The Story of Blondie: masters of image and innovators of sound
About this episode
This episode explores the rise of Blondie, their innovative sound, and the cultural impact they had on music in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
From a crumbling New York of the mid-'70s, in a tiny downtown club on the edge of collapse, a sound began to cut through the noise and redefine what popular music could be. One of those bands, Blondie, fronted by a punk-era Marilyn Monroe, fused art, New York street cool, visual invention, and razor-sharp pop songwriting, fearlessly moving between punk, new wave, rock, disco, reggae, and hip hop -- to climb from the underground to the top of the charts in the late 1970s and early '80s. In this episode, you'll discover: 1. How a collapsing New York City birthed a new sound 2. How the lead singer Debbie Harry rose as punk's most magnetic female icon, 3. How Debbie and guitarist Chris Stein created a creative and romantic partnership 4. How Blondie brought rap into mainstream pop culture, 5. The mysterious forces that ended their first golden era Guest bio Fred Schruers is a former Rolling Stone magazine staff writer who has contributed to The Washington Post, the LA Times, and he appeared on our story of Billy Joel episode. He profiled Blondie in Rolling Stone in the '70s and '80s time period, and the subject of a biography he wrote about hanging out with the band in that seminal…
More episodes of GARAGE TO STADIUMS Music History Podcast
- The Story of Stevie Nicks: The poetic teenager who became rock royalty
- The Story of KISS: Masters in the Business of Rock
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the GARAGE TO STADIUMS Music History Podcast podcast page.