Parallel Lines
Blondie
£5 in local second hand music shop
£7 for deluxe version with dvd
Epic Records
It is very difficult to describe the impact that the arrival of Blondie (and specifically Debbie Harry) had on the average 15 year old male in late 1978 and early 1979 There had been two albums before, Blondie and Plastic Letters, but it was with the Mike Chapman produced "Parallel Lines" that the group really cemented their place in popular music history.
A remarkable six singles were released from the album, which, combined with B sides meant that virtually the whole album was released as singles. Images of the lead singer, Debbie Harry, were on magazine covers, record sleeves, t-shirts, television, and my bedroom wall.
This was before the days of purely manufactured pop success. Blondie were not cobbled together as a money making enterprise by a pop impresario, they had grown up together. They had done their time in the clubs and bars of New York. The sound that they had, both sophisticated pop, yet with earthy new wave appeal meant that they were one of very few acts that could be considered acceptable fare for both fans of the new wave that followed punk, and the disco music that was still so popular at the time.
And then there was Debbie Harry. Peroxide blonde, diminutive, sexy, earthy, glorious Debby Harry. With a voice, and a demeanour that could switch from innocent ingenue to raucous punk princess in an instant. Someone who could melt your heart with a whisper or a shout. I was smitten. We all were.
It is impossible to separate the success of Blondie from their lead singer. The band was essentially five unremarkable men, usually in dark suits or fairly drab clothing fronted by this peroxide blonde goddess, as likely as not clad in a whisper of silk or wearing a t-shirt as a dress. It was not hard to see where the spotlight was going to fall.
Having bought "Parallel Lines" in 1979 and played it so often that the grooves were almost through to the other side, I was pleased to find it on cd in my local second hand music store. I wondered how it would hold up thirty years on. I wondered how much of my memories were a result of the effervescent hormones of my late teens, and what Debby Harry could do to them with a musical moan. I wondered what the kids would make of it. In a time of X-factor stars and Miley Cyrus. Where pop is a commodity to make Simon Cowell rich rather than an expression of youthful rebellion.
I was not disappointed.
The six hit singles include, "Heart of Glass", "Picture This", "Sunday Girl" and "Hanging on the Telephone", in fact it works as a pretty decent greatest hits album. If you are roughly the right age you know enough of the songs to make it a familiar experience, not like getting to know a new album.
The range of the band is wonderfully displayed. There are love songs, ballads, and good, old fashioned rock and roll tracks. "I'm gonna love you too" is a wild romp, a cover of a Buddy Holly song (and interestingly the track the kids picked on as a highlight), "Sunday Girl" is a bubblegum pop song with an edge. "hanging on the telephone" is a clever song, with inventive puns and a real sense of humour. "One way or another" is a rapid fire aggressive love song. Lyrically and musically "Picture This" stand as out as the last of the first three songs on side one, all of which were monster hits.
Musically Blondie were the classic six piece band. Drums, bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drums and vocals. There was some moving about but generally the band members stuck to what they did well, and as a result produced a distinctive sound that was versatile yet recognisable.
"Parallel Lines" is very much an album that is both of it's time and before it's time. Blondie continued for several years to be very popular, but never quite regained the cleanliness and perfection of "Parallel Lines". They set the mark for indie/new wave/pop/rock crossover which has never really been equalled since.
The funny thing is, that I just spent an hour on you tube, and the live performances are not how I remember them. Debbie isn't really a very good dancer. She never really looks comfortable. And her on stage awkwardness clashes with my memories. Perhaps it is just that stagecraft has changed so much in the last thirty years or perhaps it is me that has changed. But the music stands up to thirty two years of time, and that is what really matters.
In conclusion then, "Parallel Lines" Is exciting, versatile, entertaining, vibrant, and perhaps just a little rough round the edges. A bit like Debbie Harry, really. She's 66 on the 1st of July. I think I'll send her a card.
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