Original subtitles

ROCK MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

HN BJOlondie, one of the greapop t bands of any era.

CAMILLBlonA die were basically a newavew

phenomenon, I think who ki ofnd took cool underground

music to theains mtream. SUNTA Always creing,at

phnever following, alwaysi se tting trends. JOHN Theyrground

had everythi. DEngBBIE (sings,

on music video) Uhuh, -hmake me tonight. WILL T perhefect

punk-pop band fronted theby most iconic woman in mic.us

CAMILLA And you can kind o fsee her and everyone from

like mainstream pstapors to kind of the cooler

underground musicians.OE I J think Blondie are a grteam

pop band with the soun thdat's kind of timeless.

SUNTA Yeahthey, 've released so many sos thngat you put

in ona club and everyone wi go llup and dance. DEBBIE

(singson m, usic video) Oh, your haiis br eautiful,

oh... [MUSIC]

JOHN bbieDe Harry came from New Jeey. rsShe was a jazz

fan who founhersd elf in a folk group cald "Wleind in

the Willows" in the late s. B60y the very early 70s,

she'd mod tove New York. She'd become pt ofar the

avant-garde scene. JOHN(CON s.TINUED) And in 1973, 70s,

she met Chris ein.St WILL Chris Stein was e sothn of

avanNew York, JewishOHN(CON s.TINUEintellecals,tu, 70s,

"Bohemian." He'd been in nds,ba

his ma clainim to fame prior to Bloie inds that he was in

band that ce sonupported the Velvet Underoundgr. WILL

(CONTINUED) So he waverys cool. JOE Debbie was a

vo calist in a band called, "The Stilettos" and Chris

jo ined as a guitarist and that was the beginning of

thr creieative but also romant parictnership. DEBBIE

(sgs, inon music video) With myands h cuffed at my side.

WILLhris C Stein and Debbie Harrmet y a young drummer

caed Clllem Burke who--very stish.yl He was very much

into thehole w 60s look and he broug a ghtuy called Gary

Valentine and ey jthust looked great. You kn,ow

they looked the part ando s that's really how the band

formed. JOE And the groupbeca me,

ondiBle which was actually nad afmeter what truckers

and people used to shouts a they drove past Debbie

Hay. Trrhat was sort of the cacallt they gave them and

the band tootheik r name from that. CAL Ler,at

the nd abadded keyboard player,

Jimmy Deri asts they played around t Newhe York scene.

E NoJOw, we see they were pa of rta New York new wave

punk scene athe t time but, I mean,

anyoneho h was ever heard any Blone wodiuldn't really

pcall them a punk grouprut, o even particularly a new vewa

grou p. But they were playing in a ll the same clubs at the

same time. CAMILLA SCBGBo 's was the club that evybodery

wa s playing at that point and Blondie became regulars

playing there. Theshary ed stages with those--Patty

Smitplayh ed there, Television,

Talking Heads, the Rames.on It was all that kind ofy

scenof pe eople that basically gr up,ew

playing aroundoget ther in this one scene tn fohermed

this incredible music le gacy. DEBBIE (sings,w

on music video) u juYost had to laugh. SUNTA Bldieon

end upde being really well-knownn Au istralia

befo anyrewhere else because thisusic m TV show,

"Countwn,"do played one of their sos. Bngut they didn't

play t traheck they were supposed wch whias

"X-Offender." They eed undp playing the "B-side"hich w

was "In the Flh" weshich some say was accidt. SenUNTA

(CONNUEDTI) Some say was on purposbecae use "In the

Flh" wesas a much more mainstre,am

commerciallykind, of acceptable song. DEBEBI

(singson m, usic video) Darlin',

rlinda', darlin'. I can't wa to ithear you.

Rembermeing your love is nothinwithg out you in the

flesh. WILL They hadhis t big--really a kind of,

u knyoow, gentle pop ballad ich whlaunched this

ba nd--which elsewhere, if they were known at all were

known as onef th oe burgeoning punk band JOEs.

