After conquering early 1980s rock airwaves Blondie vanished from the scene when singer Deborah Harry took several years off to nurse her boyfriend and Blondie guitarist Chris Stein back to health after he contracted a rare genetic disease. By the late 1990s, Blondie were attempting a comeback. They tired to get their name back into circulation when nostalgia performances became routine.
Blondie finally took another shot at super stardom when, in 1999, they released “No Exit,” a CD of 14 new songs. Renewing their old glory days must have seemed so close that they could taste it. But, somehow, it just wasn’t meant to be. The CD tanked. It never made it onto the American charts or onto American radio. “No Exit” was being sold for $4.99 in music store discount bins.
At that time I was writing for one of Boston’s free music magazines. When I suggested a feature on Blondie, my editor gruffly responded, “Nahhhh. They’re has-beens.” I couldn’t argue with him. After all, I had purchased “No Exit” out of one of those discount bins.
Listening to the CD now, I think if Blondie had done a better job staging their return, they would have enjoyed the best comeback in music history. A push with local music promoters in each major U.S. city as well as licensing for film and television could have given their new tracks a combination of guerrilla marketing as well as a national strategic presentation.
Blondie’s real problem was public perception. Being off the radar screen for several years left people thinking they were through. Once they reappeared, many assumed they had nothing new to offer.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. “No Exit” was a typical Blondie smorgasbord of genres and styles that worked for them in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The title track is a driving, grooving rocker with a rap interlude between Deborah Harry and rapper Coolio. “Boom Boom In The Zoom Zoom Room” is a breezy jazzy piece that finds its sex appeal in a groove that insists on taking its time. Ballad “Maria” oozes sweetness and “Happy Dog” dances around rocking guitars while Harry pouts a sexual come on. “Screaming Skin” opens the disc with blistering guitars cascading around a hard rock beat.
Harry’s voice was then at its rangiest and richest, probably from time spent pursuing a side career as a jazz vocalist.
Yet, in 1999, radio turned a deaf ear to Blondie, and the public never got a fair taste of “No Exit.” And it’s too bad, since they still tour—usually as part of a package with other 80s band, and their old songs are still on radio and are still featured on television and in movies. “Dreaming” marks the moment when the two title characters in “Zack And Miri Make A Porno” realize they’ve been in love with each other for ten years. With such a solid grounding as catalogue artists, it is hard to listen to their CD from 1999 without a haunted feeling for what might have been.
An exhaustive review of “No Exit” reveals at least one person’s opinion of what Blondie had to offer the music world ten years ago.
“Screaming Skin” opens with Harry in top vocal form. Her silky and dynamic voice hits all the right cadences and her inflected timbre sets the eerie tone for this guitar driven rave up.
A wash of synth and electronic enhancement of primitive percussive beats pulls us into “Forgive And Forget,” a danceable pop rock number caressed by Harry’s high seductive range.
“Maria,” a throwback to Blonde’s original sound, succeeds with Harry’s aloof, casual approach the right topping for poppy keys. “Maria” hit number 1 on the U.K. music charts but stalled out at 82 in the U.S. Billboard charts. Harry was the first female singer in British history to achieve a number 1 hit 20 years after her first single hit number 1 there. Do the Brits know something that we Yanks don’t? Maybe so. “Maria” hit number 1 in 13 other countries as well.
Title track “No Exit” opens with an odd twist on Johan Sebastian Bach’s creepy organ melody before Harry jumps in with attitude and aggression. Guitars and keys drive this rap rock number while Harry and rapper Coolio battle it out in a contest of cool in this oddly appealing tune about a friend contemplating suicide. I cannot believe a film producer hasn’t plugged this number into the soundtrack for a dark, artsy, meaning of life film.
“Double Take” utilizes lush synthesizers, saxophones, and an embracing rhythm section to recreate more of Blondie’s 80s style. “Nothing Is Real But The Girl” continues Blondie’s earlier sound. A driving rhythm section, pulsating keyboards, and aggressive guitar reveal Blondie’s roots in pop and disco. Pulling back into their new sound with “Boom Boom In The Zoom Zoom Room,” Harry showcases her cool, jazzy approach as she waltzes over this bopping, breezy tune that breathes sensuality into the grooves. Drums and bass are so palpable here I can picture Clem Burke’s sticks hitting skins and Leigh Foxx’s fingers plucking knobby strings.
The CD does loose some steam near the end. “Night Wind Sent,” a low-key graceful glide relying on dynamics for lift, kisses the ear as it passes imperceptibly by. “Under The Gun” offers a danceable percussion track but doesn’t really go anywhere despite Harry’s dynamic voice. “Out In The Streets” brings the energy level back up a notch, yet, it’s another filler tune that goes nowhere even though, again, Harry’s voice is in fine form.
“Happy Dog” becomes the life of the party and more than saves this CD from the eject button. Bluesy slide notes and blistering guitar grab like a mugger and entertain like a stripper. Drummer Burke whips up a backbeat to motivate the feet and guitarist Stein cranks out enough crunchy chords and grinding phrases to build a perfect dramatic arc.
“The Dreams Lost On Me,” with its pseudo roots feel of banjo, accordion, and fiddle, is a nifty and likeable addition even though Blondie will never convince anyone they’re a deeply into old Americana music. “Devine” brings us back to Blondie’s penchant for inspired creativity. A keyboard driven circular melody gives this pop rock song its catchy interval of notes while a second keyboard fills in spaces with washy sounds. Together with Harry’s voice this song tickles the ear as only Blondie can.
Blondie’s grand finale “Dig Up The Conjo” makes for one of the CDs most memorable tunes. A hypnotic dance beat anchors a swirl of keyboards from Jimmy Destri that never let go. Bouncy guitars and bass fill in the background and keeps the ear glued to the music.
With an album this good, it’s hard to understand how Blondie failed to return to the top. Many of their 1980s peers staged comebacks with out releasing any new music. Others made it with mediocre packages. Blondie needed a combination of high road and low road marketing. Film and television licensing would have overcome the blockade caused by classic rock radio stations not playing new material from classic rock artists. Local press in major cities could have given Blondie an anchor with the taste-mongers/culture vulture types.
Ineffective marketing and faulty public perception resulted in a dismal reception for what could have been the greatest comeback story in rock history.
I just discovered this disc after having been to a Blondie show in Santa Rosa, CA. The show was incredible and this disc is fantastic!!! Actually, after buying all of Blondie’s recorded output, this sits on top of the heap. Excellent stuff. Anyway, nice article – I, too, feel this should have been a huge hit.