The blondie of this is, unsurprisingly, the Blondie we remember most – so much so that the rest of the band are almost bit players in their own group. Debbie Harry, of course, goes from beautiful girl next door to stunning, glamorous new wave pin-up across 137 pages. Whether she’s fashioned a zebra print dress out of a pillowcase from the rubbish, or wearing more available-to-theaverage- girl clothes at Max’s Kansas City in 1976, she’s always had “the look”.
Like the best photo books, Bayley’s narrative is kept to a minimum. A part-reproduction of Punk magazine’s Mutant Monster Beach Party is a great addition, being a photo-strip story starring Joey Ramone and Debbie Harry as lovers; shots of Harry holding Alice Cooper’s stage snake backstage prove that new wavers did cross paths with those of a more bombastic bent.
From small clubs to stadiums and a seeming exhaustion, this ends abruptly in 1980 after Bayley’s hotels were no longer provided for. Blondie’s continued variations on a monochromatic theme far outlive these times, though. Out of step with, but not unaware of, prevailing trends, the overall feel is of a band living in a bubble. Perhaps that’s why they don’t seem as dated as some of their contemporaries.
