Legendary Bands - Blondie Posters

Starting out as club crawlers in the New York punk scene, Blondie evolved during the '70s from a popular CBGBs band to worldwide superstars. While their first few albums stayed fairly close to their punk/new wave roots, Blondie eventually became stylistic dilettantes, as evidenced by the wildly varying genres of their best-known singles: the disco of "Heart Of Glass," the reggae of "Tide Is High," the proto-hip-hop of "Rapture." The quintet's most enduring image remains of platinum-haired singer Deborah Harry, whose wide-faced, tiny-dressed image was plastered on their album covers and posters, and--despite Blondie's pleas for recognition as a full band--inspired their moniker.

The band formed in August 1974, a collaboration between various veterans of the Stilettos and singer Debbie Harry, late of folkies Wind In the Willows (who released a 1968 album). After releasing two straightforward pop-punk albums, they came up with Parallel Lines, which featured the monster disco hit "Heart Of Glass," a million-selling single in the U.K. After the lesser sales of their next album, the straightforward Eat To The Beat, they apparently realized they were more successful when they were diverse and came up with the multi-genred Autoamerican--in which each song featured a different style. The band broke up after an unsuccessful follow-up, and Harry released her first solo record, KooKoo, the following year.

After the breakup of Blondie, Harry and boyfriend/ guitarist Chris Stein dropped out of the public eye for a time; Stein was suffering from a rare skin illness and Harry was caring for him. More recently, Harry has been featured in several prominent acting roles in such films as Videodrome, Hairspray, Heavy and Roadie. She released four solo albums, although none of them reached the heights of her former group, and also performed with the Jazz Passengers.

Perhaps realizing that Blondie's members were much more successful together than apart, or perhaps wanting to capitalize on the current wave of '70s/ '80s nostalgia, in 1998 Blondie decided to get back together and record a new album, No Exit, released in March 1999. A VH1 Behind The Music special and performance on the Amercian Music Awards served to renew interest in the group, though it remains to be seen if No Exit will reach the multi-platinum success levels of earlier Blondie discs.

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