“We weren’t trying to break rules”: Debbie Harry on why Blondie weren’t a traditional punk band
Some bands feel eternally tied to the label “punk”. The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones, and Patti Smith are all such examples, with some within those outfits claiming the concept to be about the defiant, anti-establishment ethos that demands truth in trying times. As Joe Strummer once said: “Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is: ‘give us some truth’.” Why, then, do some categorise Blondie the same way?
The context from which the whole punk idea emerged is as important to understanding those under its umbrella as the mindset itself. In the 1970s, venues like the CBGBs became frequented hangout spots for a new flavour of artistic intent that centred on doing things in a different way. While mainstream spots still celebrated clean and polished sounds, the punk scene favoured a raw approach rooted in unkempt aggression.
Cementing a brand they would later come to challenge and redefine, Blondie emerged from these spaces, serving as a seminal figure on the early New York punk scene and at places like the CBGBs. Playing alongside other names like The Ramones and The Damned, Blondie found their footing doing what countless others did, toying with experimental musical ideas while also platforming a new kind of defiance that paved the way for other women in rock.
A thoroughly ingrained entity in the entire movement, Blondie unknowingly adopted the label from the root source, though never felt cornered by it, instead taking their desire to create and enable far-reaching, diverse musical tropes as a driving force of branching out from the pool of punk’s originators. While Blondie still frequently get described as punk, Debbie Harry always knew their appeal—and sound—went beyond its limitations.
In fact, during an interview with AXS TV, she once outlined the reasons why they never really were a “traditional” punk band. “I don’t know if we were ever intentionally trying to break rules,” she said, clarifying their anti-punk tendencies in a more blunt way, continuing, “But we were trying to expand our own experience and I don’t think we were actually a traditional punk band in that sense.”
She added: “We were trying to be experimental in our way and we were always developing, reaching out, and embracing different types of music that we admired and loved, and that we felt were a part of our reference.” This was, of course, connected with all the different ways Blondie defied the norm outside of those quintessential punk spaces, not just in terms of how they “looked” but sounded, too.
After all, the band’s biggest hits were the ones that blended rock, pop, and disco music, which evoked a groundbreaking blend that paved the way for countless others to try to experiment with genre-blending no matter how conflicting it may have seemed. Perhaps, in that way, Blondie were more punk than it seemed, especially when considering their approach to innovation and ability to do whatever they wanted, even if it went against trends or expectations.
