Talk:Blondie (band)

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Good article Blondie (band) has been listed as one of the Arts good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
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To-do list for Blondie (band): edit · history · watch · refresh
  • Add citations/references
    • Preferably us <ref>, </ref> and <references/>
  • Maybe add an extract from their songs?

Contents

[edit] Disco?

I never thought of Blondie as even vaguely related to disco. Is this really the case? --Robert Merkel 03:49 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Yes that is sort of very true as rapture was a dance song (not exactly what they called disco), and the image and marketing were always aggressive as a business thing crossover music though their roots were firmly in the Lower East Side and Punk, there is some confused connection where Steven Sprouse who worked with Blondie and myself as he was/is an artist photographer, designer who I believe produced two videos for her (am I senile?).

Andrew Zito.

Michael Stipe, among others, has described the bitter disapointment that he felt when Heart of Glass was released, it was seen as disco and more importantly as a sell out. Now he feels differently. Hyacinth 21:10, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Nothing constructive or useful to add, just that I think Blondie are the best band ever! pomegranate 00:02, Sep 6, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Blondie's Influence

How is Blondie one of the most influential bands of the 20th century? Big, yes; influential, no. How many modern bands cite Blondie as an influence? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Unless someone who knows more about Blondie cites some sources and some artists who cite Blondie as an influence, I'm going to modify and/or remove that statement. --Elysianfields 00:52, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

When you do that, go in the history and check out what happened on August 1. A perfectly good version was deleted and replaced with a rather POV fan-rave. I've been meaning to merge the old, good article back in, but if you get to it first, awesome. GTBacchus 01:31, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
Thanks for pointing out which version was the non biased. I merged them as best as I could. The new version has a lot of superflous information, but I figured we might as well keep it; and I'm not comfortable deleting tons of stuff without anyone else's consent. Especially since I know virtually nothing about Blondie. Anyway, hope the merge is satisfactory. I also restored the old image because:
  • The new one is by no means flattering
  • It's a good representation of Blondie in their heyday.
well that's it. thanks again bacchus. my work here is done (: --Elysianfields 06:11, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Corections

Right, first things first.

  1. Blondie was, and still is Disco, thank you very much. Heart Of Glass ring any bells? If that isn't disco, then I dont know what is, also their last single Good Boys was modern disco, and was hailed by some reviewers as the Heart Of Glass of 2003.
  2. Second thing. Blondie was not mainly punk. Thier first 2 albums were punky, but the third and forth, were New Wave and power pop, which, incidentley, were there most famous. The Fith and sixth were an eclectic mix of dance, calypso, reggae, 1920's style, and classical.
  3. Blondie has influenced many people, for example, Gwen Steffani, Madonna, Garbage and Kelly Osbourne among others all say that they were influenced.

So dont go telling me what Blondie was, and so forth, because I will disprove you otherwise! And finally, if, as you say, you dont know much about Blondie, dont interfere with things you know nothing about, as I will continually change them back to how they were and how they should be. I am a massive Blondie fan and collecter of their records, I think I know better! Scaryspice 10:45, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

That also makes you extremely biased
What you are saying is correct however the style in which you place it into the article is out of step with the other articles here. The phrase "Blondie is Punk. Blondie is Rock. Blondie is Pop. Blondie is New Wave. Blondie is Reggae. Blondie is Disco. Blondie is Hip-Hop." - that's just not encycopedic style. Of course "Heart of Glass" is disco. Of course "Island of Lost Souls" is reggae (and calypso for that matter). Whether it's accurate or not is beside the point. Also it is not necessary to make linked words bold. Once again that is not the correct style. I'm reverting because I disagree with the style in which this things are presented, which is not to say that I think it's inaccurate. Please have a look at other music based articles to see how they're set out. It's not a question of you being more knowledgeable about Blondie than other editors. Unconventional as Blondie may have been, an encyclopedic article needs to conform to a certain style. I'm going to revert it back. Please don't revert it. Thanks. Rossrs 12:07, 15 August 2005 (UTC)


Can people here calm down about "labelling" a style for Blondie. Disco? Punk? They created a lots of both (and much more) and this can be heard on the 1st four albums and that captures the zetigeist of the City in the late seventies.



