, the Smashing Pumpkins recording a cover of 'Dreaming,' while the band Sleeper would have huge success of a cover of 'Atomic.'"-On Blondie's musical influence (White, Fraser)
 

"...in 1979,...Deborah Harry prophetically stated that 'Australia should incorporate native Aboriginal music with Contemporary African American Rock and Roll to create a unique national music style.' It was finally implemented in 1990 by indigenous band Youthu Yindi. Harry also went further, encouraging the incorporation of Japanese music into American Rock and Roll. On her 1989 solo album, Harry would do just that, producing a varied innovative album that was on a par with any of her work with Blondie."-On Deborah Harry as a musical innovator (White, Fraser) 
 

"...like all great icons, past and present, Blondie transcends...generational barriers, but manages to remain as aloof and as seductive as ever." (White, Fraser) 
 

"'Suddenly, with the advent of women in the music business, they [i.e. music executives] began to realize Debbie's importance'"....-Clem Burke on Deborah Harry (Freydkin)
 

"'We have more acceptance and credibility from being away for so long. Our songs have a life of their own....It's like having a career without having a career.'"-Clem Burke on Blondie's hiatus period (Freydkin)
 

"...a band that has always seen itself as transcending trends."-On Blondie (Freydkin)
 

"...celebrated the fakeness of femininity, with her boyfriend Chris Stein and a band full of pretty boys helping her weave fragments of mass media into something of her very own, something she could have at home."--On Deborah Harry and Blondie (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"Both musicians consciously use irony and gender conflation in their music and image, but present opposing extremes in musical style and visual portrayal of female gender."--On Deborah Harry and the folksinger Phranc (Peraino, 30)
 

"...has more to say about the construction of gender identities than does Kathy Acker, and soars like something from the Goffin-King songbook."--On the song "X-Offender" (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"Although they did not intend to create women's music, Blondie used camp and gender conflation in a way which resonates with the butch-femme aesthetic...." (Peraino, 37). For more on"the butch-femme aesthetic," please see the citations under "Peraino" and "Case" in the Bibliography of this book.
 

"Remixes, compilations, re-releases and plain old nostalgia have kept the Blondie flame burning since the band's breakup 17 years ago. A bevy of artists have covered Blondie songs, from Erasure's versions of 'Rapture' and 'Heart of Glass' to the Smashing Pumpkins' rendition of 'Dreaming.' And the fact that Blondie's music remains so in sync with today's radio play lists only reinforces the importance and influence of the band's progressive sound."-On Blondie's continuing fan appeal ("Fans Fanning....")
 

"...influence[d] yet another generation of musicians, such as Natalie Imbruglia and the Spice Girls, who recorded a cover of 'Heart of Glass.'"-On Beautiful: The Remix Album (White, Fraser)
 

"...the band's juiciest melodies and zippiest beats, as well as punk's first pop crossover."--On the album Parallel Lines (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"Her image stood as an ironic gesture of assimilation or conformity to the pop clichés of male desire...."--On Deborah Harry (Peraino, 37)
 

"'They pioneered a reverse-twist musical archivism that's antiromantic rather than escapist: instead of digging at intact nuggets of nostalgia, Blondie went at pop traditions with a ball peen hammer...familiar fragments conjure up classic fantasies--a series of teen dreams and B movies...Harry modeled pop images, then ripped them to shreds.'" (Peraino, 37-38 and Cohen, Debra Rae, 1979, 63)
 

"...the best lyric in any rock 'n' roll song ever...."--On the lyric "'Dusty frames that still arrive/Die in 1955'" from the song 'Fade Away and Radiate" (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"In girl-group rock The Boy was irresistible--the raison d'être for the female subject and 'her' music. In their camp of 60s rock, many of Blondie's songs present The Boy as a blunderer, and love as a meaningless recreation in the eyes of a sassy and cool femme [as exemplified in the]...mock-surfer song, 'Love at the Pier'...." (Peraino, 38)
 

"While 'Love at the Pier" offers a liberating revision of the traditional power play between men and women, some of Blondie's songs go one step further in camping male-dominated rock [such as in]...the songs 'Rifle Range' and 'No Imagination.'" (Peraino, 39)
 

"...passionate fan letters to other people's music, neither one pretending to pass for the real thing but both sounding tossed-off and fresh."--On the hit songs "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture" (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"In 1978 Blondie topped the charts and achieved mass appeal as a result of their Warholian co-optation and ambiguous parody/exploitation of the current musical trends, in this case disco." (Peraino, 41)
 

"...her uncanny ability to stay many steps ahead of musical trends, simultaneously with one foot in the mainstream and the other in the art word." (White, Fraser)
 

"'With each Lp, Blondie has updated their musical mosaic by assimilating another chunk of pop history...." (Peraino, 41 and Cohen, Debra Rae, 1979, 63)
 

"...documents the band's extreme's from CBGB to Casey Kasem, hanging together on the momentum of one nasty hook after another."--On the album The Best of Blondie (Sheffield, 1995, 49)
 

