Watch Blondie perform ‘Heart of Glass’ on Midnight Special
Ever since Blondie released ‘Heart of Glass’ in 1978, it has become one of their most well-known and beloved songs. Taken from the album Parallel Lines, the track hit number one in the UK and the US, launching the band into the mainstream.
Although ‘Heart of Glass’ is often regarded by many as one of the greatest pop songs ever written, Blondie’s danceable hit caused controversy upon its release. Many fans and contemporaries accused the underground new wave band of selling out by writing a disco track. On the debate, lead singer Debbie Harry shared: “People got nervous and angry about us bringing different influences into rock. Although we’d covered ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ‘I Feel Love’ at gigs, lots of people were mad at us for ‘going disco’ with ‘Heart of Glass’… Clem Burke, our drummer, refused to play the song live at first. When it became a hit, he said: ‘I guess I’ll have to.'”
Harry and her band member Chris Stein wrote the track together in 1974, shortly after their initial meeting. Referring to it as ‘The Disco Song’, Harry explained: “Lyrically, it was about a stalker who was pursuing me, and Chris saved me from him”. Keyboardist Jimmy Destri, who played synths on the track, once stated: “Chris always wanted to do disco. We used to do ‘Heart Of Glass’ to upset people.”
Harry claimed: “When we did ‘Heart Of Glass’, it wasn’t too cool in our social set to play disco. But we did it because we wanted to be uncool. It was based around a Roland Rhythm Machine and the backing took over ten hours to get down”. With that sentiment, Stein added: “We didn’t expect the original to be that big. We only did it as a novelty item to put more diversity into the album.”
However, the negative reception from certain fans didn’t faze the band. “We probably have alienated some of that original audience,” Stein said. “But I really don’t have sympathy for anybody that says we’ve sold out”. While ‘Heart of Glass’ might be considered a disco track, the band found themselves alienated when they were once asked to appear on a television show showcasing disco bands. Harry told the Los Angeles Times: “So we might end up being total outcasts, from the rock ‘n’ roll crowd and the disco crowd. The rock crowd thinks we sold out and the disco crowd thinks we’re punks.”
In 1979, Blondie appeared on Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special to perform several tracks from Parallel Lines. The band played their hit single, and Harry gave a mesmerising performance, her voice effortlessly rich. Midway through the show, Harry even includes a spoken-word message, including the words, “It is time for all Americans to take control of their own lives and stop being pushed around” and “the race for nuclear superiority can only end with the destruction of civilisation.”
Watch the performance below:
