The legendary performer Debbie Harry called “controlled madness”
A core part of the DIY ethos which spurred on the punk revolution was the art of making things up as you go along. After all, the vast majority of punk’s brightest sparks came into the scene without a shred of musical experience or much of a clue how to perform, leaving the likes of Blondie to soak up a sense of inspiration from wherever it arose.
Blondie were part of the rapidly deteriorating, sweat-stained woodwork of CBGBs during the early days of the punk explosion, but, particularly during those early years, they were rarely credited for their musical quality – or lack thereof.
Their first few performances, back in the mid-1970s, managed to make Dee Dee Ramone look like Mozart, but their raw, ramshackle approach certainly found its place within the misfit realm of New York punk.
It was only later, though, that the Debbie Harry-fronted group hit their musical stride, eventually seeing them become one of the defining bands of the new wave age and taking their output from the dingy underground surroundings of CBGBs to the dizzying heights of the global pop charts. However, that might have never happened were it not for the influences Blondie soaked up along the way.
Harry and the gang always seemed more open to embracing new influences than their punk contemporaries. As the years marched on, Blondie would adopt the sounds of disco, rocksteady, and they were even early appreciators of New York hip-hop, and while that expansive sound might have alienated them from the CBGB realm, it also helped to make them one of the most memorable outfits of that era.
Another major source of inspiration for Blondie were their early touring partners. Namely, the group’s first major tour was in support of none other than David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Being on the road with two of the most important and influential musicians of the 20th century inevitably had an impact on the band, particularly with regard to their performance style.
“There was a certain amount of improvisation in their performances,” Debbie Harry told Rolling Stone in 2020. “It wasn’t robotic, and the passion was there. Mr Pop is passionate.” She explained, “It’s pretty obvious he’s kind of a wild guy, but he has standards; he has a controlled madness, and this is what it’s really all about.”
Arguably, Pop has built an entire career off of that “controlled madness,” although it didn’t always seem so in control. During his early years with garage rock revolutionaries The Stooges, the frontman was perhaps the most unpredictable man in music, known as much for his wild onstage antics and drug-fueled madness as for his music itself.
By the time that Debbie Harry and Blondie got to tour with Iggy Pop, back in 1977, the former Stooge has begun to clean up his act – if only a little – but he managed to retain that sense of wild spontaneity that still makes his shows such a spectacle to this very day. For a young band like Blondie to bear witness to that, night after night, along with the infallible stylings of David Bowie to boot, undoubtedly had an impact on the band as they progressed into their new wave heyday.