"...seemed a safe bet for solo glory, but as the next decade [i.e. 1980s] wore on, she endured one of the most appalling runs of bad luck ever to befall a worthy chanteuse."--On Deborah Harry (Sheffield, 1995, 50)
 

"...combined the latest craze for synthesized musical effects and slick production with a wispy, emotionless vocal and subtly subversive lyrics about gullibility and distrust."--On the song "Heart of Glass" (Peraino, 41)
 

"Top 100 Alternative Albums...20. Blondie, Parallel Lines"--From Spin Alternative Record Guide (Weisbard, 453)
 

"'Heart of Glass' is not just a disco song; it is an artificial disco song. As with 'Love at the Pier,' 'Rifle Range,' and 'No Imagination,' musical style, the female voice, clichéd narratives of love, and male desire are all reduced to symbols which become artifice and play." (Peraino, 42)
 

"One may well ask whether Blondie's camp and semiotic play is received, and who receives it. Female critics such as Debra Rae Cohen and Charlotte Greig appreciate Blondie's sly commentary, but, in contrast, male critic Lester Bangs, in his book Blondie (1980), criticizes and bemoans Deborah Harry's detached vocal style and artifice, revealing in the process his own intimidation, and nostalgia for the girl-group 'ideology,' sparked by Blondie's seductive evocation yet frustrating resistance to that ideology." (Peraino, 43)
 

"The reception and appreciation of Blondie's humor does not simply follow lines of gender, however. Indeed, the majority of Blondie's audience, especially at the height of the group's popularity, probably did not pay much heed to the lyrics or to their delivery. This does not point a failure of the music which, unlike women's music, achieved substantial commercial success, but rather points out a failure of the audience to read beyond the surface assimilation which Blondie's image and music fashioned--to read the entire musical, textual, and visual presentation. Thus the humor of Blondie is lost on a mainstream audience...." (Peraino, 43-44)
 

"...exactly the audience who should be attending to the semiotic play in 'Love and [sic] the Pier,' 'No Imagination,' 'Rifle Range' and 'Heart of Glass.'" (Peraino, 44)
 

"'Yeah, and I'm very happy with that and I wish I could do more. I keep that in mind now.'"--Deborah Harry in response to the observation: "Within the realm of pop music, you introduced some of what was avant-garde at the time, like early New York street sounds like punk and hip and hop, into the mainstream." (Che, 2000, 227-228)
 

"...New York City's ground breaking pop-punk band...."--On Blondie (Nicoletti)
 

"...inspirational models for a whole generation of female rockers from Madonna to Courtney Love...."--On Deborah Harry (Bockris and Bayley, 112)
 

"'Blondie was a phenomenal band...on records they were just so good. They are also great songwriters. Their lyrics were very unusual--'In The Flesh' is a very unusual song. They were obviously influenced by a lot of styles....I loved them, they were so great! I was unhappy when they broke up.'"--Music journalist/critic Kurt Loder on Blondie (Che, 1999, 72)
 

"Two decades ago, Blondie ruled the post-punk charts. Ice-Cool New Yorkers with an arch Anglophile sensibility and impeccably trashy glamour, they took smelly old rock down to Studio 54 and helped introduce rap to mainstream audiences." (Dalton, 5 February 1999)
 

"...which finds Harry's legendary voice back on full-bodied, voluptuous helium-high overdrive."-On the song "Under the Gun" from the No Exit album (Dalton, 5 February 1999)
 

"...reminding those who may have forgotten just how innovative and alternative Blondie actually was, and still is today."--On Blondie's performance at Madison Square Garden Theater, New York City, 10 June 1999 (Nicoletti)
 

"'They had an influence on music in L[os] A[ngeles] and just on music in general. Any band with a woman in it, and any woman in a band who I've had on my show, say they were influenced by Debbie....I still see her influence everywhere, but it's all gone downhill since Blondie. I hate the 90s in every way and I blame it all on Blondie breaking up.'"--LA DJ Rodney Bingenheimer on Blondie and Deborah Harry (Che, 1999, 72)
 

"...a bona fide new wave-gone mainstream goddess."--On Deborah Harry (O'Toole, 84)
 

"One of the first female lead singers to be overtly sexual on a rock & roll stage after the Sixties, Debbie Harry paved the way for a new kind of woman in pop music. Nobody had even heard of Madonna." (O'Toole, 84)
 

"...singers such as Cyndi Lauper and Annie Lennox of Eurythmics had taken the style Harry had introduced and run riot with it." (O'Toole, 86)
 

"'....I guess we, not me personally, but Blondie and Mike Chapman, were responsible for creating a lot of areas of new music, a lot of crossover areas.'"--Deborah Harry in response to the question: "When you look back on your career, what are you most proud of in terms of your contribution to pop music?" (Che, 1999, 74)
 

"The album that exposed New Wave as good old pop"--On Parallel Lines (Berger, 129)
 

"The darlings of New York irreverence...."--On Blondie (Berger, 129) 
 

