314 Hello Blondie - Denis

Chart  entered  : 18  February  1978

Chart  peak  : 2

Number  of  hits  : 16

If  Kate  Bush  really  didn't  want  to  be  perceived  as  a  sex  kitten - and  the  jury's  still  out  on  that  - her  timing  couldn't  have  been  better , for  the  following  week  another  female  entered  the  charts  who  would  take  that  entire  "burden"  off  her  shoulders.

Mind  you  it's  a  bit  of  a  stretch  to  describe  Deborah  Harry  as  a "kitten"  as  she  was  approaching  33  at  the  time. She  was  born  in  Florida  but  was  adopted  by  a  couple  in  New  Jersey. She  graduated  from  a  liberal  arts  college  in  1965  then  disappeared  into  low  paid  work  in  New  York  as  a  secretary, waitress, dancer  and  Playboy  bunny.  In  1967  she  joined  the  seven piece  psychedelic / folk  group  "The  Wind  In  The  Willows"  as  second  vocalist. She  didn't  get  a  lead  on  any  of  the  tracks  on  their  eponymous  album  of  1968  which  is  a  bewildering , occasionally  impressive, sometimes  laughable  ( "There  Is  But  One  Truth  Daddy"  is  priceless )  showcase for  every  current  style  with  The  Monkees, Barrett-era  Floyd, Seekers, Lovin  Spoonful  and  the  Mamas  and  Papas  all  going  into  the  mixer. The  single  "Moments  Spent"  sounds  like  they'd  been  listening  to  Lee  Hazlewood  and  Nancy  Sinatra  rather  a  lot  but  it's  not  without  some  period  charm. They  are  said  to  have  recorded  a  second  album  with  Debbie  more  prominent  but  it's  never  been  released  and  the  group  broke  up  at  the  end  of  the  sixties.

Debbie  dropped  out  of  the  public  eye once  again  and  survived  the  early  seventies  despite  both  heroin  and,  she  claims, a  ride  with   notorious  serial  killer  Ted  Bundy. In  October  1973  she  joined  a  new  band  The  Stilettos  as  part  of  a  three  front  women  line  up  with  a  fairly  raw  garage  punk  sound. Guitarist  Chris  Stein ( born  1950 ) joined  shortly  after  Debbie.  They  never got  a  deal  at  the  time  but  a  few  tracks  have  emerged  since  which  sound  pretty  rough.  In  August  1974  Debbie  quit  and  took  the  boys  with  her  in  a  new  band. They  played  their  first  gigs  at  C.B.G.B's  under  the  name  Angel  and  the  Snakes  but  soon  became  Blondie. The  line  up  was  in  a  constant  state  of  flux- future  Television  man  Fred  Smith  was  one of  the  short  lived  guitarists.  In  May  1975   drummer  Clem  Burke  ( born  1955 )  joined   after  years  on  the  pub  circuit  in  his  home  town  of  Bayonne, New  Jersey  doing  covers. He  suggested  his  friend  Gary  Valentine  fill  the  vacancy  for  bass  player  and  keyboard  player  Jimmy  Destri  ( born  1954 ) joined  shortly  afterwards. Jimmy  had  auditioned for  the  band  Milk  and  Cookies   but  wasn't  engaged.

With  the  line  up  stabilised  the  band  soon  attracted  record  company  interest.  Early  in  1976  they  signed  with  Private  Stock  and  released  their  eponymous  debut  LP  that  December. I was  expecting  "Blondie"  to  be  rather  rough   but  their  new  wave  pop  sound  with  echoes  of  sixties  girl  groups   already  seems  fully  formed , helped  by  Richard  Gottehrer's  shiny  production.   The  trailer  single  "X-Offender"  ( re-titled  from  "Sex  Offender"  at  the  record  company's  insistence )  is  a  clear  cousin  of  future  successes  like  "Union  City  Bluie"  and  "Dreaming".  The  lush  follow-up  "In  The Flesh"  was   almost  a  homage  to Lesley  Gore  and  the  Shangri-las ( when  asked  about  their  influence  on  younger  bands  Mary  Weiss  would pithily  point  out  that  she  was  two  years  younger  than  Debs ) . It  became  their  first  international  hit  when  it  made  number  2  in  Australia.  The  third  single  "Rip Her  To  Shreds"  , is  harder  edged  with  Debbie  half-drawling  her  way  through  the  brickbats  she  expected  to  draw  from  the  rock  press  while  Jimmy  adds  synthy  textures  to  his  Farfisa  playing.

In  the  summer  of  1977  Valentine  left  the  band  as  Private  Stock  ran  into  financial  problems. Chrysalis  were  quite  happy  to  buy  the  band's  contract  and  they  went  in  to  record  their  next  album  as  a  four  piece . Clem  invited  another  friend  Frank  Infante  to  the  sessions  to  help  with  the  bass  duties  although  he  was  not  admitted  to  the  band  as  a  full  member  until  after  the  album's  release.  His  talents  on  guitar  persuaded  them  that  they  should  recruit  another  bassist  so  Englishman  Nigel  Harrison   was  recruited  though  he's  not  on  the  album.

"Denis"  was  the  first  single  from  "Plastic  Letters". It  was  a  cover  of  the  1963  hit  "Denise"  by  forgotten  doo-wop  group  Randi  and  the  Rainbows  ( Four  Seasons  clones )  with  an  appropriate  change  of  gender.  Blondie's  energetic  cover  is  suffused  with  New York  brashness  although  Debbie's  vocal  is  laconic  and  cool, slipping  into  pigeon  French  later  in  the  song  with  typical  insouciance.  The  stomping  backbeat  of  the  original  is  replicated  by  overdubbed  handclaps  which , as  Clem  likes  to  point  out, are  not  quite  in  time  with  the  beat. The  single  has  one  foot  back  in  glam  - they  would  turn to  Mike  Chapman  to  produce  their  next  album - so  it's  not  too  surprising  that  Radio  One  played  it  to  death. An  appearance  on  Top  of  the Pops  meant  that  only  Kate  and  the  Lowry-lauding  Brian  and  Michael  kept  it  off  the  top.