Intro

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of New Wave Beat. I'm your host, Jason D'Orazio. Today we'll talk about new wave band Blondie's self-titled debut. For their general article, click here🔖✔. Technically, Blondie started out in the punk era, a little before new wave. Blondie was part of the punk scene in New York City dubbed CBGB, named after a punk club in Manhattan's then-seedy East Village. However, their pop sensibilities, unfairly maligned in the punk community, strongly foreshadowed new wave. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1976, and is a great example of an early '60s pre-Beatles sound melding with the irreverence, angst, and do it yourself ethic of punk. The band consists of singer and frontwoman Debbie Harry, lead guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clement Burke, bassist Gary Valentine, and Jimmy Destri on keyboards.

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Singles

X Offender

Let's start our discussion of Blondie's self-titled debut with the single X Offender. It sounds a little like their later song Dreaming.

You read me my rights, and then you said. "Let's go" and nothing more. I thought of my nights, and how they were.

You can hear some punk elements, like the repetitive military-style guitar. But there's also an early '60s pastiche going on with Jimmy Destri's Farfisa organ and the backup vocal that goes, "Ah." The lead vocal, sung by Debbie Harry, has a punk energy to it, but also has early '60s girl group influences. I like this combo, and it must have sounded fresh as punk was just starting to get its feet wet. There are references throughout the song to narrator being arrested. The line, "We sat in the night with my hands cuffed by my side," I think refers to her and a police officer. I think the narrator is a prostitute because the narrator tells the officer, "You had to admit you wanted the love of a sex offender." I believe the cop is attracted to the narrator. There is a video for X Offender, which consists of the band performing live. They're having a lot of fun with the song. Even early on, Debbie Harry has a bit of her stoic, carefree facial expressions that would define her look later on.

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In the Flesh

In the Flesh was the second single off of the album Blondie.

Darling, darling, darling. I can't wait to see you. Your picture ain't enough.

It's a slower number than X Offender, and the punk elements are dialed back quite a bit in favor of an early '60s pop sound. Indeed, the guitars and drums are less vigorous, with the exception of one drum section about halfway through.

Harry's vocals are quite restrained and sound very smooth. The Farfisa organ is eschewed in favor of a more gentle keyboard section. The lyrics reflect the melody and vocals in that it is a straight-up love ballad. The narrator misses her ex-boyfriend and wants to rekindle the flame, but unfortunately it appears he's over her and seeing other women. I do like the reference to Manhattan's Lower East Side, as Blondie was New York City-based.

In the Flesh did not chart in the US or UK, but interestingly almost cracked the top of the Australian charts at number two. The promo video appropriately showcases the band being reflective, as opposed to the enthusiasm of X Offender, which granted made sense for that song.

Since it was only 1976 when the video was cut, I'm not gonna give it any flak for not having a narrative. All in all, In the Flesh is a lovely song which contrasts nicely against X Offender, and shows the band's range.

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Rip Her to Shreds

The third single, Rip Her to Shreds, injects more of the punk irreverence from X Offender.

She's so dull. Come on, rip her to shreds.

Debbie Harry's vocals have a real cutting edge to them. You can sense the catchy anger. The Farfisa organ is back, reminding one that the album was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who produced early '60s pop groups and was in one himself.

She looks like the Sunday comics. She thinks she's Brenda Starr.

The guitar sounds more like classic rock and roll in many parts. The bass guitar is powerful and great. Also, I really like the gang vocal on the chorus phrase, "She's so dull."

On the surface, Debbie Harry is verbally eviscerating a woman that she doesn't care much for. The insults cut like a knife. For instance, "Her nose job is pre-atomic," and, "She looks like she washes with Comet." There are too many to list here. But I wonder, could the song be about the insults that were hurled at Debbie Harry herself?

On YouTube, there is a rare copy of a TV appearance they did in support of Rip Her to Shreds. I don't know if this was the official promo video for the song, though. Being it was the pre-MTV era, videos did not play as much of a role for singles anyway.

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Album Tracks

All right, now let's dive into the album tracks, starting with Little Girl Lies.

That's how the little girl lies. He's telling his little girl lies. Those little girl lies gonna catch up to you.

The clapping track recalls some '60s songs and makes it one you can tap to.

The organ adds well to the song, particularly in the bridge.

The guitar section on Little Girl Lies reminds me of those of early Squeeze🔖✔. Last but not least are Harry's vocals, which have a moderate amount of energy relative to the rest of the album, but are still spot on.

I find the boohoo part pretty funny. I think Little Girl Lies is about a relationship where both parties are telling some not-so-white lies to each other. In other words, a partnership based on deceit.

Next up is Look Good in Blue.

I could give you some head and shoulders to lie on. Throw your weight on me, baby.