"...what masqueraded as a New Wave artifact--black and white and saucy all over."--On Parallel Lines (Berger, 129)
 

"...didn't drive a stake into New Wave's heart, but it ripped its mask off."--On Parallel Lines (Berger, 129)
 

"Without the cartoonish postmodernist referencing that Blondie excelled at on their first two albums--the giant ants, spy-film romance, tabloid-headline goofs and French stuff--the ugly truth was advanced in the prettiest way: This music had never been anything but contagious, glossy melodies ('pop'), some of which one could dance to (argh, 'disco')"--On Parallel Lines (Berger, 129)
 

"...made a hash of the genre distinctions that kept snobs warm."--On Parallel Lines (Berger, 129)
 

"...remains Blondie's ultimate populist statement."--On Parallel Lines (Heylin, 309)
 

"Always too smart to languish in the shadows of the New York underground, Parallel Lines saw Blondie apply their punk sensibilities to perfect pop music. Produced by pop legend Mike Chapman, Parallel Lines boasted classics Hanging on the Telephone, Picture This and Sunday Girl, but Top Ten success eluded them until the disco hit Heart of Glass. Iconic, seductive, unforgettable." ("Vulture's Top 100....," "Features" section, p. 24)
 

"...proving she was always a one-girl group in Candie's."--On the song "Sunday Girl" and Deborah Harry (Berger, 129)
 

"...the cheesy organ break and fugitive scheme that later became the stuff of sendups...."--On the song "11:59" (Berger, 129)
 

"...pop tigress."-On Deborah Harry (Berger, 129)
 

"...the tenderest New Wave love song put to vinyl...."--On "Pretty Baby" (Berger, 129)
 

"Sweet cynicism and ice-cream cool."--On Deborah Harry (Berger, 129)
 

"...has continued to perfect their musical talents over the last twenty years."--On Blondie (Nicoletti).
 

"...a cheerleader of rock 'n' roll, who at the same time refused to be 'just a girl.'"--On Deborah Harry's concept of the "Blondie" character (Che, 1999, 88)
 

"Often compared to Courtney Love and Madonna, Harry...more resembles Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol, with a dash of Marianne Faithful."--On Deborah Harry as portrayed by Cathay Che in the biography entitled Deborah Harry (Tribby, 1512)
 

"...a woman and a band who like the Clash, are more appreciated in their absence than they were in their heyday...."--On Deborah Harry and Blondie (Tribby, 1512)
 

"...offering vapidity as social commentary, a successful marketing ploy that was very antsy, very Noo Yawk, and easy to digest."--On"the Blondie approach" (Tribby, 1512)
 

"...maybe the band realized there was a musical void out there they were eminently qualified to fill."--On a motivating factor for the Blondie reunion (O'Brien, Glen,1999 June, Playboy, 122)
 

"If you would like to know who paved the way for bands such as Garbage, No Doubt and, of course, Madonna, I strongly suggest you pay a visit to the world of Blondie." (Nicoletti).
 

"And they were smart. Clem [Burke] brought an immaculate pop sensibility, Jimmy [Destri] brought roots in Brooklyn doo-wop melody, Gary [Valentine] brought a punky background. Chris [Stein] brought enlightening, psychedelic, ironic, artistic dementia. And Debbie [Harry] brought...Debbie." (O'Brien, Glen, 1999 June, Playboy, 122)
 

"What other artist can make music that simultaneously sounds like new wave, punk, rock, rap, girl group, garage band, disco, Euro disco and dance trax?"--On Deborah Harry (Che, 1999, 89)
 

"...their late-'70s influence on everything from New York (from new wave to hip-hop)...."-On Blondie (Stubbs)
 

"...probably the most varied and influential 'New Wave Punk' band of the late '70s...."-On Blondie (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"Blondie's contributions to pop music have been anything but trivial. Although out of the spotlight until now [written in early 1999], the band's powerful impact on music has never abated. For example, Blondie influenced the sound of recent stars such as Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, U2, Madonna, Garbage, Hole and Luscious Jackson." (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"...Blondie experimented with different sounds and influences...."-On Blondie's albums (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"...Blondie has confirmed its musical genius with its ability to incorporate almost every type of music into its own sound."-On Blondie's albums (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"Between 1976 and 1982, the band had 10 singles that reached the Top 10 in the United States, Europe and Australia. Four of these hits reached number one.-On Blondie (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"Blondie is also credited with the first-ever full-length video for their album Eat to the Beat, as well as the first number one rap hit, 'Rapture.'"-On Blondie (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"...one must respect this band for always trying new things and staying original. As always, Blondie keeps things interesting." (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"Music natural...."-On Blondie (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"'Besides the records--we had a lot of success with singles--we were the first band of its kind to have a singer like Debbie, who put her own sexuality and womanhood out front and was unapologetic about it. Every other female artist in other bands, from Janis [Joplin] to Grace Slick, was always like one of the boys. Debbie's no-apology approach about being a woman in a rock band was groundbreaking. She was the model for so many female singers today. Debbie might be more modest about that but, in my opinion, she was the first to do it. We were also raw and powerful, but we had a great pop sensibility.'"--Jimmy Destri on what he viewed as Blondie's "mileposts" (Aquilante, 12 February, 50)
 

