Blondie plays its first UK concert

Blondie plays its first UK concert at the Roundhouse on May 20, 1975.




Retro History for May 20 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 Baseball announces Reds manager Pete Rose is under investigation
1989 Richard J. Kerr replaces Robert M. Gates as deputy director of CIA
1988 David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly," premieres in New York City
1988 Laura Davies wins Circle K LPGA Tucson Golf Open
1988 Mike Tyson KOs Tony Tubbs in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1987 FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)
1987 NASA launches Palapa B2P
1987 Soap opera "Capitol" final episode
1987 Soviet filmmakers arrive in Hollywood for an entertainment summit
1987 Yvonne van Gennip skates ladies world record 5 km (7:20.36)
1986 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (U.K. record)
1986 Jacques Chirac forms French government
1985 Libby Riddles is 1st woman to win Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race
1984 Andy Kaufman and Fred Blassie's "My Breakfast With Blassie" premieres
1984 Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools
1983 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open
1982 1st-class debut of Richie Richardson, Leeward Is vs. Barbados
1982 France performs nuclear test
1982 Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" goes #1 for 7 wks
1982 Reverend A Treurnicht forms Conservative Party of South Africa
1981 Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron sentenced to 8 years
1981 Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Dr
1980 U.S. appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 Columbia flies on Shuttle carrier aircraft to Kennedy Space Center
1978 Flyers' Rick MacLeash scores on 6th penalty shot against Islanders
1977 Communists/socialists win French municipal elections
1977 Parisians elect former Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as 1st mayor in a century
1977 Premier Indira Gandhi loses election in India
1976 Jevgeni Kulikov skates world record 1000m (1:15.70)
1976 Patricia Hearst convicted of armed robbery
1975 Blondie plays its first UK concert at the Roundhouse
1973 Roberto Clemente elected to Hall of Fame, 11 weeks after his death
1972 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche
1972 S Mansholt succeeds Malfatti as chairman of European Committee
1971 Boston Bruins win 13th straight NHL game

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Abebe Bikila's auto-accident, near Addis Ababa
1969 Beatle John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar
1969 U.S. president Nixon proclaims he will end Vietnam war in 1970
1968 Lyndon Baines Johnson signs a bill removing gold backing from U.S. paper money
1968 Military intervene in South-Yemen (leftist ministers resign)
1967 Supremes release "The Happening"
1967 WOET (now WPTD) TV channel 16 in Dayton, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1966 Marilynn Smith wins LPGA St. Petersburg Women's Golf Open
1965 27th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Michigan 91-80
1965 Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 vs. New Zealand at Delhi
1964 ESRO established, European Space Research Organization
1963 1st "Pop Art" exhibition (New York City)
1963 Sikkim crown prince Paldan Thondup Namgyal marries Hope Cooke
1962 Sjoukje Dijkstra becomes world champion figure skater

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1958 50" snow across the Mason-Dixon line
1958 Clandestine Burasi Bizim Radio (communist) begins transmitting
1958 Greek Clandestine Radio (communist), Voice of Truth 1st transmission
1957 Britain accepts NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it
1956 156-day strike against Westinghouse ends
1956 E Ochab succeeds Beirut as 1st secretary of Polish CP
1956 Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (U.S.S.R.) explodes
1956 Tunisia gains independence from France
1956 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test
1956 Union workers ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse Electric Corp
1955 KXTV TV channel 10 in Sacramento, California (CBS) begins broadcasting
1954 "King and I" closes at St. James Theater New York City after 1246 performances
1954 16th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: La Salle beats Bradley 92-76
1954 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)
1952 24th Academy Awards - "American in Paris," H Bogart and Vivian Leigh win
1952 Final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan
1952 U.S. senate ratifies peace treaty with Japan
1951 Indonesian army offensive against Darul Islam on Java

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


- Retro Rebirth

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January 5 - Today In Rock Music History

Happy Birthday Chris Stein!



Musicians Born On January 5

1923 Sam Philips (founder of Sun Records)
1949 George Brown (Kool and The Gang)
1950 Chris Stein (Blondie)
1951 Biff Byford (Saxon)

Deaths On January 5

1976 Mal Evans (Beatles' road manager)

Number 1 In The Charts On January 5

1974 Yes: Tales from TopOgraphic Oceans UK LP
1974 Carpenters: The Singles 1969-1973 US LP
1980 Donna Summer: Greatest Hits vols. 1 and 2 US LP
1991 Iron Maiden: Bring your Daughter To The Slaughter UK 45
1991 Madonna: Justify My Love US single
1998 Various : Perfect Day :UK single

Various Music Events On January 5

1940 Federal Communications Commission hears the first demonstration of FM radio as a service, predating the first FM transmission by only twelve months.

