Wow, an 80's album in the middle of the 70's? Strange but true. Deborah Harry was the architypal 80's vocalist, infusing Blondie's songs with a pop sensibility that was missing from her punk pals Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde. It's not difficult to imagine Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle or even the early Madonna singing these tunes. In that sense Deborah Harry was without doubt the most influential American female vocalist of the late 70's/early 80's.

On their first album Blondie perfectly mix 60's bubblegum pop with garage rock and it's the keyboard that makes all the difference (another one of their innovations that would become standard in the 80's). If Blondie can be described as punk it was their humour and irreverence that made them so, subverting classic pop styles with black and ironic humour e.g. 'Rip Her To Shreds' and 'Attack Of The Giant Ants'. It's also interesting to hear the reggae influence of the time on a track like 'Man Overboard'. 'Heart Of Glass' was also originally written as a reggae tune, but by the time Blondie was gaining some success, the producers took it and turned it into a disco hit, the reason being apparently that "Americans don't buy reggae". Other notable tracks reflecting their time include 'Kung Fu Girl' (Bruce Lee movies being huge in the 70's).

Respect must also be given to Chris Stein for his foresight and musical knowledge in knowing what would instantly appeal to an audience overdosed on rock pretentiousness.

Blissful!

Oh, this record is absolutely marvellous! Yes, even better than "Parallel Lines" - their usually most celebrated album. Nonetheless, I like "Blondie" better, because the songs aren't as over-familiar as those on "P.L.".

The only beef I have with this reissue is the inclusion of below par extra tracks a la "Platinum Blonde" and "The Thin Line" --- not prima Blondie material that. The cover of the Shangri-Las "Out in the Street" is OK, although they bettered that one on "No Exit".

From the original album I only ever disliked the very silly closing "The Attack of the Giant Ants". The almost-equally-stupidly-titled yet finger-snapping "A Shark in Jets Clothing" is one of the best cuts here/there, though, and deserves a belated and celebrated recognition (retro movie music supervisors out there take note!)

"X Offender", "In the Flesh", "Kung Fu Girls", "In the Sun", "Rifle Range", and ALL the (at least) first 10 songs on this CD are amongst some of the (still) freshest and best pure pop music recorded (as Homer Simpson would say) during those turbulent times that were the 1970's.

Stay in the sun and don't fall overboard --- buy this CD today!

There's a couple things that have been bothering me lately concerning Debbie Harry and the music of Blondie, and I want to take a moment to get these things off my chest-

Young kids nowadays seem to think the music of Blondie is mainly the kind of power pop that *only* girls should like, because Debbie Harry and Blondie influenced hundreds and thousands of female power pop bands. This is NOT true.

Back in the 70's it was totally cool and perfectly normal to be a man and a fan of Blondie. Guys liked Debbie Harry for her incredible looks and the bands heavy and energetic style, and women liked her because the music of Blondie was danceable and poppy. Nowadays, the attitude that Blondie can only be a band women should admire is absolutely ridiculous.

Just because cute, fluffy, light power pop/rock with female lead singers is thrown under the category of wimpy pop/rock according to todays generation does NOT mean Blondie should be listed under this category as well. The fact Blondie's debut album rocks pretty darn hard makes such a belief even MORE ridiculous. This isn't wimpy pop/rock at all. It's borderline punk at times! Not to mention, this (and the follow-up Plastic Letters) holds up extremely well over the years.

In fact, what's so appealing about Blondie's debut is how the band has an incredible knack for the catchiest vocal melodies you'll ever hear, and mix them with a radically different sound that was brand new in 1976. Nothing in 1975 or before sounded quite like Blondie as far as female energy, pop hooks, and an influence on the new wave scene is concerned. This was totally different from everything else in 1976.

Also, this is definitely NOT disco music. Blondie had some songs that probably resemble the disco movement, but mainly the band is focused on rock, pop and new wave.

Blondie's debut is an absolute winner from the first note to the last. Please pick up this legendary recording.