"...the most important thing about 'No Exit' is that its smartness shows more than Blondie's ever did during its initial run. Listen to 'Out in the Street' and you can understand the thread from Bananarama to Blondie. It is the same glam hybrid of mainstream rock, rebel rock and artistic pretense that made Blondie a landmark pop-rock group." (Webb, Steve, 9)
 

"...a consistency of vision that has transcended the years."--On the album, No Exit (Aquilante, 23 February 1999, 54)
 

"...they are willing to experiment with all kinds of genres--ska ('Screaming Skin,' an oddly peppy ditty about Stein's illness), cocktail jazz ('Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room,' a reminder that Harry was scatting with the Jazz Passengers long before the current swing/lounge movement), rap/metal (the title track, which awkwardly shoehorns classical-music quotations, a gangsta-like narrative, and a duet with Coolio), even a country waltz ('The Dream's Lost on Me')...."-On Blondie and the album, No Exit (Susman, 25 February 1999)
 

"...interlaces reggae, ska, rap..., juicy pop, updated disco and plain punk into an inventive, experimental album the likes of which endeared Blondie to audiences two decades ago."--On the album, No Exit (Freydkin)
 

"...fully lives up" to Blondie's "legacy."--On the album, No Exit (Farber, 12 June 1999, "Arts and Lifestyle: Music" section, p. 29) 
 

"...celebrates Blondie's distinct and unique classic sound with some exciting new beats and fresh lyrics."--On the album, No Exit (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"...displays the band's creativity by pulling together all forms of musical genres."--On the album, No Exit (Anderson, Leigh)
 

"...an eclectic selection of powerful ditties which nearly manages to recall the glittering intensity of the New Yorkers' new wave heyday."--On the album, No Exit ("No Exit...")

"...encapsulates the varied approaches from Blondie's six previous albums into one effort, ranging from the crafted pop of 'Maria' and 'Night Wind Spent' to the tribal thump of 'Forgive and Forget' and 'Dig Up the Congo,' the reggae grooves of 'Screaming Skin' and 'Divine,' and the energetic pop of 'Happy Dog' and 'Nothing is Real But the Girl.'"--On the album, No Exit, in relation to Blondie's previous albums (Graff, 27 February 1999)
 

"...the band hops from one genre to another with the most light-footed of ease. If ever there was a CD to be entitled Great American Pop Forms of the Late 20th Century it would be this one."--On the album, No Exit (Young, Cook)
 

"The feverish eclecticism which set Blondie apart from so many of their post-punk peers is also here in abundance, from the herky-jerky bluebeat skank of 'Screaming Skin' to the thunderous tribal disco of 'Forgive And Forget' to the stomping metal-rap of 'No Exit' itself, a stylised urban drama featuring guest rhymes from Coolio."--On the album, No Exit (Dalton, 5 February 1999)
 

"...ABBA-esque...."-On the song "Forgive And Forget" from the album, No Exit (Feber, E12)
 

"...'60s girl-soul...."-On the song "Out In The Streets" from the album, No Exit (Feber, E12)
 

"...diverse and rich mix of styles. From pop to rock to rap to jazz, some retro-new wave, and even a little pseudo-calypso, this CD does it all well."--On the album, No Exit (Geller)
 

"...a perfect evolution of Blondie as we knew it."--On the album, No Exit (O'Brien, Glen, 1999, "Blondie: A Biography")

"...Tex-Mex waltz 'The Dream's Lost On Me' is full of lonesome cowgirl wit and tequila-fuelled bravado...." (Dalton, 5 February 1999)
 

"First jazz, then the Blondie comeback and now this. Is there no stopping Deborah Harry?"-On the compilation Most of All: The Best Of / Deborah Harry (Ross, Mike, "Entertainment" section, p. 25)
 

"...a passionate record collector with an encyclopedic musical knowledge who played a crucial role at several junctures in the development of American rock music. As a writer, he championed the New York scene of the mid-Seventies and went on to produce Blondie and the punk originator Richard Hell."-On Alan Betrock (Perrone, 29 April 2000, "Obituary" section, p. 7)
 

"...was especially drawn to Debbie Harry's group Blondie. He produced demos for Blondie, including a track then called 'The Disco Song' which evolved into 'Once I Had a Love' and eventually became a transatlantic No 1 in 1979 when retitled 'Heart Of Glass.'"-On Alan Betrock (Perrone, 29 April 2000, "Obituary" section, p. 7)
 

"...one of the most successful bands to make the transition from punk to pop, via the disco hit Heart of Glass."-On Blondie (Turner, "Computers" section, p. 3)
 