Is it possible to refer to the blow-up at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in this article? Or would that qualify as gossip and hearsay?SweetHeart666 17:54, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

There seems to be a fair amount of sarcasm in this article. Any amount would be inappropriate for an encyclopedia article. I would clean it up, but I don't know anything about Blondie. Blondie fans, you're on notice. Swatson1978 02:03, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article slot

I think this should probably be at Blondie, with the dab page moved to Blondie (disambiguation) as it seems to me this is the article most readers would expect to find. Agree? Disagree? --kingboyk 11:34, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Disagree, particularly because of Blondie (comic strip). I definitely want the disambig page there not just for navigation, but to catch all of the misdirected links. The un-disambiguated links coming into Blondie right now, for example, are intended for a number of different articles (and I'll fix them shortly). ×Meegs 11:49, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Also disagree, per Meegs Rossrs 13:05, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bad bad article

This article is just a mess, pure and simple. it is all over the place, does Blondie no justice, and what are all the list of points at the end of the article? Did someone just get bored and condense the rest into a few crappy power points? Someone needs to clean it up, or get rid of it. Paul75 22:47, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

How is it now? Iolakana•T 11:13, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Restructure

As per User:Paul75's comments which agree with, I've made some major changes. I know it still needs a lot of work but I hope that it's a start. Maybe I've taken it from a "bad, bad article" to merely a "bad article" ;-) I have :

  1. Broken the career into sections, each of which desperately needs to be expanded upon, but I've tried to provide a chronological summary of their career which I see as being in 4 stages. (1. early success as a new wave act, 2. huge success as a pop act, 3. a lengthy hiatus and 4. a regeneration/return).
  2. I've rewritten a lot of text but the only section I decimated was the lengthy postscript to their Hall of Fame induction. It was gossippy, uncited and unnecessary and gave excessive weight to one incident in a 30 year career. The tensions within the band should be discussed but this was really putting all eggs into one basket and it made the whole artice very lopsided.
  3. created a "Legacy" section. I think this is where critical commentary can be put, along with who they've influenced and their overall impact on music in general.
  4. removed "Previous band members" section. It was hugely repetitive and the same info is now included in the "Band members" section, simply by adding dates after their names. I've removed the Bellamo sisters completely. I understand they provided backing vocals (so did numerous other people at different times) but I can't find anything to say they were ever band members - so out they go. Rossrs 01:21, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
I think you have done a brilliant job, well done. This article is great now, a huge improvement on the previous one. Keep up the great work!Paul75 23:25, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
Thank you. I appreciate the comment. I'd like to see it eventually grow into a featured article - I think the band is interesting and influential enough to warrant it. Rossrs 15:51, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
I love the direction this article has taken, and appreciate all the work involved. I, too, didn't like the sarcasm I'd found here some time back. I've made some minor edits and hope they're helpful as the article moves along. Even Blondie's detractors have to admit they were a major band straddling genres at a vital and fascinating and acrimonious crossroads in music, and deserve a balanced, objective bio. It's ironic people didn't get the point of what they did, and blamed them for not remaining any one thing, or for becoming any other thing. Abrazame 12:52, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Touring

Just a couple of suggestions. The article should really talk more about the 1978-1981 period when Blondie was really huge in the U.S. & UK. It seems to go in depth into the rise and fall of the band then glosses over their peak period. In particular, the touring - how much did they tour during this period - how big were the shows (attendance) and what cities, etc? Also, Blondie's influence on dance music. The double 12" of Rapture/The Tide Is High spent 4 weeks at #1 on Billboard's dance chart in 1981. After their breakup, several remixed versions of their hits became dance hits in the U.S. including Rapture, Heart Of Glass, and Atomic which went top 10 on the U.S. dance chart in 1994-1995. (Source: Joel Whitburn's "Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003") matt_tx00 03:55, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for your comment and I couldn't agree more. I've been working on this over the last couple of weeks but I haven't been able to find a lot of reliable info. Even their official website glosses over the middle bit and focuses on the beginning and end of their career. If you can add anything please do. Rossrs 10:37, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
What do you feel of #Mainstream success? It has numerous extracts from its songs and is fully cited. Iolakana•T 20:04, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
I think it's ok. It could possibly do with a little more depth, but it's quite thorough. Rossrs 07:13, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GA Passed

