Don't get me wrong. I love Blondie. I vividly remember the day my older sister brought home a copy of Parallel Lines. It swiftly became one of the few albums that we could agree upon (her taste at the time veering towards the insipid likes of Evelyn "Champagne" King and mine skewing towards Devo). Blondie was legitimately groundbreaking. They seamlessly fused rock, punk, pop and disco into an irrepressible mix that you'd have to have ice in your veins to renounce. They were brilliant. End of story.
Thirty years later (gulp), a new incarnation of Blondie (sadly without keyboardist Jimmy Destri, but still boasting timeless powerhouse drummer Clem Burke) is touring to celebrate the three decade anniversary of Parallel Lines. As such, band founders Chris Stein and Debbie Harry are talking. Stein spoke not too long ago to Vanishing New York, and provided a refreshingly candid and endearingly pointed perspective on the current state of his former hometown. Conversely, Debbie Harry has leant her iconic cache to a campaign that strives to spoon-feed you a sad, revisionist yarn of denial. I know her heart is probably in the right place, but this just depresses me.
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