How many Blondie songs are covers?
Ever since their breakthrough, people have mistakenly seen Blondie and the band’s frontwoman, Debbie Harry, as interchangeable. While this is technically untrue, it’s understandable where the confusion came from, considering how strongly her appearance and demeanour became so heavily associated with the face of the band.
That said, Harry herself has never bought into her own musical persona too much, knowing that everything she does on stage plays into different facets of her own abilities without pandering too much to what the industry or her audience expected of her. As she once said: “My Blondie character was an inflatable doll but with a dark, provocative, aggressive side.”
Still, Harry’s Blondie persona was never wholly a pretence, and a large part of her appeal came from her authenticity, in spite of the characteristics she adhered to within the band. For instance, most credit Harry with reinstating femininity within the rock space as though women had to adopt traditionally masculine tropes to get ahead—which is true to a point—but Harry’s approach was also far more nuanced than surface-level observations.
As she said: “I was playing it up, yet I was very serious.” And, moreover, no matter how much Blondie’s talent becomes entangled with Harry’s legacy, Chris Stein remains an integral part of the band’s story. After all, Stein co-wrote most of their hits and shared a close creative partnership with Harry, guiding their success with musical charisma that played on traditional and innovative tropes, setting the stage for countless musicians who would follow suit.
Which Blondie songs are covers?
Part of this hinged on their ability to incorporate several classics into their discography, passing them off with such charm and originality that they could have been their own. Granted, there aren’t many official covers in Blondie’s discography, but they stand out for how effortlessly and organically they showcase the band’s unique style and energy. These are: ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ by The Nerves, ‘The Tide Is High’ by The Paragons, ‘Denis’ by Randy & the Rainbows, and ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’ by Buddy Holly.
One of the most popular is, of course, ‘The Tide Is High’, which transformed the original into a more reggae-inspired song incorporating horns and strings. Released as the lead single from Autoamerican, the song rose to number one in several countries, proving their industry dominance even when the songs they released weren’t originally written by them.
In fact, the song caught the attention of many of their contemporaries, including John Lennon, who apparently loved the song so much when it came out that he played it on repeat. This fact was once revealed by his son, Sean Ono Lennon, who said: “The one modern song I remember him listening to was ‘The Tide Is High’ by Blondie, which he played constantly. When I hear that song, I see my father, unshaven, his hair pulled back into a ponytail, dancing to and fro in a worn-out pair of denim shorts, with me at his feet, trying my best to coordinate tiny limbs.”
The song is also a favourite of Stein’s, who admitted that he knew it was going to be a hit the moment he heard it, saying, “The original was so fantastic. I knew what our position was at the time: If we had the ear of the public and if we did a successful version of this thing, it would be successful.”