The track wahuges ly popular. Became a nuer imbn

Australia, resulted in a nAustralian tour. JOE

(CONNUEDTI) And the Australian stu wasff the

ringspboard for obviously, thmaine stream success

elwhersee in the world. But itas t what one little

motive chae, sncomeone putting on the wng trorack

which led allto of that. DEBBIE (sings,

on music video) coulI dn't resist you. I'm nodeaft ,

dumband , blind. SUNTA Blondie's rst fialbum which

was self-titled wa't asn great success. They,

you ow, knhad obviously, just staed ortut and they

were putng dtiown music for the firstimet as a group,

finding their way.nd t Ahere are some great tras onck it

but it just didn rea'tlly work commercially welasl as

they probly bahoped it would at the te. WimILL I think

bthe first album was very u ch a New York album. Itlasl as

was very much a producof t that scene and the songs

were about things th's at going on their life at the

time. JOAnd E the second album from theroup g was

"Plastic Letters" whh onicce again is quite raw. u caYon

hear t forhemation of the latest snd. ouDEBBIE (sings,

on mic vusideo) Oh, Denis doo-beo,-d

I'm in love with you. nisDe latest sndoo-be-do,E (sings,

I' m in love with you. Denis do o-be-do,

I'm in love withou. ySUNTA When Blondie coved "erDenis"

originally by ndy Ra& The Rainbows as "Dene,is

the y took what was like a--qte cuiheesy doo-wop

close harmony so witngh a man singing to a gl anird

completely twisted it an ddid their own thing with it.

BBIEDE (sings, on music vide Oh,o)

whene wa wlk it always feels so ne. Aicnd when we talk,

it seems like paradise. nis,De

Denis, I'm so in love with o u. Oh. CAMILLA The video

was absolutely brilliant. MILLCAA (CONTINUED) I mean,

thers soe'lo as kind of ones to wch jatust purely because

of Debbie Harry, cldn'out keep your eyes off oher f in

th at video. The band kind of in the background it's all

about Debbie. She ealsst the show. Very playful,

very sort ofoque cttish with the camera. n't Cakeep your

eyes off of her. S's he incredible. DEBBIE (sings,

on music veo) idDenis, Denis,

avec tes yeux si ble. ux Denis,

Denis, moi j'ai flashe a no us deux. WILL It launched

De bbie Harry as pin up. Butreal ly,

that was something thata Cho us dris Stein had beenhed

orchestrating ywayan. It wasn't by chance. LLWI

(CONTINUED) You know, she' sreally beautiful and really

sexynd c aool. You know, it's an azinamg combination.

You know, e's shthe pin-up of the CBGB'punks cool New

York scene andudde snly she's a--pinned-upn th oe

walls teeofnage boys the world ov. CAerL Blondie's

fi rst two albums were reasedle by Private Stock

but in 1977, they were sign by edthe record giant,

Chrysas. DliEBBIE (sings, on music vio) Ide'm in love

with you. WILL Cysalhris being the kind of

businessman whrealo ized that Debbie Harry swa

extremelremay rkable as was the bandhems telves. Part of

the de wasal that they needed to wo witrkh a pop

producer and they nt wweith Mike Chapman. CAL keMi

Chapman was the chapmain n neChinn-Chap and they were a

British prodtionuc songwriting team who'dad h

hi ts with all sorts of arsts tifrom Suzi Quatro to

Hot Chocolate. DEBBIE(sin songwritigs,team who'dad h

on music veo) idDon't leave me hanging otelen phone.

JOHN Blondie h verady much a punk ethos to rerdincog.

Mike Chapman didn't wo lirkke that at all. He was

extremy meelticulous. He recorded Bndielo almost as

though they were arog prock band. JOHN (CONTIND) BUEit

by bit, layer by layer, buil ding up this near wall

of pop punk sod. Tunhis caused an awful a looft

fr iction because although Blon die were extremely

ambitious, this waall s new territory to them.EBBI DE

(sgs, inon music video) Telephe. JonOHN Mike Chapman

won in thend a end the result was "Parael Lllines"

which would go on seltol 20 million copies. DEIEBB

(sings, musonic video) It's good to he youarr voice,

yo u know it's been so long. If I don't get your calls

then everything goes wng.ros DEBBIE (CONTINUED) I wt toan

tell y somouething you've known alalonl g. Don't leave

me hanging on the tephonlee CAMILLA Parallel Lin ises

undoubtedly a mastpiecere. It's a seminal recor It'd.s

a great new wave record t bu it's also just a great kdin

of, you kn, a owgreat record in itself at'sth gone on to

inspire so many bands. MILLCAA (CONTINUED) It's

filled with great ngs,so "Hanging on the Telephe."on

It's an absolutely amazi ngsong,

"One Way Or otheAnr." You know,

it's packed full of th emand,

really, it's kind of a blue print for how to make a

igreat record. JOE And ob viously,and,

it'sn al abum that has lots of gat treracks in it. The

big breakoutrack t for Blondie worldwide s "Hwaeart

of Glass." [MUSIC]

DEBBIE (singson m, usic video) Once I had lovea and

it was a gas. Soon turd ne out had a heart of glass.

