Is Blondie Rock, Punk, New Wave, Disco or All Of The Above?

Is Blondie : Rock, Punk, Disco, New Wave or All The Above?


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I think the difference between jazz, bebop and other original musical forms is, those musicians knew their instruments. Even if they were self taught, they knew what they were doing. Punk rockers just picked up their instruments and made sound
I think of that as being something of a myth that, interestingly, both the pro and anti punk press built up, each for their own nefarious reasons. Granted, some punk musicians weren't as schooled in their instruments as the 60s generation were in theirs when they actually started making records, but most of them on both sides of the Atlantic could play. The ones that really couldn't play were few and far between in reality.
It became part of the lexicon that Sid Vicious and Paul Simenon couldn't play bass and were chosen in the Pistols and the Clash for reasons other than musicality. But they really were the exception rather than the rule and in Simenon's case, he actually learned his bass and became a pretty useful player. He was suitably aided and abetted by Topper Headon who was a proggy, jazzy drummer and Joe Strummer & Mick Jones who both played in very unpunky outfits and knew their guitars. That's just one example, but generally, punk musicians could play and enjoyed minimalism.
What I think is fair to say is that punk musicians weren't particularly interested in expanding the range of what their instruments could do or improvising. Those kind of concerns and experimentation had, in most of their views, turned much popular music into a boring exercise in masturbation, which their whole modus operandi was to get away from.
Cracking was familiar sounding, yet sufficiently different. I think it's one of her greats. I think Lou Reed could have done with overdosing on early Vega ! :D
 
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Physical Graffiti was my first excursion into Led Zeppelin and along with III is still my favourite of theirs 40 years on. Pretty much from the first {well, second} time I heard it, "Trampled Underfoot" is the one track that doesn't rate as at least "brilliant" for me. It's good, I like it, but unlike the other 14, I don't love it.
 
Her big "hit", "Luka"...got to a point where it was annoying to listen to after awhile...not sure why...
Probably overkill. On the "Solitude Standing" album it's the least good track. I mean, it is a good song and I really like it. Although it was a hit here, by the time it was, I hadn't listened to music radio for about 5 years so I was never aware of it as being anything more than track 2 on the album and as such, I like it as an album track, but there were always 10 better songs on the album for me. It's a song smothered by superior athletes.
 
Topper Headon who was a proggy, jazzy drummer and Joe Strummer & Mick Jones who both played in very unpunky outfits and knew their guitars. That's just one example, but generally, punk musicians could play and enjoyed minimalism.
What I think is fair to say is that punk musicians weren't particularly interested in expanding the range of what their instruments could do or improvising. Those kind of concerns and experimentation had, in most of their views, turned much popular music into a boring exercise in masturbation, which their whole modus operandi was to get away from.
Cracking was familiar sounding, yet sufficiently different. I think it's one of her greats. I think Lou Reed could have done with overdosing on early Vega ! :D

Topper and Mick were the rare excellent musicians in punk, and the guys from The Stranglers. The Clash went on to much bigger things than the average punk band. You can't record without being able to play. But, most of the musicians were average players at best.

It's funny people think Sid was on Never Mind, but it was Glen Matlock? It's said they'd turn Sid off in the US. It's written Mick had to show Paul the bass parts. Mick Jones is in my top 4 guitarists of all time #1 Jimmy Page #2 Mick Ronson #3 Mick Jones #4 Johnny Thunders. All are unique and really created their own sound. Topper really completed The Clash. You could hear his jazz chops in many of their songs. Chimes couldn't compare.

Every word of Cracking is pure Reed. It's really the only song that has that vocal delivery. My favorites off the first album (I have a great autographed copy) is Marlene on the Wall and The Queen and the Soldier. I have to dig up some of them old tapes.

Physical Graffiti was my first excursion into Led Zeppelin and along with III is still my favourite of theirs 40 years on. Pretty much from the first {well, second} time I heard it, "Trampled Underfoot" is the one track that doesn't rate as at least "brilliant" for me. It's good, I like it, but unlike the other 14, I don't love it.

I played those two back to back and don't see an inch of resemblance. My two faves off PG are back to back In The Light and Ten Years Gone (my #1 Zeppelin song).
 
the guys from The Stranglers
There are some bands of whom I only have one of their albums but that one album is such a heavyweight that it has sustained me for decades and the Stranglers are one of those bands and No more heroes is that album. I absolutely love it and have done for 40 years. There is not one poor or even average song on it and it is packed to the gills with great songs, great music, great lyrics, great humour, great observations, great darkness and great playing. Everything about the Stranglers was punk except their music ! And lyrically on that album they went way further than any punk band I'm aware of. Racism {I feel like a wog}, Suicide {Dagenham Dave}, incest/paedophilia/anti-feminism {Bring on the nubiles, English towns}, bad acid trips {Peasant in the big shitty} etc, etc, you name it, they touched on it. I also really dig "Peaches" and even "Golden Brown."

It's funny people think Sid was on Never Mind, but it was Glen Matlock?
Matlock wrote most of the music but he didn't actually play on the album, guitarist Steve Jones played the bass parts. Sid did play on "Bodies" but so did Jones and Sid's part was buried low in the mix because he was shit.

It's said they'd turn Sid off in the US
I'd've been turning him off long before they got to the States !!

I used to play with an outfit that had a singer that just could not sing. We were playing at a friend's wedding in 2002 and beforehand, I said to the sound guy please, just turn her mic off. There were 3 of us that could sing {we did loads of recording together actually} so it didn't matter as we could more than cover this one woman that had the voice of a skunk's left foot little claw. Fortunately, once the sound guy heard her sing, he complied !

