Blondie (band)

Recent hits include "Maria" (1999) and "Good Boys" (2004). Guitar work has been handled by Andrew "Duck" MacDonald since that time. Debbie Harry and Blondie were close to the Warhol-Haring-Boho New York art scene of the early 80's; they featured graffiti artists Fab Five Freddy and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the video for "Rapture". Last tour was a club tour of England in 2004. Original members Dickie Peterson and Paul Whaley re-located to Germany in early 90's where they still live. Their better known hits are "Call Me", "The Tide Is High", "One Way Or Another" and "Heart Of Glass." Their 1981 song "Rapture" was the first US number one rap hit. Last release was Live in Japan, 1999. Sometimes disco, sometimes punk, sometimes new wave, and sometimes hip hop, Blondie is known for frequently re-inventing themselves. Group still exists as of 2005.

The group was founded in August 1974 in New York, New York by Deborah Harry of Wind in the Willows and Chris Stein of The Stilettos. After Leigh Stevens was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half, in 1969, Blue Cheer's style changed to a more commercial hard rock sound a la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. Blondie is a rock band that first gained fame in the 1970s and early 1980s. 1970 saw the release of Human Being and then 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. Live By Request (2004). The group underwent several personnel changes after the 1968 release of Outsideinside, and then through yet more changes during and after 1969's New! Improved! Blue Cheer (different guitarists on side 1 and 2), followed by Blue Cheer. The Curse of Blondie (2004). Julian Cope has written, "In 1968, nothing but nothing in America and Britain sounded as brutal as Blue Cheer except for the Velvet Underground." [1] (http://www.juliancope.com/unsung/features/index.php?id=4).

Live (1999). The band has been subsequently acclaimed as an influence on garage rock, punk music, heavy metal, and grunge. No Exit (1999). The group's sound was hard to categorize, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and very loud. Platinum Collection (1994). (The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard pop charts, and the album peaked at #11.). The Hunter (1982). Their first hit was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (1968).

The Best of Blondie (1981). The band was named after a strain of LSD promoted by underground chemist and Grateful Dead backer Owsley Stanley; the drug had taken its name from a popular detergent. Autoamerican (1980). Original personnel were singer/bass guitarist Dick Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stevens and drummer Paul Whaley. Eat to the Beat (1979). Blue Cheer was a San Francisco based power trio of the late 1960s. Parallel Lines (1978).

Plastic Letters (1977). Blondie (1976). Gary Valentine / Gary Lachman - bass. Chris Stein - guitar.

Frank Infante - guitar. Deborah Harry - lead vocals. Nigel Harrison - bass. Leigh Foxx - bass.

Kevin Patrick / Kevin Topping - keyboards. Jimmy Destri - keyboards. Paul Carbonara - guitar. Clem Burke - percussion.

Stacy Bellomo - backing vocals. Tish Bellomo - backing vocals.