The song has this ominous mystery vibe to it, particularly with the guitar and a certain keyboard section. The bridge has a great guitar section from Chris Stein. Harry delivers the vocals mostly gently, but gives a little edge to some parts for good emphasis. I'm going to guess the song is about a guy who has been lied to, and the narrator wants to comfort him. A line that supports this is, "I could give some head and shoulders to lie on."

The lyrics are edgy in parts. For instance, i- the line, "It matches your skin, your eyes dripping with pain."

In the Sun is the next song.

In the sun. They're gonna shoot you too. I'll do it for you

It has a rip-roaring surf intro and continues right on with a real fast tempo, clocking in a little under three minutes. Because of the tempo and repetitive chorus, I think that out of the album, In the Sun sounds the most like early punk band The Ramones. Harry's vocals are enthusiastic while still sounding smooth. I think the song is straightforward lyrics-wise. Harry wants to be at the beach, but right now is in the concrete jungle of Manhattan.

Now, a subway could take her to Coney Island Beach, but perhaps I'm thinking too deeply on this one.

A Shark in Jet's Clothing stood out as my favorite album track on Blondie's self-titled debut.

Don't wear those clothes again. They don't make it in this crowd. Don't go out DTK.

Indeed, the organ intro hooked me instantly. The drum and bass also gets me tapping along to the rhythm.

The drum and bass also get me tapping along to the rhythm. Harry's vocals show a lot of range and intensity from mellow to histrionic. I believe the song is a close parallel to the play West Side Story. The song even features the iconic finger snaps from the play.

Harry plays the role of an ally to a gang dubbed The Jets, but falls in love with a rival Shark. The lyrics are pretty dark. An example is, "Don't go out DTK. You'll wear your best suit in the ground."

The second side of the album Blondie starts off with Man Overboard.

Man overboard. Sinking in a sea of love. Man overboard. He jumped, didn't need a shove. Oh, I've been sailing the sea of-

Harry's vocal changes in tempo give the song some flavor. The song has a bit of a tropical feel to it, thanks to lyrics and keyboard, sort of like a proto The Tide is High🔖✔.

The first bridge has a real distinctive and good synth section, and the second a guitar counterpoint that is good as well. Finally, the backup vocals shouting the song title is catchy as well. The song is pretty straightforward, me thinks. A man is overwhelmed by love gone wrong. Harry explains that he is sinking in a sea of love.

Rifle Range starts off with a great guitar section that might sound a little like Santana.

Had the rifle. I lost my heart. Had the rifle. I could not start. Had the rifle. She left me so hard.

Indeed, the guitars are more prominent and the keyboard less prominent in Rifle Range than the other tracks. The drums are a bit more vigorous than usual as well. Now, Debbie Harry's vocals sound good, but didn't quite catch me as much as her great performances on the other tracks. That said, I did like the non-verbal vocal parts. Now, I'm not sure what the song is specifically about, but the lyrics are dark with mention of instruments of execution like the gallows, a noose, and of course, a rifle.

The song Kung Fu Girls leans a bit more toward punk.

Soon to be three and all. Ah, love cold. She was a kung fu girl. Kung fu girl and-

Harry yells one, two, three in Cantonese, which is interesting. The rest of her vocals are among the most intense of the album and match the fast tempo well. The fast Farfisa organ is terrific, deftly combining the early '60s with mid-'70s. The guitar has a punk feel to it, again, a little bit like The Ramones. In the song, a woman described as kung fu helps a bemused man in a Chinese neighborhood, but in the end, she kicks him to the floor. At least that was my interpretation of it.

Finally, Attack of the Giant Ants is a silly but infectious apocalyptic song and is a great closer to the album.

Harry is having a lot of fun with the vocals, singing la, la, la in the chorus and shrieking at times.

Clement Burke's drums are vigorous and add energy to the song.

Jimmy Destri's Farfisa organ gives it a '60s trashy vibe, but in a good way.

The bridge consists of the ants attack.

Attack of the Giant Ants sounds similar to, yes, an Adam and the Ants🔖✔ or Bow Wow Wow song, but of course, Blondie's self-titled album came out first. Harry makes references to cities and eventually mankind being destroyed. Again, a great closer to the album.

Around the time of their debut, Blondie was performing quite a few shows at places like the aforementioned CBGB's and Max's Kansas City. A little later, they did get to open for Iggy Pop and David Bowie🔖✔David Bowie, including two nights at the roughly 4,000-seat Riviera Theatre in my Chicago.

However, Blondie's debut did not fare well commercially, the album and singles not charting in the United States or United Kingdom when it came out. As a result, the band decided to switch record labels.

In a future episode, I will delve into their sophomore album in 1978 called Plastic Letters, which fared somewhat better.

And that's a wrap for New Wave Beat this week. This is Jason D'Orazio. I really appreciate you listening in, and we'll talk to you next week. So long.

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