1955 Lavern Baker's Tweedle Dee debuts

1959 Coral Records releaseBuddy Holly's It Doesn't Matter Anymore

1962 Beatles and Tony Sheridan release My Bonnie in UK

1967 Jimi Hendrix debuts on UK chart with Hey Joe

1967 Move debut on UK chart with Night of Fear

1967 Lovin' Spoonful's Nashville Cats hits UK chart

1967 Folk singer Jesse Winchester moves to Canada from US to avoid Vietnam draft

1973 Bruce Springsteen releases his Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. LP in UK

1978 Sex Pistols start their only US tour in Atlanta, Georgia

1979 Bee Gees soudtrack album from the John Travolta film Saturday Night Fever registers sales of 25 million worldwide


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July 1 - Today In Rock Music History

Happy Birthday Debbie Harry!



Musicians Born On July 1

1915 Willie Dixon (US blues singer/writer)
1933 Eddie Bond (Rockin' Daddy)
1939 Delaney Bramlett (Delaney and Bonnie)
1946 Debbie Harry (Blondie)
1946 June Monteiro (Toys)
1956 Fred Schneider (B52s)
1959 Edem Ephraim (London Boys)
1963 Roddy Bottum (Faith No More)



Deaths On July 1

1995 Wolfman Jack (DJ)



Number 1 In The Charts On July 1

1967 Association: Windy US 45
1967 Beatles: Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band US LP
1972 Slade: Take Me Back 'Ome UK 45
1972 Neil Diamond: Song Sung Blue US 45
1989 Prince: Batman UK LP
1990 M C Hammer : Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em : US LP
1995 Hootie and The Blowfish : Cracked Rear View : US LP
1995 Bon Jovi : These Days : UK LP
1996 Lightning Seeds : Three Lions : UK single

Debbie Harry wearing her birthday suit!



Various Music Events On July 1

1956 Elvis Presley appears on US Steve Allen Shown in black-tailed suit singing Hound Dog to a basset hound. Presley is instructed not to dance, and cameras shoot him from the waist up only, following complaints about his 'suggestiveness'

1963 Beatles record She Loves You at Abbey Road

1965 Four Tops debut on UK chart with I Can't Help Myself

1966 Beatles play Budokan Hall in Tokyo, three performances which were subsequently released on Three Nights in Tokyo bootleg

1968 John Lennon publicly declares his love for Yoko Ono at the opening of his first art exhibition in London

1969 Sam Phillips sells Sun Records for undisclosed sum to Nashville mogul Shelby Singleton

1970 Caroline TV, proposed pirate TV station, launches but never materialises

1972 After 1,729 performances, Hair closes in the US

Have a groovy vintage retro day!

- Retro Rebirth



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Blondie Feature With Vintage Photos & Videos

Blondie started as an ironic update of trashy 1960s pop. By the end of the 1970s, however, they were far and away the most commercially successful and adventurous survivors of the New York punk scene, with three platinum albums (Parallel Lines, Eat to the Beat, and Auto American). In bleached-blond lead singer Deborah Harry, new wave's answer to Marilyn Monroe, the group had an international icon. The group's repertoire, written by Harry and boyfriend Chris Stein, inhabited the melodic side of punk and grew increasingly eclectic while Harry's deadpan delivery remained consistent.

Born in Miami, Harry was adopted at age three months by Richard and Catherine Harry. She grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and after graduating from high school moved to Manhattan. Harry joined a folk-rock band, the Wind in the Willows, which released one album for Capitol in 1968; she worked as a beautician, a Playboy bunny, and a barmaid at Max's Kansas City. In the mid-1970s she became the third lead singer of a glitter-rock band, the Stilettoes, which also included future Television bassist Fred Smith. Stein, a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, joined the band in October 1973, and he and Harry reshaped it, first as Angel and the Snakes, then as Blondie.



By 1975 the band was appearing regularly at CBGB, home of the burgeoning punk underground. Its first single, "X Offender," was independently produced by Richard Gottehrer and Marty Thau, who sold it to Private Stock. The label released Blondie's debut, also produced by Gottehrer, in December 1976. The group expanded its cult following to the West Coast with shows at L.A.'s Whisky-a-Go-Go in February 1977 and opened for Iggy Pop on a national tour. A few months later, they made their British concert debut. In July Gary Valentine (who wrote "[I'm Always Touched by Your] Presence Dear," a 1978 U.K. Top 10 hit) left the band to form his own trio, Gary Valentine and the Know, which broke up in spring 1980. In early 1978 Blondie's "Denis" hit Number Two in the U.K.