"...punk and new wave had begun on the underground scenes-not unlike disco had-in New York and London in the mid-seventies. In March 1979, [American] Bandstand became one of the first network shows to feature a new-wave rock band-Talking Heads, with their hit version of Al Green's 'Take Me to the River.' In June of that year, Blondie furthered the new-wave cause with their phenomenal disco-rock-pop crossover, 'Heart of Glass'-the first song to stem the cries of the disco backlash that had been heard from the alienated and entrenched reactionary rock audience." (Shore, 153)
 

"At a moment when rock'n'rollers and the disco crowd were at loggerheads--anybody remember the "Disco Sucks" campaign?--Blondie seemed to suddenly unite everyone."-On the hit "Heart Of Glass" ("Blondie: The Life Story")
 

"...the band's trend-setting reputation survived, as did the sultry spell cast by lead singer Deborah Harry."-On Blondie after its breakup (Freydkin)
 

"...the techno-pop group...."-On Blondie ("This Day in Music...")
 

"[Deborah] Harry's sisters-in-spirit...."--On Madonna and Cher (La Grone)
 

"...a worldly techno-pop diva...."-On Deborah Harry during her solo career(Snyder, 1994, "Sunday Datebook," p. 44)
 

"...the pioneering punk singer."-On Deborah Harry (Scheck) 
 

"...the punk survivor...."-On Deborah Harry (Walters, 1994, C1)
 

"...multitalented pop icon."--On Deborah Harry ("Deborah Harry," 62-63)
 

"...the coolest woman ever in pop."-On Deborah Harry (Orr, "Comment" section, p. 5)
 

"Miss Icon Supreme."-On Deborah Harry (Long, 24 November 1998)
 

"...the femme fatale of the rock crowd in the early 1980s."-On Deborah Harry (Advokat)
 

"...the ditzy yet seductive pop tart that ruled the charts."-On Deborah Harry (Advokat)
 

"...which established Harry as a thinking person's vixen...."-On Blondie and Deborah Harry (Graff, 1999)
 

"A true diva...."-On Deborah Harry (Geller)

"With her clingy dresses and sky-high heels, the late-'70s 'It" girl and Blondie lead singer...energized the punk music scene."-On Deborah Harry ("Rock On!," 85)
 

"The 'Sunday Girl' of the '70s...."-On Deborah Harry ("Blondie Plans....," "Calendar" section, p. 6)
 

"...'the Baroness'...."-Nickname for Deborah Harry coined by Jazz Passengers' bandleader Roy Nathanson (Ross, Mike, 1 July 1996)
 

"...a great theatrical personality and a great singer...."-Roy Nathanson on Deborah Harry's performance on his album, Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill ("Roy Nathanson's Vision")
 

"...was the queen of clubs from the moment she and her band Blondie first blew the roof off of CBGB's in 1974."-On Deborah Harry (Doerschuk)
 

"The singer's slicked-up variation on punk...."-On Deborah Harry (Doerschuk) 
 

"Ideal for music paper editors seeking front cover material."-On Deborah Harry (Boot and Salewicz, 18)
 

"...the waif-like vixen who put the sex into Blondie's music."-On Deborah Harry during the band's first go-around (Flynn)
 

"The power-pop charge Harry injects into every Blondie tune is irrefutable." (Ruggieri, 4 February 1999, D12)
 

"For all the cross-pollination going on between the rock, jazz, hip-hop, and classical communities, rare is the artist who jumps a stylistic hurdle and arrives on the other side with a real understanding of what the aesthetic there is all about. Deborah Harry is one of the few who have made the leap." (Doerschuk) 
 

"Now and then a bit of the fist-balling snarl of her Blondie roots breaks through, but in this context it sounds more like a jazz singer dabbling in new wave than the reverse."-On Deborarh Harry and the albums Jazz Passengers in Love and Individually Twisted (Doerschuk)
 

"Although Harry had some experience doing cabaret work in the early Seventies, it was through the Jazz Passengers that she made the successful morph from rock to jazz." (Doerschuk)
 

"...punk's first-and only-diva."-On Deborah Harry (Behind the Music: Blondie [back cover video container])
 

"...fashioned one of punk rock's most electric icons."-On Deborah Harry as part of a review of the CD Platinum Girl: A Tribute to Blondie (Searleman, "The Rep" section, p. 16 )
 

"...led the way and influenced many of the top women rockers of her time."-On Deborah Harry (Blondie: The Best of MusikLaden Live [back cover video container])
 

"...not a coquette but a bad-ass rock-and-roll mama. Which is what she's been all along."-On Deborah Harry (Garelick)
 

"In her Blondie days, Deborah Harry flaunted her sexuality and continually re-invented her image by changing her hair color. Sound familiar? It should because Harry...became a prototype for a generation of entertainers." (Kletke) 

"'As a matter of fact I have a tattoo on my a-- that says: Prototype'"....-Deborah Harry's humorous reference to herself as a musical role model and influence (Kletke)
 

"Seriously, Harry says it's very realistic that her Blondie style has been copied by other singers." (Kletke)
 

