Blondie [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Blondie
Engineer: Rob Freeman
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Blondie: Deborah Harry (vocals); Chris Stein, Gary Valentine (guitar, bass); James Destri (piano, organ, synthesizer); Clement Burke (drums). Additional personnel: Ellie Greenwich, Micki Harris, Hilda Harris (background vocals). Producer: Richard Gottehrer. Reissue producer: Kevin Flaherty. Recorded at Plaza Sound Stuidos, New York, New York in August & September 1976. Originally released on Private Stock (2023) in January 1977, reissued on Chrysalis (1165) in September 1977. Includes liner notes by Mike Chapman. All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology. Composer: Marty Thau. Personnel: Debbie Harry (vocals); Gary Valentine (guitar, bass guitar); Chris Stein (guitar); Jimmy Destri (piano, grand piano, Farfisa); Clem Burke (drums); Ellie Greenwich, Micki Harris, Hilda Harris (background vocals). Audio Remixer: Craig Leon. Liner Note Author: Richard Gottehrer. Recording information: Plaza Sound Studios, New York, NY (08/1976-09/1976). Photographers: Jonathan Postal; Ray Stevenson; Bob Gruen. Recorded in 1976, Blondie's self-titled debut was part of the New York City/CBGB's crowd's initial salvo of punk/new wave, radically different from anything in the American mainstream at the time. While other CBGB scenemakers strove for either artiness (Television) or primitivism (Ramones), Blondie was always about pure pop, served with a healthy dose of irony. Its early-'60s rock & roll/girl-group roots were never so apparent as on this album--"In the Sun" sounds like a classic slice of sunny '60s West Coast pop, while "In the Flesh" reaches even further back for a '50s ballad feel. The sly lyrics, Debbie Harry's knowing delivery, and especially Jimmy Destri's gloriously cheesy organ riffs make it apparent that revivalism was never Blondie's intention; the band simply used the past to hijack the punk present and lay claim to a new wave future. Over the next few years, countless groups would adopt the template laid down on the first couple of Blondie albums, with varying degrees of success, but, as this recording makes plain, Blondie did it first and best. If new wave was about reconfiguring and recontextualizing simple pop/rock forms of the '50s and '60s in new, ironic, and aggressive ways, then Blondie, which took the girl group style of the early and mid-'60s and added a '70s archness, fit right in. True punksters may have deplored the group early on (they never had the hip cachet of Talking Heads or even the Ramones), but Blondie's secret weapon, which was deployed increasingly over their career, was a canny pop straddle -- they sent the music up and celebrated it at the same time. So, for instance, songs like "X Offender" (their first single) and "In the Flesh" (their first hit, in Australia) had the tough-girl-with-a-tender-heart tone of the Shangri-Las (the disc was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who had handled the Angels ["My Boyfriend's Back"] among others, and Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich even sang backup on "In the Flesh"), while going one step too far into hard-edged decadence -- that is, if you chose to see that. (The tag line of "Look Good in Blue," for example, went, "I could give you some head and shoulders to lie on.") The whole point was that you could take Blondie either way, and lead singer Deborah Harry's vocals, which combined rock fervor with a kiss-off quality, reinforced that, as did the band's energetic, trashy sound. This album, released on independent label Private Sound, was not a major hit, but it provided a template for the future. [The 2001 CD reissue on Capitol, which spiffed up the sonics significantly -- thus diminishing the trashiness of the sound -- added five bonus tracks: three demos, including the archetypal "Platinum Blonde," a cover of the Shangri-Las' "Out in the Streets," as well as the original single versions of "X Offender" and "In the Sun."] ~ William Ruhlmann

Spin (11/01, p.137) - "...Their inauspicious 1976 sock-hop debut..." Entertainment Weekly (9/21/01, p.85) - "...Lays the pulpy melodrama on thick, with Debbie Harry coming on like a harried femme fatale..." - Rating: B+ Q (5/02 SE, p.134) - 4 stars out of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums". Q (10/94, p.135) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Winking at their generation's fondness for trash culture, Blondie's pastiches of Brill Building pop swaggered with conviction..."All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Although the press and public were initially focused on singer Debbie Harry's model-like good looks, Blondie was one of the first new wave bands of the 1970s to experiment with other musical styles. Beginning as part of the '70s CBGB scene in New York, the band experienced massive commercial success when they merged their '60s girl-group-influenced punky pop with disco, reggae, and rap. After the group disbanded in the early '80s, Harry went on to a solo career and acted in numerous films. Blondie had a successful reunion in the late '90s, touring and releasing an album of new material that showed they were far from done.

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