DEBBIE (CONTINUED) (ngs,si on music video) Seemedike l

the real thing, only to fi mundcho mistrust,

love's gone behindJOHN. Well,

Heart of Glass w oneas of the very last songto gs o on

Parael Lllines. It was a fragment oan if dea that

they'd had for seval yerears and it was based--eth

shuffle of the rthm hywas based on Saturday Nitgh

Fevesounr dtrack which Debbie andhris C both

adored. SUNTA It'shat t moment when Blondie sttar

really visibly and really, b Debviously,ris C both

dabbling in other nresge and bringing in elemen thatst

they want and, of course ,this is the disco song. They

ev calenl it, "The Disco Song."EBBI DE (sings,

on musicideo v) Love is so confusing,

the's erno peace of mind. DEBB (COIENTINUED) (sings,

on m usic video) If I fear I'losim ng you,

it's just no good you asinteg like you do. WILL

This was t divheisive one. This is the e thonat really

sort set the catmong a the pigeons in this so of rtcool

CB GB's scene for whom disco wa s a terrible thing. WILL

(CONTINUED) It wasctua ally influenced by Kraftwk,er

no t really a band that you'd as sociate with disco. Clem

Burke who is a big Kraftwe farkn and he wanted to get

no t that 4/4 beat that Krawerkfts socispecialize in. It sounds

like it's a drum macne bhiut it's not. It's Clem rkeBu

playing very, veryell w indeed. DEBBIE (sings,

on music video) Lostnsid ie, adorable illusion and I

cannot hide. JOHN Th isis also an example of howrave b

Blondie were. Disco was se enas the music of the enemy.

But Blondididne 't care. They just likeit. d SUNTA

It's so contagious and tchyca and so well-written,

it's so pop. But at thsamee time because Debbie Hayrr

delivers it in this very aloo f and cool way,

it's still very credible as well . CAMILLA And the video

for Heart of Gss ilas another phenomenal

performance fromebbi De Harry. CAMILLA (CONTUED)IN

Again, it's the Debbiearry H aShow. You know,al

thbande are playing but you dot lon'ok at them,

you're looking aDebbt ie. SUNTA The way she ngs siis

like, I don't ev carene whether you're listeng onir

not. I'm just gonna si ngthis. I'm not interested in

what y're oudoing at all. I love it,

it jus'st so cool. DEBBIE (sings,

on music video) On I hcead a love and it was a s. Sgaoon

turned out to be a paiin n the ass. Seemed like the

real tng, hionly to find mucho mistru,st

love'sone gbehind.

MUSI [C]

DEBBIE (singson m, usic video) When I met u inyo the

restaurant, you could ll Ite was no debutante. SUNTEatA

to the Beat was the xt ne album to follow up,

Parael Lllines. There must have bn a eelot a lot

pressure on them tkindo of replicate that sucss acend

acallytu, they did, you know,

itas n wot a very successful alm. JbuOHN They'd left the

punk scene behd anind they were now an estaishebld pop

band who were a huge almt oseverywhere in the world,

not so much America. DBIEEB (sings,

on music video) eamiDrng. WILL It was very pducerod.

It had sou and that was--it was--is qut'ite slick but

still there's something out abDebbie Harry's voice

and shs vee'ry characterful. DEBBIEsing (s,

on music veo) idPleasure's real or is ifantt asy?

DEBBIE (CONTINUED) (sing s,on music video) Reel to reel

livising rarity. People stop a standre at me. We

just walk on by. We just ke on epdreaming. JOHN And

this albumame cout and it had three grt sieangles on

itJOHN. (CONTINUED) It had "Atoc,mi

i t had "Dreaming," and it had "Union City Blue."

[MUSIC]

JOHN It has everythg thinat you'd want from a Bldieon

single. This massive echng oi drums from Clem Burke and

this gre bigat chorus. JOHN (CONTINU) EvEDery member of

ondiBle was contributing somethg toin this song.

DEIE (BBsings, on music video)h, O

oh, what are we gonndo?a Union,

Union, Uon Cniity blue. CAMILLA Eat theto Beat was

the first video album er ev which is kind of incrediebl

d what they did was they made a video for each song

ich kind of sounds funny now. People do it all the

ti. Bumet at that point, it was ite qua big deal and

eventuallyit w, as released as well as VHS a in those

days. DEBBIE (ngs,si on music video) In tuuoisrqe

Unn, Uionion, Union City blue. LL UWInion City Blue

was shot by Dad Mavillet and this was an exple amagain of

Chris Stein using s hi image-led vision for

Blondie. WILL (CTINUONED) It's got this amazg aeinrial

shs ofot North American docklandand s it's just

ry, vevery evocative. Blondiweree really in this

purple patch where they d ha all the attitude from punk

and they had the--a kind o fcool,

you know, that youthat-- you get from growing uand p also

coming of age in New Yor whken it's really a tough

city. WILL (CONTINUED) B utthey learned sophistication

theat same time. They learnesongd writing. They're

rkinwog with great producers d I anthink Debbie Harry had

grown into a reallyey confarident singer as well. So

that combination for a fe-briw-ef few years was

ju--itst slightly could do no wng. ro[MUSIC]