It's written Mick had to show Paul the bass parts
This is true but only initially and Paul learned quickly, was able to build on what he learned and went on to be quite an influential bass player in punk circles.

Mick Jones is in my top 4 guitarists of all time
A playground I once worked at had a benefit gig back in '91 in which Big Audio Dynamite played and Mick Jones {who is the cousin of a guy that was the producer of a close friend of mine, who knew Mick which is how BAD came to play at our benefit} was really obnoxious on the night, trying to play the cool star while I was on the gate. I never liked the Clash anyway and I was seriously tempted to tell him so....but being a gent I remained the model of raging, blazing cool, almost the ultimate paradox ! :D

My favorites off the first album is Marlene on the Wall and The Queen and the Soldier
Add "Cracking", "Neighbourhood girls" and "Small blue thing" and they're my favourite 5 on the album. "Marlene on the wall" actually inspired a song I wrote about my younger son when he was a baby called "Baby talk."

I played those two back to back and don't see an inch of resemblance
That's the thing with Zeppelin, some of the songs they plundered don't sound a bit like the songs they are supposed to have been plundered from although in some instances many of the lyrics are the same. By the same token some of the songs they didn't credit or part credited are straight lifts that they should never have received credits for. "Boogie with Stu" and "Dazed and confused" being great examples. They aren't even witty steals, they are outright thievery !

My two faves off PG are In The Light and Ten Years Gone (my #1 Zeppelin song)
Both are great tracks. "Graffiti" has some of their greatest {in my opinion} and most underrated pieces like Black country woman, The Rover, In my time of dying, Houses of the holy, Night flight, Bron Yr Aur, The Wanton song and Sick again.
 
I think of Blondie now, after douments of the early days as Punk....but she went mainstream when the radio hits were going and these were not punk sounding or punk anything....and the pop cash box started over flowing and disco-ish sounds were weaved into the songs so then it was just Blondie...she became bigger than her music imo, her voice, her band....Blondie and the unknowns by the time the big cash biz took over.
Probably a better life than living in some cellar with punks and rotting beds. Not sure why she disappeared off the charts? the music or did she get rich enough to tell the tours to screw off? burn out. That whole fleeting era- year a lot of the music sounded similar right?

Rock Guitars with some sequencer , gelled hair.... kids pop ..born of punk gigs...I recall her being like a Pin Up chic too whether she wanted that or not, the business turned it on for sales with sexy Blondie poses which became as popular as their music.

I dont even remember what years I had a calender with her on it from some record store. If I find it Ill post it for fun..
 
... Not sure why she disappeared off the charts? the music or did she get rich enough to tell the tours to screw off? burn out........

The band ran out of gas, creativity-wise. Then Harry took off to take care of Chris Stein (band's guitarist and her partner) as he was dealing with a chronic skin condition.
 
All the so called Punks who hit the big time went with the money. Why wouldn't they? Nobody is stupid to prefer a life of poverty, looking ridiculous and riddled with drugs just to prove a point.

Everybody has a shelf life. Very few have the talent and ability or are so lucky it becomes a life long career.

Punk was done and dusted within 18 months in the UK anyway. It is remembered to be far bigger and influential than it actually was. I suppose if it wasn't for the cleverly staged antics of a few it wouldn't have become so well known about. There wasn't anything 'Punk' about that.

Perhaps the most well known band actually became famous because.......

The biggest band at the time Queen had to cancel a television interview and an unknown bunch of teenagers were shoved in front of a camera where the only thing they could manage to do was talk bollox and swear. This was prime time tv and of course a lot of people saw this. The result was they and their two songs were banned everywhere and headline news. All cleverly managed by a chancer with a brain who got lucky. Malcolm.

Then anything they did hit the headlines until we grew tired of it to where they were cleverly put together with a wanted criminal which gave them an extra 6 months.

Blondie at least looked good and could sing and managed to write some good hits. But more importantly were able to change their music and image to suit as time progressed.

There is nothing very shocking about a safety pin through your nose or a razor blade earring after the first few times you see it.
 
Blondie at least looked good and could sing and managed to write some good hits
I'd have to say, the Pistols looked good and wrote 3 or 4 of the greatest singles of the era {1950s ~ 1990s} when singles meant something. Rarely has meanness and cynicism sounded so funny. The double entendre of "EMI" {a swipe at the record label and A&M as well as meaning "every mistake imaginable} is pretty clever, "God save the Queen" is actually a superb slab of primal rock and teenage insight and "Pretty vacant" for me outweighs anything I ever heard in punk. In the days when the censor ruled, it was such a funny way of being able to say "c u n t" on a record without being pulled up on it. 14 year olds all over the land had a field day.
 
I'd have to say, the Pistols looked good and wrote 3 or 4 of the greatest singles of the era {1950s ~ 1990s} when singles meant something. Rarely has meanness and cynicism sounded so funny. The double entendre of "EMI" {a swipe at the record label and A&M as well as meaning "every mistake imaginable} is pretty clever, "God save the Queen" is actually a superb slab of primal rock and teenage insight and "Pretty vacant" for me outweighs anything I ever heard in punk. In the days when the censor ruled, it was such a funny way of being able to say "c u n t" on a record without being pulled up on it. 14 year olds all over the land had a field day.

I cant doubt or disagree with what you say there, but God Save the Queen and Pretty Vacunt were hits down to the 'pantomine' about the Sex Pistols and them being banned everywhere which made all us younguns go out and buy their records. All thanks to Malcom McClaren really.

The Stranglers on the other hand (the other Punk band of the time) actually had some good stuff which appealed to a lot of people. But then I remember it was Peaches which grabbed our attention for obvious reasons. Was there a concert in the Isle of White with all naked girls?
 
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