"'I certainly paid attention to what came before me and I was certainly influenced by a lot of that.'"-Deborah Harry on her own musical influences (Kletke)
 

"'Yeah, they treated me like trash when I was a blonde,' she jokes. 'No, I was creating a trade mark and a character named Blondie, and having white-blonde hair was sort of like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So I certainly drew a lot of attention, but that's what my idea was.'"-Deborah Harry on why she bleached her hair blonde (Kletke)
 

"In a songwriting process that includes everyone (Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, keyboardist Jimmy Destri, drummer Clem Burke), Blondie know how to make those 'little symphonies' Phil Spector talked about." (Garelick)
 

"...a cut above most of the competition in their heyday--and still are."-On Blondie (Garelick)
 

"...brandishing a bold clutch of new songs and a back catalogue so great it defies gravity."-On Blondie(Long, 24 November 1998)
 

."...were seminal in bringing punk to the mainstream, fusing it with '60s girl-group sass, dipping their crimson-varnished toes into disco, rap and reggae.""-On Blondie(Long, 24 November 1998)
 

"...the band that kicked off the New York City punk scene and helped make CBGB 'ground zero' for some of the most exciting music in the world...[and] that would rise from the grit of punk rock's ashes to become a seminal force in new music."-On Blondie (Behind the Music: Blondie [back cover video container])
 

"...they had the first female pop superstar, a vixen both vulnerable and wicked, the perfect embodiment of trashy glamour and artful pop.""-On Blondie and Deborah Harry " (Long, 24 November 1998)
 

"...not living in the real world, but one where pop is cryogenically preserved to thrill decades hence."-On Blondie(Long, 24 November 1998)
 

"...created some of the most sensational New Wave Rock Tunes of all times."-On Blondie (Blondie: The Best of MusikLaden Live [back cover video container]) 
 

"...a leading exponent of New Wave Rock, both visually and musically."-On Blondie (Eat to the Beat [back cover video container])
 

"They were the leaders in a scene that produced some of the most innovative and influential bands in music history."-On Blondie (Wilton, 6 March 1999)
 

"Along with the Talking Heads, Blondie gets much of the credit for creating New Wave, a late 70's version of rock and roll that moved away from blues and extended macho guitar solos in favor of punchy, catchy tunes, thoughtful (and/or humorous) lyrics, and cheesy keyboards. Both groups were broader than that stereotype, but Blondie was more successful at imitating other styles, topping the charts with disco, rap, and syrupy pop hits without losing their artsy, tongue-in-cheek sensibility. A huge part of the band's success is attributable to lead singer Deborah Harry, who made intelligent use of her lovely, clear voice and model-like looks, right on the line between pop icon and self-satire. Drummer Clem Burke was the only top-quality musician in the band, but Blondie was about stylistic, not instrumental, virtuosity." (Wilson, D.B.) 
 

"Few artists...have made the worldwide impact of supergroup Blondie." (The Best of Blondie [back cover video container])
 

"A succession of number one hits, album sales...and the special visual appeal of Debbie Harry have projected Blondie into a position all of their own." (The Best of Blondie [back cover video container])
 

"...one of the first and biggest new wave rock bands."-On Blondie (Blondie Live! [back cover video container], 1983)
 

"Although many would argue that Blondie's music never left the scene, their reemergence through touring and through their world-wide, multi-platinum album No Exit prove that the band Blondie are true groundbreakers in the music world." (Blondie Live! [back cover video container], 1999)
 

"1979 belonged to: PiL and Joy Division underground, Blondie and The Police overground." ("1979...")
 

"It wasn't all bad, though. Blondie, The Jam and Abba dominated the charts...."-On the year 1980 in rock ("1980...")
 

"1980 belonged to Blondie: Three Number 1 hits...." ("1980...")
 

"...one of those CD's that one whose musical education took place in the early 1980's keeps in their collection, and comes back to over and over again."-On the Blondie greatest hits album, Best of Blondie (Geller)
 

"Perhaps the most successful act to emerge from the new wave movement of the early '80s, Blondie created a musical entity that stood on its own amid a sea of like-minded acts. They expanded the movement by refusing to be pigeonholed into a limiting sound. The result of that verve gave birth to songs like the reggae influenced The Tide is High and one of the first forays into mainstream rap, the appropriately titled Rapture." ("Blondie, Recorded Live at HOB Las Vegas....")
 

"The once perfect plastic pop band, fronted by the second most desired peroxide pin-up of all time...."-On Blondie and Deborah Harry ("No Exit...")
 

"...conclusive proof that, as well as being the most perfect pop band ever, Blondie were also top class rock'n'rollers."-On the album, Blondie Live: Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980, which included covers of "Get It On" by T-Rex, "Funhouse" by the Stooges, and "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones("Blondie Live: Philadelphia....")
 