This album sounds like 1966--that blissful year in which so many eclectic sounds, from Motown to Go-Go Beat and British Invasion, to early Mod and pre Psychadelic, co-existed on the airwaves. "X Offender", "Little Girl Lies" and "in The Flesh", which open the album, all sound like Phil Spectorish girl-group recordings, albeit with spicier lyrics. On "Look Good In Blue" the band has the good humor to perform a rock song with a tango beat in dead earnest, as well as the memorable line "I could give you some head....and shoulders to lie on". "In The Sun" in my opinion is the most exhilerating Blondie song ever; the simple melodic hook is breathtakingly catchy, and the instrument playing the main riff sounds like something between a foghorn and a vacuum cleaner! (It is probably a synthesizer). Whatever it is, it is emblematic of the inspired innovation apparent throughout this album. "A Shark In Jets Clothing" is Blondie's homage to "West Side Story", and that closes Side 1 (or it did in the days of vinyl anyway).

Side 2 begins with the Latin-flavored "Man Overboard" which again revisits the girl group sound, and boasts background vocals by legendary 60's songstress Ellie Greenwhich herself. Beautiful keyboard solo by Jimmy Destri has a Doors-y feel. Then, "Rip Her To Shreds" reminds the listener that the Blondie of this album was initially a "punk" band from the CBGBs circuit. But unlike most punk rock, the song's aggressiveness is mostly satire--a comic book treatment of viciousness and female backbiting. Debbie is at her vampy best in the spoken parts "Hey! Pss Pss! Here she comes now!....Bye Bye Sugar! And not a minute too soon!" And the arrangement is perfect. "Rifle Range" follows, again with a slightly Doors-y feel. The lyrics are very out-there, in a similar way as Van Dyke Parks/Brian Wilson collaborations. Hauntingly beautiful lead guitar lines highlight this strange and compelling track. "Kung Gu Girls" which follows, is another in the "Rip Her To Shreds" aggressive vein. Again, we are in a comic book, with Debbie hollering "Kung Fu Cindy Sue, Oh I wanna get close to you, you're my Kung Fu Girl!..." Hysterical.

Closing the collection is the conga-line looniness of "Attack of the Giant Ants' complete with a mid-song ant-attack with screams and police sirens! When the song ends suddenly, the fade out features lounge music on a piano and the sound of people talking at a party--very Beatles circa White Album! I really miss the Blondie featured here, they didn't survive this incarnation, and by the time of "Plastic Letters" of the following year, a lof the fun was already gone, dissapating progressively with each album that followed. I would say it died after "Eat to the Beat". But listening to "Blondie" always purifies my world, cleaning it up and making it all seem fun again. And "In the Sun" is a musical anti-depressant garaunteed to lift you up. You've never heard Blondie like this before. CD extras include the 1975 demos--a trifle lackluster but a must for fans, along with the original 7" versions of "X Offender" and "In The Sun" with alternate vocals---inferior to the album mixes but interesting anyway. They show how much Debbie perfected her studio technique in the few short months between the recording of the debut single and the album.

Blondie was the most commercially successful band to emerge from the punk/new wave movement of the late 1970s. The lineup changed a lot over the years but at the core of the group from the day it was formed in August 1974 was singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, who had both been in the Stilettos. This debut album was released in late 1976 by Private Stock Records and clearly defines the group's style as taking the girl group sound of the Sixties and fusing it with the punk sensibilities of the Seventies to become new wave icons. Blondie was never punk the way the Ramones or the Talking Heads were punk, but they still had serious attitude.

This is amply proven by this album's first track and the group's first single, "X Offender." The song was originally entitled "Sex Offender," before the record company changed it, and the lyrics tell of a criminal falling for the cop who busts her. At the same time that the song fits the formula of the teenager in love angst songs of the 1950s and 1960s it also clearly mocks such songs as well. "In the Flesh," one of the few songs where Harry tries to sound really sexy, sounds like it should have come out of the Brill Building a decade earlier except Harry's vocal performance here, with its echoes of Marilyn Monroe, keys you in that there is some serious deconstruction at work here. Just listen to the final line of "Look Good in Blue" and clearly there is a tongue in cheek attitude to the double-entendres.

Rating this one is fairly easy because while Blondie would get better there is some historical significance to this debut effort and this remastered CD offers up five bonus tracks consisting of 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." "Blondie" is not a great Blondie album, but it does establish the group's definitive high gloss trashy sound. The result was a group whose greatest hits collection is one of the most popular every produced (i.e., everybody I know has it and listens to it on a regular basis). That strongly suggests the rest of their oeuvre is worth examining as well.