SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/427709
2 8 S X S W O R L D / M A R C H M U S I C 2 0 1 4 s far as Chris Stein is concerned, there really is no time like the present. e Blondie guitarist and co-founder seems reticent to talk about the famed American band's history, but as Blondie celebrates its 40th anniversary, he is now urged to re-address the past countless times. Old can get older quickly. Certainly, Stein is more animated when asked about the present and Blondie's forthcoming 10th album, Ghosts Of Download, which is due in spring and will be packaged as a special 40th anniversary edition with a bonus disc of the band's hits. ose hits started in the late 1970s, but the band started to gel in 1974, a year after Stein met singer Debbie Harry. Drummer Clem Burke, keyboard player Jimmy Destri and bass player Gary Valentine filled out the lineup, and Blondie released its self-titled debut in 1976. ough it grew into one of the most beloved pop bands, Blondie's roots lay in the gritty New York City downtown scene and mid '70s punk rock explosion. "It was exciting," Stein admits when pushed to reminisce. "All the big western cities were in decline; it was not anywhere like it is now with things being so prosperous, and money being the main issue like it is now. ings were a lot funkier back then. Everybody misses those aspects. To live here," he says of his longtime New York City home, "didn't cost an arm and a leg." New York City's influence on Blondie is clear, and the band's early hit, "Rip Her to Shreds," was an edgy punk anthem inspired by one of the city's leading rock and roll fixtures, the Velvet Underground. "e song was just 'Waiting for My Man' really," Stein says. "It was an homage to that song. It was an amalgam of different female characters. It wasn't about anyone in particular. We have a video coming out in this next bunch of stuff. It was shot at CBGB's around '77 and it's really good quality. It's very punk; it's punkier, stylistically, than the records were." If Blondie was lumped into punk, the band escaped being typecast. e members' slim suits and skinny ties, not to mention Debbie Harry's gorgeous pin-up looks, became part of the stylish new wave vanguard of the late '70s and early '80s. "We drew a lot from the British invasion bands; we had our love of suits and all that crap. at was all very much influenced by the Mod scene," says Stein. "We always said we were just a pop band. e whole punk thing, what it means is debatable. I saw Johnny Rotten say he thought e Ramones sounded like Dire Straits or AC/DC, or some- thing. It's all subjective, all this stuff. I think the first two Rolling Stones albums are completely punk in their sensibility." Following an astounding slew of hit singles that saw the band exploring calypso, hip-hop and disco in modern music staples "e Tide is High," "Rapture" and "Heart of Glass," respectively, Blondie's career fizzled by the mid '80s. Along with the highs of hit singles and media glare, there were lows of the usual rock and roll kind. "ere were downsides to our career, for sure," says Stein. "Especially when everyone was getting fucked-up towards the end of the first period. at was, like, around '82. ere was a lot of drug use and all that crap. I suppose it added to whatever makes up what I am now. But I don't know, if I had thought twice about a lot of that stuff, I probably wouldn't have done it. "In those days there wasn't this situation like there is now," he con- tinues. "Rehab wasn't part of the showbiz vocabulary like it is now. It didn't quite exist. Everybody was like, 'oh if you're fucked-up, that's the end of it.' " Fortunately, what was at the time the end of the band turned into a hiatus. Due to the endurance of Blondie's musical influence, the band rose again in the 1990s, and Stein says they didn't look back. It is all about now, especially when it comes to making music. "We love the digital era. I really like working with computers now," he enthuses. "I find it very intuitive and fast. I do a lot more program- ming now than I do, you know, guitar songwriting." e new album includes Burke and bassist Leigh Fox and features several guests, including e Gossip's Beth Ditto, Colombian Cumbia group Systema Solar and Panamanian rappers Los Rakas. Harry and Stein continue to be influenced by what is going on around them, including EDM, and manage to tap right into the zeitgeist with a col- lection of artful dance pop. "What's going on now is very gratifying," says Stein. "But then coming back in the late '90s and having another hit record, and having a second chance was also very gratifying. I frequently quote F. Scott Fitzgerald who said 'there are no second acts in American lives.' We've proved him wrong." n Blondie performs at the SXSW Music Festival tonight (Thursday, March 13). See schedule.sxsw.com for details. Forty Years Later, Blondie Still Finds the Cutting Edge by Linda Laban Blondie M A R K W E I S S A