Talk:Blondie (band)

Old text

What does "re-invented themselves at every turn" mean?

In the context of the 80s self-re-invention has a lot to do with hair mousse. Actually, the author probably meant something about introducing mainstream audiences to ska (tide is high) and rap (man from mars), etc., etc. --MichaelTinkler (who really loved the 80s - don't get him wrong).

Loved the band in their early days--even saw a free concert in '80s. Still, shouldn't this be a disambiguation page to the comic strip and spin off TV series? Danny

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Is there an article about the comic strip anywhere? -- Zoe

Infante sues

I took out the following from the main text: "Frank Infante sued the band regarding a lack of involvement during the Autoamerican sessions; it was settled out of court, and Infante remained in the band (though Harry has subsequently said Infante was not on the next LP, despite appearing on the front cover)."

It lacks a reference. I tried to find one but I am wondering if anyone has come across one. I suppose it is a possible BLP issue. Karst (talk) 23:12, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

There is a paragraph in chapter 13 of Harry's memoir Face It:

After we decided not to ask Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison to join the reunion, they took a lawsuit out against us. Even though they weren’t going to be working with the band, they took us to court to sue us for potential future income. But the state of New York found in our favor. And the reconstituted Blondie got back to work with Leigh Foxx and Paul Carbonara joining myself, Chris, Clem, and Jimmy.

It resulted in a later incident at Blondie's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, described in chapter 14, when Infante and Harrison wanted to perform on stage at the induction. It seems significant enough to want to include in the article. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 04:14, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

Yes, this refers to the 1997 reunion. However, the section I took out concerns an earlier possible lawsuit in 1980 around the time of the recording of the Autoamerican album. Karst (talk) 15:25, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

Deborah Harry

She has used the name Deborah rather than Debbie since 1998 per Debbie Harry discography, but this article consistently refers to her as Debbie. I don't remember her biography saying anything about this and will try to check. I've always heard her referred to as Deborah (which sounds better, imho) so the usage of Debbie jumped out at me. I wasn't paying attention pre-1998 though. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 01:19, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Ah, nm. I looked at blondie.net etc. and it really does say Debbie almost everywhere. I never paid attention to this band in the past but have been listening to some of their songs lately, so noticing this stuff more. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 19:59, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

We refer to her as Harry per WP:LASTNAME. "Debbie Harry" is her professional name, so Deborah is not appropriate here. Binksternet (talk) 21:39, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

I believe you but I'm having trouble sourcing it, at least with a bit of web searching. Cathay Che's 2013 biography "Deborah Harry, Platinum Blonde" doesn't seem to say anything about this, but it says Deborah in the title and refers to her both ways in the text. A TCM biography[1] says she was billed as Deborah in her movie acting career. However, the poster for Hairspray (1988 film) says Debbie while the poster and DVD cover for Heavy (film) (1995) both say Deborah. Her first and second solo albums Rockbird (1986) and Once More into the Bleach (1988) say Debbie on the cover while Def, Dumb & Blonde (1989) and The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie (1991) both say Deborah. I haven't looked at the rest, but this is consistent with the claim of a 1988 changeover. OTOH, Harry's 2019 memoir "Face It" says Debbie on the cover (I haven't looked at the text). deborahharry.com is currently domain squatted, deborahharry.net is non responsive, debbieharry.net is an archivist page that hasn't been updated in quite a while, and debbieharry.com is an "official" page that funnels through a video that my browser doesn't render. Anyway it seems like something to look further into, or maybe someone can ask her. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 19:47, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Ok, from chapter 12 ("The Perfect Taste") of Face It:

Def, Dumb and Blonde was released that same year. The name on the front sleeve was “Deborah Harry.” I had started to feel pretty strongly about differentiating between Blondie and the solo projects, and that was one simple way of doing it. Plus, I had come to the point where I thought that Deborah was a prettier-sounding name than Debbie.

I feel enlightened now. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 02:24, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

Far Out adds:[2]

Supporting her fourth studio album as a solo artist, the Blondie singer reverted her stage name back to Deborah and was clearly trying to show the variety of her talent. She wasn’t just a frontwoman, a pop star or a punk pioneer, she was Deborah fucking Harry and it was about time everybody knew it. The tour was such a success that they had planned to make it a live album but that never came to fruition. Luckily, we still have this gem floating around as bootleg.

This stuff should probaby be mentioned in Harry's biography article. It's less relevant to the article about Blondie, but here we are. I may edit that article tomorrow, or post a talk comment. If not, maybe someone else can do it. There is no need to wait up for me if you can get to it first. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:B68B (talk) 08:47, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

The Debbie_Harry article says "In 1981, Harry issued a press release to clarify that her name was not "Debbie Blondie" or "Debbie Harry" but rather Deborah Harry..."

It also says "Her next solo venture was the album Def, Dumb and Blonde in 1989. At this point Harry reverted from "Debbie" to "Deborah" as her professional name."