For it's use of inline citations, good prose and sound samples, I believe that Blondie is an excellent Good Article. Morgan695 01:38, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Die Hard Fan

I have to say, I'm a Blondie fan to the extreme and give this article an A+! Blondie16 03:32, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changing Band Line Up

I saw a documentary on the BBC recently ("Blondie - One Way Or Another" Friday 21st July at 22.35pm.) which discussed in some detail the acrimonious feelings about previous band members. It also showed the unbelievable scene at the band's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with Frank Infante begging Debbie Harry for him and Nigel Harrison to be allowed to play with them. The change of line up over the years is not well represented. I think that the band line up should be added against each album and single. The documentary also showed their ex manager talking about "kicking out Gary Valentine". I think the article would also be inmproved if it had more information about why the line up changed and why there is so much bad feeling about it all. --ChrisGrahamUK 11:49, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: blondies 80's/1990's Remixes

Under the discography section I really do think that the single remixes released in the 1980s/1990's should be given their own individual pages.

Each single was released under a separate cat no, have different production values and information, all charted on the UK charts, and all are officially recognised by the Guiness Book of Hit Singles and Albums as being a seperate hit single entries.

Furthermore the singles themselves have special B-sides available only on the specified releases. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dommers50000 (talk • contribs) 20:31, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

There is no reason for a new article for a remix. Song articles are about songs, therefore a remix is part of the history of the song. Additional cover images, chart placings, chronologies and record label catalog numbers can be placed into the single infobox in the original article. The same scenario is true for song cover versions. - eo 20:36, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] mistake

In the Regeneration chapter someone wrote: ""Maria" — which Destri had written while in high school[18]". Well, that's not true. If you check the link to the note, you'll find out this (by Debbie Harry): "He (Destri) wrote it about when he was in high school, in Catholic school, and there were no girls. He was always dreaming of the ideal girl.". To me, that means that he wrote it remembering the high school days, NOT that he wrote it in his high school days. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Robertotr (talk • contribs) 06:51, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:S443109.jpg

Image:S443109.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 20:57, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A couple of things

Hiya! I as chilling at home, listening to their first album and decided to read their page. This may be a bit anal, but there are a couple of times where the article contradicts itself. In one of the early paragraphs, it lists five original members, with two joining later, but at the end of the article, it discusses seven original members. Also, it says that the 'Blondie' album made it into the Australian top 5 (again in an early section) but, in the chart section, it's not. I would correct it but I wouldn't be able to verify which information is correct. Also, do people really "often" confuse 'I Touch Myself' as a Blondie song? I've never heard that, and maybe I don't because I'm Australian and the song was a big deal over here. Amphlett sounds nothing Harry! That's my two cents. Do I get any change?Twinstar (talk) 09:26, 7 February 2008 (UTC)


umm spaming in the first sentence? someone tell me —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.178.139.233 (talk) 16:28, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Music samples

I have restored the original set of music samples to this article. Each of the original samples is 10% of the length of the full work or 30 seconds whichever is less which is the aim as outlined at Wikipedia:Music samples. Each of the original set is also of a lower quality than the newer samples, also as per the same guideline. With copyrighted music samples, we should always be using the minimum required to convey the information needed, not to use the maximum that we can get away with. For example a 15 second sample of "In the Flesh" is enough to convey the general sound of this piece of work. A 30 second sample is about 25% of the total song, when 10% is what is to be aimed for. Rossrs (talk) 14:23, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Club 51?

What is Club 51? Is it really a club in New York in the 80s? Shouldn't that be Studio 54? The footnote that refers to that sentence has a link, but when you go to the link it has nothing about Club 51 or CBGB, just a standard bio from Microsoft music. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brooklyn-alvin (talk • contribs) 22:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)