Band lore states that their name came from both a flippant reference to Adolf Hitler's dog Blondie as well as vocalist Harry's bright blond hair. Previously having been a Playboy Bunny, Harry fronted the early version of the band. initially known as "Angel and the Snakes". They built up underground fame in NYC. Blondie released their first album, 'Blondie', in 1976. The album was mildly successful and spawned the Australian hit single "In The Flesh". Gary Valentine left the band later that year, and they continued briefly as a foursome, recording 'Plastic Letters' and gaining more airplay with their track "Denis". Still in touch with their punk roots, having played in clubs such as CBGBs and hung out with rock artists such as the Ramones, the band broke out into other, more diverse influences such as older dance and pop music, particularly interested in Phil Spector's 'wall of sound' technique.
Valentine was replaced by Los Angeles-based musician Frank Infante (guitar, bass guitar) in 1977. Infante had already played guitar on one track on 'Plastic Letters'. The band went out playing live with Infante and Stein swopping between playing guitar and bass guitar throughout each concert. The band also added British born but LA-based Nigel Harrison (bass guitar), making Blondie a six piece group for the first time. Harrison was a former member of the glam rock band Silverhead.
In 1978, they released the album that would make them international stars, titled 'Parallel Lines'. The album spawned several hit singles, including the number one hit "Heart Of Glass", "Sunday Girl", "Hanging On The Telephone" (a cover of the famous power pop track by The Nerves), and "One Way Or Another". The success of the heavily disco influenced "Heart of Glass", a song sometimes censored for its use of strong language for the time and considered by the band as tongue-in-cheek, proved controversial among many fans of the band's punk background, but it managed to break them through at a massive level.
They released three more albums (1979's Eat To The Beat, 1980's Autoamerican (containing the number one singles "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture") and 1982's The Hunter) as well as a number one single "Call Me", from the score of the 1980 film "American Gigolo".
In 1980, Harrison contributed several unused Blondie songs to ex-Silverhead singer Michael Des Barres solo album I'm Only Human. In 1981, Harry released a solo album Koo Koo, Destri released a solo album Heart On A Wall. Burke recorded and played live with the Eurythmics, and Stein started a record label named Animal Records.
In 1982, health problems for Stein, declining sales and inter-band tension caused the band to split. Harry kept a low profile for a few years while she nursed (now former) boyfriend Stein through a serious illness, but then continued a solo career as an actress/singer.
Reformation plans begun in 1997 with a line-up that included Harry, Stein, Destri, Burke, Valentine, and Harrison. Infante was not invited to the reunion. Valentine and Harrison were eventually (and unceremoniously, they claim) replaced by Paul Carbonara (guitar) and Leigh Foxx (bass).
The band released No Exit in 1998, which did quite well in both US and UK charts and contained the number one hit single "Maria".
The album did not include any song contributions from Valentine or Harrison, despite them recording early sessions for the album and Valentine being assured by Stein that they would use his already recorded song "Amor Fati". Harrison and Infante later filed an unsuccessful lawsuit claiming breach of contract for not including them in the reunion.
The Curse Of Blondie was released in 2003 and, while not matching its predecessor in sales, was critically acclaimed and spawned the global dance hit "Good Boys".
Destri retired from touring in 2004. Kevin Patrick (keyboards), Destri's former keyboard tech and assistant, replaced him soon followed by Matt Katz-Bohen in 2008.
The band's 2006 induction ceremony into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was the scene of an awkward moment between Infante and Harry, during which he asked that the former members be allowed to play along with fellow inductees Harry, Stein and Burke during the band's set, since it was the original band that was being inducted. Harry replied "Can't you see my band is up there?" prompting Infante to counter "I thought it was Blondie that was being inducted."
In 2006, the band toured as the opening act for The New Cars on the "Road Rage Tour." Although Harry was more than 60 years old, the band still managed incendiary versions of their old hits, while playing with enough fire to remind the audience of their punk roots.
In 2007, the band embarked on a tour of Europe, to coincide with the DVD release of the first ever music video album "Eat To The Beat".
Harry has since resumed her solo career, releasing 2007's Necessary Evil.
On June 5, 2008, Blondie commenced a world tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Parallel Lines with a concert at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland. The tour covered some Eastern and Midwestern US cities throughout the month of June. In July, the tour took the band overseas to Israel, the UK, Russia, Europe and Scandinavia, wrapping up on August 2, 2008 at Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway.
Clem Burke and Paul Carbonara both recently told interviewers that the band is working on another record, which would be their first new album since the release of The Curse of Blondie in 2003. Carbonara described it as "a real Blondie record.
Blondie undertook a North American tour of mid-sized venues with Pat Benatar and The Donnas in the summer of 2009. Following the tour, in October, the band began recording sessions for their ninth studio album with producer Jeff Saltzman in Woodstock, New York. In December 2009, the band released the song "We Three Kings" to coincide with the Christmas holiday.