AL A Cutoamerican was Blondis fie'fth album and

once ain, gafeatured the band experimtingen with

genres. CAMILLA Rapte's uran incredible track and

actuly, alI think it's the first ke UliS number one to

featurrappe ing in it. DEBBIE (raps,

onusic m video) Fab Five Freddyold tme everybody's

fly. DJ's spinning I said ,my

myDEBB. IE (CONTINUED) (raps,

fly.on music video) Flash is fa st,my

Flash is cl. Foorancois sais pas,

Flashe no deux. And u yo don't stop,

sure shot. Go out to t heparking lot. And... CAMILLA

Which kinisd of sad that it wasn'tn ac atual rap group

or hip hop gup trohat had that first hitut B blondie

di d it. They took rap to a main stream audience. JOHN

De bbie Harry and Chris Stein ha d made friends with a guy

caed Fllab Five Freddy. He was DJ,a

he was a graffiti artist, he 's a rapper,

he's everything. He took th to emthis big rap show in

ThBrone x. So they wanted to doomet shing which

inco rporated rapping. JOHN (CTINUONED) So "Rapture"

cos almeong. JOE I'm a hip hop n myfaself and to see

the moment where it comes in to the mainstream is

something quite special an dactually Debbie Harry is a

pretty good rapper. DEIEs in to the mBBn(raps, is

on music video) One oneto, man to man. Dance toe to

toe. Don't me toovo slow, 'cause the manrom fMars is

throh wiugth cars. WILL The Tides Hi igh is very sweet

song and it's reggae-tinge Itd.'s not really a reggae

song of su. Itch's kind of--it's almosliket it's

sort of earlintry oduction to reggae for oplepe who've

neve r heard it which is grt. DeaEBBIE (sings,

on mic vusideo) The tide is high b I'mut holding on.

DEBB IE (CONTINUED) (sings, musonic video) I'm gonna be

yourumbe nr one. SUNTA The Tide iHighs is a brilliant

pop so andng the original which is reg agae classic is

actually quite tonedown d compared to their versn.io

They really kindf up oped the brass instrumes onnt it

and made it sound a t lo bigger. SUNTA (CONTINUEDI)

think it's an soluabtely brilliant track. WILIL

think Blondie re vweery clever at that. I thkin

Blondie we verrey good and this is someing ththat Chris

St ein points out that there wi ll always into different

kinds of music. Theyrew gup in New York. It's a

multi-cultur plaalce. They weren't close-ndedmi. They

re nweever going--just be stightra punk rock. JOHN The

videtoo,o that was also slightlyistu drbed. There's

a lot Debofbie Harry in it too. B theutre was also this

very curious Vad-likere figure who seem to bspyie ng

oner a hs her apartment filledp wi uth water. Before

she escaped, sheoine jd the rest of the bandn th oe New

rk sYotreets. JOHN (CONTINUEDI ha) ve no idea

what it meant but it looked grea t. WILL They had this

incribleed run. By 1980, Debbie Hry waras so famous

at sthhe was on the Muppet Sh appowearing as an

honorary frog out.sc WILL (CONTINUED) You ow,kn

this was a long y frwaom CBGB's but at the sa timmee,

he r and Chris Stein had got in to heroine. And so once

that came , I inthink the problems reallstary ted.

JOHN The Hunter s thwae Blondie album and itasn' wt

particularly successl byfu their previous standar andds

this contrutedib to a lot of the intern tenalsions that

were goi on ngwithin the group at theime. t DEBBIE

(sings, on music video) InBay lon,

on the boulevard of brene group at okdreams, DEBBIE

my w ill power at the lowest b. Oebh,

what can do? I WILL So the band start to edfall apart.

d alAnso, there's a bit--sorof at lot of very,

ve bigry money issues. JOE The her otmembers as well

understandab hadly grown kind of jealous Debofbie

Harry's profile. She w anas absolutely media darli.ng

The re of stthe band compared had aairl fy

nondescript profile. WILL Ev entually,

the ba splndit up in, I think 1982WILL. (CONTINUED)