"This blonde, strutting thing who stood, hands on hips, in front of an all-male band and grabbed her own destiny. Her sexuality didn't make her fragile. It made her stronger. She wasn't the romantic lead. She was the lead. And it appeared so effortless."-On Deborah Harry as the lead singer of Blondie (Fugate, 45)
 

"...not bad for a gritty little punk outfit from New York City. Between Debbie's good looks and the band's uncanny ability to produce irresistible pop melodies, Blondie had just the ticket to ride the roller coaster of fame...."-On Blondie's success (Young, Cook)
 

"...the band defies classification. It is true; Blondie is a virtual sampler of a pop ensemble. Once labeled as a punk band, the band soon incorporated elements of disco...and introduced rap into the mix, denying critics everywhere with a handy way of pigeonholing the outfit." (Young, Cook)
 

"'In a sense, I was in the right place at the right time. I was an idea whose time had come. Then it all happened so fast. It just took off. How did I do it? When I realized I was inadvertently doing a cool thing...."-Deborah Harry in response to the question "'How did you do it?'" referring to Blondie's success and her role in that success (Fugate, 45) 
 

"This particular performance underscored not only Blondie's potential for contemporary relevance, but served as a reminder of how a rock group can be all things to all music fans-- punk, new wave, disco, reggae, and rap--while still retaining a pure pop core."-On Blondie's performance at the El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, February 10, 1999 (Levitan, 11 February 1999)
 

"'We were a little too far ahead of our time,' Harry says of the group's late '70s, early '80s heyday, during which Blondie established itself as an adventurous, groundbreaking band that won its series of hits-'Heart of Glass,' 'Call Me,' 'Dreaming,' 'The Tide is High,' 'Rapture'--after a hard-fought battle to win respect for the music and for the band itself." (Graff, 27 February 1999)

"Suffice to say that women in rock were not common when Harry and then-boyfriend Stein formed Blondie during 1974.....And while theirs was exactly the kind of pioneering spirit that should have been embraced at New York's punk/New Wave haven CBGB's, the crowd there regarded Blondie--with the pouty, attitudinal Harry up front--as poppy and contrived." (Graff, 27 February 1999) 

"'Yeah, I have the bad back to prove it,' she said with a laugh. 'I don't think I single-handedly opened the doors for female artists. I think I was just one of the early examples of women in bands.'"-Deborah Harry on "her huge contribution to women in rock music" (Wilton, 6 March 1999)
 

"From Blondie and Roxy Music to Joe Jackson, [Elvis] Costello and Nick Lowe, the authentic period music never stops playing or surprising us anew with its freshness and its enduring hipness."-On the movie "200 Cigarettes" and 200 Cigarettes soundtrack (Vejnoska, P8)
 

"'I think in today's world and today's market we're given our due and the credibility we deserve.'"-Deborah Harry on how perceptions of Blondie have changed for the better (Graff, 27 February 1999)
 

"For a generation of fans, Blondie's heady blend of pop, punk, disco, and New Wave represented the best of late '70s and early '80s music." (Moore)
 

"...to see rock and roll icons play songs that have assumed almost archetypal status in the intervening years."-On the opportunity for younger fans to see Blondie perform (Moore)
 

"Blondie sure sound like their old cool selves, tearing into vintage punk-era gems like 'X Offender' and 'Rip Her to Shreds,' doing the disco thang with 'Heart of Glass,' working the regatta de blanc of 'The Tide Is High,' and giving the people what we want in the form of a 5/17 ratio of just-fine new material to extra-fine old favorites like 'Dreaming' and 'Hanging on the Telephone.'-On the album, Blondie Live (Ashare, 2 December 1999)
 

"Blondie was the greatest pop band of the New Wave Punk era. They were pop because you can't really say they were new wave or punk, or funk, or disco or art for that matter. They did everything that interested them--including the first rock/reggae and rock/disco. To some they were new wave with their ironic words, cool haircuts and Debbie in day-glo Steven Sprouse fashions. To some they were punks--mocking rock dinosaurs and Debbie the cover girl on Punk Magazine. Whatever they did, it all came out sounding great and Blondie remains one of the biggest hit making bands of our time." (O'Brien, Glen, 1999, "Blondie: A Biography")
 

"Blondie was considered one of the inventors of new wave and/or punk, but the group always resisted classification. At the height of punk anti-disco sentiment, the group rocked the dance floors of the world with the updated disco of "Heart of Glass." Today Blondie is as elusive, uncategorized and ironic as ever." (O'Brien, Glen, 1999, "Blondie: A Biography") 

"'Blondie in the '90s has refined into a muscular, and accomplished music making machine.'"- Howard Cohen, Miami Herald (Blondie Live [back cover video container] and Cohen, Howard, 2 September 1999)

"'...ahead of its time when first released...sounded fresh and vital as anything found on the charts today.'"-Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, on Blondie's music (Blondie Live [back cover video container] and Cohen, Howard, 2 September 1999)

"...was never a novelty act, but even their hits showed a remarkable gift for transcending genres and fusing different moods and styles."-On Blondie and its music (O'Brien, Glen, 1999, "Blondie: A Biography") 
 

