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(Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n
Sat 1 November 2025 21:00, UK <\/p>\n
Most bands that pioneered the new wave scene, like Blondie<\/a>, will have quickly gotten used to being compared to just about every other band under the sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that was also the game that they played at the time. The reason why many of the biggest new wave bands \u2013 including Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television \u2013 were so successful and popular was that they didn\u2019t reinvent the wheel; they all had the familiar sprinklings of an array of different styles and genres and created something entirely new.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Blondie, punk formed the foundation of everything they did. Even though it wasn\u2019t a label they embraced, with Debbie Harry later saying that wasn\u2019t really what they were about at all \u2013 it was just about creating music they enjoyed and that they wanted their audience to enjoy, too. In essence, that\u2019s also the ethos of punk.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t always mean loud, aggressive sonic choices or political messages. Often, it\u2019s just about doing something when you know it\u2019s a risk, because it feels real and authentic and a more honest reflection of the cultural zeitgeist<\/a>. As The Clash\u2019s Joe Strummer once said, \u201cPunk rock isn\u2019t something you grow out of, punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is: \u2018give us some truth\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, Blondie shed their punk skin fairly quickly, eventually joining the pop-rock and disco waves, with records like Parallel Lines proving that they were one of the more boundary-pushing outfits out there \u2013 for more reasons than one. Music aside, having Harry as a frontwoman also challenged the view that women in rock bands had to play the \u2018male\u2019 part, with Harry leaning into her own femininity with the kind of confidence that dared people to speak up.<\/p>\n At the same time, they challenged the view that punk and rock had become a weirdly stagnated elite group with only a select few lucky enough to make it. Competition was high, and some rock groups played into the fallacy that you either had what it takes or struggled to make it. While that was true in most cases, Blondie never wanted to come across as that stuffy.<\/p>\n