I me an, Debbie Harry had lachedun her solo career as

well. And there's a loof tht pressure from the record

label to just push her. SUA WhNTen Debbie Harry

started her solo career, ere thwere peaks and

troughs. I think she's ruggstled for a while to

find the snd oour direction that she wted anto be as a

solortis at. JOE Without the band bind ehher,

it j ust didn't quite feel thsamee and that's when

none of the ackstr are particularly memorle. abCAL

Around this time, risCh Stein became very ill thwi

nthe life-threateninge paautoulimmune disease,bCAL

pemphigus. DEBBI(sinE gs) Super friends. WILYou L can

see that they have this very ,

very deep bond which I think ntincoues to this day. A

re al respect for each other, th ey split up,

yo u know, as people do. But wh en Chris Stein got sick,

they--by this pot, tinheir relationship was or buvet

she continued to look afr te him and pretty much gavep u

her career to look aft himer and he got better. DEBEBI

(s ings) I am still in touch wi th your presence,

de. SUarNTA It took 17 years foBlonr die to finally get

back together,tart s working together again,

d stanart recording together. d I Anthink at

that time, you know, viouobsly,

lot a of time had passed, it s a wachance for them almost

to kind of revisithe t reason why they were in a

band together thein first place. WILL No Et waxis the

first post-reunion aum Ilb suppose. And it was prtyet

go. Itod was probably better th mosant people would have

expect fored a band that's split upnd, a

you kn, haowd been seen because th wasat their day.

DEBBIE (sings, on sicmu video) Ooh,

don't you wanntakea her? WILL They had a ng csoalled,

"Maria" d I anthink for the band wasroba pbly the

sweetest piece of succsr? esWILthey'd ever had because by

this point, they rea'dlly gone for it. DEBBI(sinE gs,

on music video) Maria, u'veyo gotta see her. DEBBIE

(CONNUEDTI) (sings, on music vide Go o)insane and out of

your min Regd.ina, Ave Maria. SUNTA It s liwake

Blone frdiom the 70s but with almt wiosth more guts

and wi morthe confidence. SUNTA (CTINUONED) I guess

that comes witage h and, you know,

with feeli liknge, they were doing thin vergsy much on

their own tes. JrmOHN It went to number iBritn ain

an d this meant that they had nu mber one singles in the

70s,the 80and s,the 90s. JOHN (CONTINUE AndD) there's

a song, it wasure pBlondie. DEBBIE (sings,

on mic vusideo) Maria, you've gottaee h ser. Go

insane and out of your md. in SUNTA Blondie's most recten

albums show thathey' tre still trying to be

invatinove. SUNTA (CONTINUED) ey'rThe still

ve mucryh bringing in differenelemt ents of genres

and music th intaterest them. They're stilnotl

restinon tg heir laurels. They're ill stmaking sure

thathat wthey're doing is exciti to ngthem that

they're beincreag tive and always strivinto dg o

something new.MUSI [C]

DEBBIE ings(s, on music video) All Iant wis a room

wi th a view. A sight worth eingse,

a vision of you.OHN J Blondie's influence is

almost incalcuble.la Anybody who's been a reanablsoy

pretty singer with attite ud owes something to Blondie.

JO (COHNNTINUED) So if you look aGarbt age,

pif you look at Katy Pey, rr if you look at Gwen Stefian

in No Dot, yubou'll see that these pele hopave

incooratrped bits of Debbie Harrs loy'ok,

ts obif her attitude, and heunasr hamed pop

sensilitiby too. SUNTA Debbie Har is ryan icon of

our generation a shend has managed to maintaithatn as

wellCAMI. LLA Blondie being hugelynflu iential and I

think you saw rticpaularly in the 90s,

it w as a real research and tereinst in their career.

And a loof bt ands that point we're rerencfeing

Parallel Lines andayin sg that was kind of onef th oe

albums that made them wa ntto be in a band. WILL The

songs are just so good. u Yo know,

so it's gonna be an inflnce ueon anyone who--in

a ba whond wants to write great sos bengcause the

songs are perft. SecUNTA Blondie,

I think are one of t moshet important bands of this

time. They have provedime t and time again that th areey

alwaystriv sing to be creative ando ch tange

thin. SUgsNTA (CONTINUED) Never kintod of just settle

for one sound d thanat's so exciting and tt's haso

interesting. DEBE (sBIings, on music video) ur hYoair is

beautiful. Oh, tonig. ht DEBBIE (CONTINUED) (sings,

on music videoAtom) ic. Oh, oh,

atomicOh, . Oh. Oh, oh, atomic. Oh,

oh, atomic. DEBBIE (CONNUEDTI) Oh,

oh.