What was the first number one single that hailed from CBGB?
In the depths of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, resting on the Bowery, was a crumbling, filth-crusted bar and music club, known to its dwellers as CBGB.
First opening its doors in 1973, founders Hilly and Karen Krystal christened the space as “Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandisers”. What is a gourmandiser, you ask? According to Hilly Krystal, “a voracious eater of, in this case, music.”
Once locals Billy Page and Rusty McKenna began booking shows in the back of the bar, CBGB became the stomping grounds of punk rock, before “punk” even knew what it was. The club attracted all walks of life, from biker gangs to Warhol’s art world circuit. In the 1970s, the Bowery (and most of New York City, for that matter) was seeped in danger, far from the gentrified goddamn neighbourhood it is today. But CBGB was a haven, one of the few spaces where nascent musicians could perform in the city.
Television became the first band to play regularly on CBGB’s makeshift stage, attracting an audience of Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, who would go on to perform there as the Patti Smith Group. CBGB would see The Ramones play their first-ever shows, and host The Damned as the first British punk band to play in the States. As dingy as the walls of CBGB were, they held the weight of a music history that would become unrivalled in its impact.
Though it caused a phenomenon that spread across New York and its neighbouring cities, punk took its time to reach the mainstream. After all, it was never intended to be palatable to a wide audience. Eventually, as all great subcultures do, something about punk “caught on” to the wider rock scope. Maybe it was the genre’s foundational aggression, or its “do-it-yourself” mantra that emphasised anyone’s ability to pick up an instrument and make music. Something about what was brewing in CBGB spoke volumes, and soon, the club would be known for platforming one of rock’s greatest acts: Blondie.
What was the first number one single that hailed from CBGB?
Named after a catcall that used to be shouted at lead singer Debbie Harry, Blondie began performing at CBGB in August 1974. Formed by Harry and her partner, guitarist Chris Stein, Blondie, including drummer Clem Burke, bassist Gary Valentine and keyboardist Jimmy Destri, became regulars at CBGB. The band gained a steady following, known for Harry’s charisma on stage and their sonic blends of punk with dance and disco, forging what would become the new wave era of the 1980s.
By 1978, Blondie had recorded two albums and toured internationally, gaining traction in the UK and Europe, but remaining unable to “break” in America. As the then-current lineup of Harry, Stein, Burke, Destri, guitarist Frank Infante, and bassist Nigel Harrison, geared up to enter the studio to record their third album, they recruited Australian producer Mike Chapman. Under Chapman’s guidance, Blondie’s punk sensibilities were polished and transformed into a “power pop” sound, without sacrificing their guitars and drums entirely, of course.
These studio sessions saw Harry, in particular, broaden her horizons beyond rock music. One song that she and Stein had first recorded in 1975—then titled ‘Once I Had a Love’—kept resurfacing, a sign that it could be the sonic shift the band needed. In conversation with Uncut, Chapman remembers asking Harry for her influences, hoping they could feed the song’s growth. “Donna Summer,” she replied. “I really liked Giorgio Moroder’s repetitive synthesised groove, too.” Despite some initial pushback, Chapman recalls Burke saying, “I’m not playing disco,” and Blondie slowly transformed for the better. The song became ‘Heart of Glass’, the band’s first number one hit.
Released in 1979 as the third single from 1978’s Parallel Lines, ‘Heart of Glass’ infused punk with disco and reggae influences. Before they were heralded for their experimentation, however, Blondie were accused of selling out. As Harry remembers in her 1982 book Making Lines (co-written with Stein and Victor Bockris): “When we did ‘Heart of Glass’ it wasn’t cool in our social set to play disco, but we did it because we wanted to be uncool. A lot of people we’d hung out and been close friends with on the scene for years said we’d sold out by doing a disco song.”
Harry’s belief in the song proved it to be a defining record of its era, something she remained in staunch support of. She continued in her book: “This is a blatantly ridiculous statement. It always pissed me off that people could have the nerve to pretend to be so stupid. We’d been consciously looking for a sound to break into American radio, and ‘Heart of Glass’ was one of the most innovative songs.”
‘Heart of Glass’ not only reached number one on both the UK and US charts, but it propelled Parallel Lines to number one on the UK albums Chart in February 1979, as well, making Blondie the most commercially successful of the CBGB era.
