Source: Deborah Harry Index of Galleries
Sources used for research in this selection (which
is written from a British perspective) include books by Simon Frith and
Howard Horne, Cathy Che, Jon Savage, Clinton Heylin, Legs McNeil and Gillian
McCain, Keith Negus, John Holmstrom, Lucy O'Brien, Simon Reynolds and Joy
Press, Roy Shuker, Simon Frith, and Deborah Harry, Chris Stein and Victor
Bockris. Television/video sources include "Alive and Kicking" (BBC), "Behind
The Music-Blondie" (VH1), "Once More Into The Bleach" (BBC), "Punk and
The Pistols" (BBC), and "The Trouble With The Seventies" (Thames Television).
Email sources were from Gary Valentine and Sam Hill. Complete citations
for these and other cited sources are listed in the “References/Bibliography”
of this book.-Ed.
Source: Deborah
Harry Index of Galleries
Introduction
In the world of rock 'n' roll, there have been bands and groups that have captured the imagination of the contemporary youth of the day, so much so that many of these bands and groups are still household names today. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane are synonymous with the 1960s. Think of 70s bands such as T-Rex, Sweet and Slade and you conjure up images of huge platform shoes, males in makeup and the most colourful images to be seen in an otherwise drab grey decade. Yet the 1970s was a decade in which a new form of music and social movement made its mark. Punk and new wave gave birth to hundreds of bands, some of which had aspirations ranging from advocating social upheaval, the chance to play the guitar in front of an audience or the chance to be a worldwide success. This overview is going to look at one of the most successful innovative bands that came out of the 70's: Blondie
Fronted by Deborah Harry, Blondie would, in its eight
year career, travel from being a "sideshow" of the New York, underground
punk scene to being idolised in Europe, the Far East and, eventually, the
United States. This overview will look at what motivated Blondie, its effects
on the fan, the historic breakthrough of a woman fronting a band and the
experimentations and innovations of Blondie that brought about worldwide
recognition. But, first of all, what was punk and how did it come about?...