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It’s been a long time since we gratefully accepted any new dancefloor fodder from Blondie. Six years, to be precise. Not that they have escaped our consciousness of course; that could never happen. Blondie have always been relevant and it’s hard to imagine a time when they won’t be; a point highlighted by their receiving the Icon Award at America’s eighth annual TV Land Awards ceremony on Saturday. It comes conveniently in a year when Blondie are to release their ninth studio album, and take it out on the road with a string of UK tour dates.
The news is exciting; it is obvious that the shows will not disappoint because while many rock veterans fall under the curse of age, Debbie Harry still looks and sounds great. There are few women cooler than Harry and few who haven’t emulated her in some way, at some point (men included). Many have covered Blondie tracks, including Lily Allen, Sleeper, Erasure, Nouvelle Vague, Garbage, and No Doubt.
And the list is still growing. Just this week it’s been announced that Alicia Keys will cover ‘Rapture’ on the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack. All three of which epitomise pure New York cool, which is what Blondie are so often associated with. Before Karen O, before the Strokes, before Interpol, there was Blondie. They are all the post-punk to Blondie’s first-wave, pioneering punk. They and their contemporaries have probably all studied and took some inspiration from the legendary band (‘probably’ has nothing to do with it in the case of Miss O).
Blondie will kick off their UK tour in June, treating the folk of Newcastle, Bournemouth, Manchester, Hatfield, Tetbury, Wolverhampton, Southend, and of course Sheffield. The festival circuit beckons too, with lucky Rockness and Isle of Wight on their packed agenda. Miss out and deal with a lifetime of regret.
Thursday 17th June, Sheffield Academy, 7pm, £35.
Posted on Wednesday 21st April 2010
Rebecca Ryder
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