The new album, to be titled Panic of Girls, which was being mixed at the time, was said to follow in 2010. Chris Stein stated that Dutch artist Chris Berens will provide the cover art. In April 2010, it was announced that guitarist Paul Carbonara had amicably left Blondie to pursue other projects and was replaced by Tommy Kessler. Panic of Girls is tentatively set to be released in 2010/2011.
In June 2010, Blondie began the first leg of a world tour named "Endangered Species Tour", which covered the United Kingdom and Ireland, supported by UK band Little Fish. The set lists featured both classics and new material from the forthcoming Panic of Girls. After a break in July the tour will resume in August and cover the United States and Canada over a course of six weeks. Blondie is then set to take the "Endangered Species Tour" to Australia and New Zealand in November and December. It was revealed that the bands album will be released on the Australian Sony label in November 2010, and elsewhere in January 2011.
Songfacts reports that Mother, the first single from Panic of Girls received its global premiere on BBC Radio on March 17th, 2011 and was made available for purchase on May 23, 2011.
In May 2017 a new album was released named Pollinator with the single "Long Time" which saw the daylight in March.
In 2021, the band released a short film along with a soundtrack EP titled Vivir en la Habana. They also released an alternate version of their song Rapture titled “Yuletide Throwdown” which featured Fab 5 Freddy.
In 2022, Blondie released a Sunday Girl EP consisting of an unreleased demo and live version
of the song as well as the previously released french version of the track in honor of Record Store Day. The band went on a UK tour with support from Johnny Marr followed by a US tour with support from The Damned titled “Against The Odds Tour”, which Chris Stein did not attend due to health problems. They also announced the release of their first archival project and box set, titled Against The Odds: 1974 - 1982, which took six years to compile, began recording their twelfth studio album and remastered their music videos in HD.
Hanging On The Telephone
Blondie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall
I know he's there, but I just had to call
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
I heard your mother, now she's going out the door
All those things she said, I told you to ignore
Oh, why can't we talk again?
Oh, why can't we talk again?
Oh, why can't we talk again?
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
It's good to hear your voice, you know it's been so long
If I don't get your calls, then everything goes wrong
I want to tell you something you've known all along
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
I had to interrupt and stop this conversation
Your voice across the line gives me a strange sensation
I'd like to talk when I can show you my affection
Oh, I can't control myself
Oh, I can't control myself
Oh, I can't control myself
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
Hang up and run to me
Oh, hang up and run to me
Oh, hang up and run to me
Oh, hang up and run to me
Oh, oh, oh, oh, run to me, yeah
The song "Hanging on the Telephone" by Blondie is a fast-paced rock classic that presents the story of a woman who is trying desperately to get in touch with someone she cares about. The lyrics reveal that the woman is in a phone booth across from the person's residence and she is waiting for their answer. She knows they are there, but they are not picking up the phone, so she is threatening to ring their phone off the wall. The woman is hanging on the telephone, eagerly awaiting their response, without any guarantees that the other person will answer or even call back.
The lyrics reveal that the woman has a history with the person she's trying to reach. They've spoken before, but there's been some kind of a falling out, most likely related to the other person's mother who the woman has just heard leaving the house. The woman is desperate to reconnect, to talk again and to have a conversation that doesn't involve any of the "things" that she was told to ignore. The woman tells the other person to not leave her hanging on the telephone, as she draws her last straw.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall
I'm currently in a phone booth situated across the hall.
If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall
If you're not going to respond, I'm going to keep calling until you do.
I know he's there, but I just had to call
I'm aware that you're with someone, but I still needed to call and talk to you.
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
Please don't make me wait for your response for too long, it's frustrating.
I heard your mother, now she's going out the door
I heard your mother in the background and now she's leaving.
Did she go to work or just go to the store?
I wonder if she's gone to work or went to the store.
All those things she said, I told you to ignore
I advised you not to pay attention to whatever your mother may have said to you.
Oh, why can't we talk again?
I wish we could talk like we used to in the past.
It's good to hear your voice, you know it's been so long
It's great to hear from you, it feels like it's been forever since we spoke.
If I don't get your calls, then everything goes wrong
If I don't hear from you, everything feels off.
I want to tell you something you've known all along
I want to share something with you that I'm sure you're already aware of.
I had to interrupt and stop this conversation
I've had to interrupt our conversation for a moment.
Your voice across the line gives me a strange sensation
Hearing your voice over the phone gives me a peculiar feeling.
I'd like to talk when I can show you my affection
I'd like to have a conversation with you where I can express my feelings for you fully.
Oh, I can't control myself
I'm feeling overwhelmed and unable to control myself.
Hang up and run to me
Hang up the phone and come to me.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, run to me, yeah
I'm eager for you to come to me.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Jack Lee
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kc
on Accidents Never Happen
Judging from the cultural framework at the time i read it as lies being exposed for the middle income layers of the society who ere led to believe that if they follow certain codes they will be happy and prosperous but so many fail so accidents nver happen is a mockery