"In the late '70s, Blondie fused a signature sound melding the raw aesthetics of punk to the cool modernity of new wave and solid rock appeal of the dinosaurs of which they flew in the face. By the end of that decade, Blondie had clearly established itself as a trailblazer of modern rock, most defiantly with their hot-damn glam disco smash 'Heart of Glass,' in spite of punk rock's disdain for the fancy dancy stuff. Blondie's star continued to rise with its reggae-inflected pop, epic video artistry and an amalgam of disparate popster influences...." (La Grone)
 

"I think what's happened since we stopped working as a group [in 1982], is that a lot of the people that we influenced went on and formed their own bands, and began citing Debbie and Blondie as an influence to them. Whether they're citing Chris and Debbie's songwriting or my drumming or Debbie's singing or combinations of those, it gave us a lot more recognition and credibility."-Clem Burke (Graff, 1999)
 

"Though rock'n'roll has, in recent years, diversified into countless tangential cliques and bewildering sub-genres, that effervescent old standby, 'power-pop,' a sweaty fusion of bubblegum hooks, pop-punk energy and Sixties beat-group thrills, has endured undaunted. Blueprinted in the Seventies by the likes of Blondie and the Buzzcocks, the genre witnessed a revival in the mid-Nineties with the pogo-friendly Green Day and Weezer. More recently, perhaps, as a revolt against the moribund state of the Top 40, bands like Blink 182 have threatened the chart ubiquity of Britney Spears et al with some good old-fashioned power-pop tomfoolery."-Blondie in the forefront and context of power pop (Whitelaw, 19)
 

"...You are a True Original who has inspired millions through your Music, Style, Integrity, and Attitude **NO ONE DOES IT BETTER** THANK YOU!!!" (Bartolini, 2 July 2000, 21:13:16 PDT)
 

"Okay...Let's remind everyone one more time...Are you ready? Listen up...Before Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, and Shirley Manson...There was the ORIGINAL GODDESS ICON - DEBORAH HARRY." (Bartolini, 2 July 2000, 21:09:42 PDT)
 

"I am [a] No Doubt Fanatic Stopping By. Today I have to Bow Down to the Queen who started it all. Without Deborah Harry, Gwen Stefani (and others) would not be here today! Thanks DEBBIE [for] influencing [the] artists of today." (HairColor80) 
 

"...also offers tunes by such '80s-era, breakthrough woman-fronted acts as the Pretenders, Blondie and the Go-Go's."-On the syndicated radio program/web site Chickclick/Chickclick.com (Horowitz, "Spotlight" section, p. 3)
 

"Together, they comprise a representative sampling of what's up with women rocking out. They're far enough away from the female rock acts of the eighties to be able to pinpoint the differences, and close enough to cite many of that era's icons as influences. Top name checks were The Pixies, Ramones, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Breeders and, most often, Joan Jett."-On the Canadian female bands The Spy, Sixty Six Kicks, JP5, Satina Saturnina, and The Weekend (Stoute, R4)
 

"...New York's last great hometown band...."-On Blondie(Tiven)
 

"Legions of young rockers of all sexes were motivated by Blondie, and there isn't a female singer alive who didn't find their very existence inspiring. The Blondie legacy remains strong through the passing of time, genres, and radio formats. Would there be a Madonna without them? Hardly. Julianna Hatfield? Doubtful. Touched by their presence? Absolutely."(Tiven)

"This was not Sha Na Na, but the hard-won sound of a bunch of been-there, done-that musicians who had studied what was great about rock'n'roll. They grabbed what they loved from the past but kept in touch with what was happening around them, having worked their way through the hippie daze and glam-rock nights."-On Blondie's music ("Blondie: The Life Story")
 

"...innovative as it was slick--and ultimately profitable."-On Blondie's music ("Fan's Fanning....")
 

"Colossally successful across the globe, Debbie Harry and the group Blondie were the first proof that the United States music business required of the commercial viability of punk." (Root and Salewicz, 131)

"...were simply the best new writing team/love duo since Gerry Goffin and Carol King."-On Chris Stein and Deborah Harry circa 1976 ("Blondie: The Life Story")
 

"Back in the late-70s, Blondie set the precedents for rap, disco and reggae on the pop charts and established standards for women in music. Sorry Madonna, Gwen [Stefani], Courtney [Love], but former Playboy bunny Debbie Harry did it first-and largely better." (Feber, E12)
 

"Blondie never took themselves too seriously. They were not afraid to take fashion out into the bubbly ether of giddy fun, practically defining the friendlier side of punk, a/k/a 'new wave,' and in the process provided the architectural blueprints for bands like Bananarama, Transvision Vamp, Thompson Twins, Missing Persons, Kim Wilde and, especially, Madonna." ("Blondie: The Life Story")

"Bless you, Deb--we're always touched by your presence, dear." (Sheffield, 4 March 1999, 31)
 

"...all things fabulous lead back to Blondie." (Sherr, 9 March 1999, 74)
 

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