After one album for Private Stock and some legal wrangling, Blondie signed with Chrysalis in October 1977. Mike Chapman, a veteran of glitter pop, produced Parallel Lines, which slowly made its way into the Top Ten, breaking first in markets outside the U.S. The disco-style "Heart of Glass" hit Number One in April 1979 and established the group with a platinum album. Blondie maintained its popularity and dabbled in black-originated styles, collaborating with Eurodisco producer Giorgio Moroder for the American Gigolo Soundtrack ("Call Me," Number One, 1980), covering the reggae tune "The Tide Is High" (Number One, 1980), and writing a rap song, "Rapture" (Number One, 1981), on Autoamerican (Number Seven, 1980). Harry also did the rounds as a celebrity, including an endorsement of Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans in 1980.



As the group's success continued, there were reports that Stein and Harry were asserting more control; by 1981 some Blondie backing tracks were played by session musicians under Stein's direction. Burke produced the New York band Colors, and Destri released a solo album, Heart on a Wall, in 1982. In 1981 Harry released her solo KooKoo (Number 25). Produced under the direction of Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, KooKoo went gold.

Harry also began acting, appearing off-Broadway in Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap (1983), in the films Union City (1979), Videodrome (1982), and John Waters' Hairspray (1988), in the television series Wiseguy, and in Showtime's Body Bags.



Early in 1982 Infante brought suit against the group, claiming they were out to destroy his career by excluding him from group meetings, rehearsals, and recording sessions. The suit was settled out of court and Infante remained in the band. However, by late 1982, following a disastrous tour (Blondie was never known as a great live act), the group quietly disbanded.

Harry and Stein's planned vacation from the music business stretched to a couple of years after he was felled by a rare genetic illness called pemphigus. By 1987, their romantic relationship had ended. Harry's comeback momentum was again stalled in the mid-1980s by legal problems with the group's label, Chrysalis. Rockbird (Number 97, 1986) drew critical raves, but neither it nor her subsequent releases have approached Blondie's in sales or acclaim, although she has had major hits in the U.K. ("French Kissin' in the U.S.A.," Number Eight, 1986, and "I Want That Man," Number 13, 1989). She sang a duet with Iggy Pop, "Well, Did You Evah!," on the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue. Harry collaborated with New York underground group the Jazz Passengers and appeared on their 1996 album Individually Twisted (32 Records).



Harrison and Burke joined a group called Checquered Past, which included ex–Sex Pistol Steve Jones. Later Harrison supervised the music for several feature films, including Repo Man, before becoming an A&R man for Capitol and Interscope. In the early 1990s Burke became one of the Romantics and worked as a session musician with the Plimsouls, Dramarama, and Mark Owen. Stein continued producing acts for his Animal Records label, and Destri began producing.



In 1998 Blondie had something of a resurgence as Harry, Burke, Stein, and Destri reunited for No Exit (Number 18, 1999), Blondie's seventh studio album. No Exit, which contains an appearance by rapper Coolio on the title cut and yielded the poppy "Maria" (Number 82) engendering a new generation of Blondie fans. In early 1999 the band launched a U.S. tour — its first in over 15 years — and recorded a live album. Meanwhile, ex-members Infante and Harrison filed a lawsuit in the summer of 1998 over the use of the Blondie name and royalties. In a separate legal case, Blondie sued former-label EMI for breach of contract, claiming EMI refused to pay the group proper royalties for albums recorded from 1977 to 1982 — a payment plan was agreed upon in 1996.

The group's catalog was reissued in 2001; each disc was expanded with demos, live tracks and covers. In 2003, the group released The Curse of Blondie (Number 160), its eighth studio album, and continued to tour, but relations between past and present Blondie remain tense: When Infante and Harrison appeared at the band's 2006 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Harry dismissed them onstage, saying "Can't you see my real band is up there?"

Harry remains the most active member of Blondie, releasing another solo album, Necessary Evil, and appearing in a number of independent films. She also traveled with the True Colors tour in 2007.


Blondie One Way Or Another Live Midnight Special 1979



Blondie - Sunday Girl 1979



Blondie - The tide is high



Blondie - Heart Of Glass (Live 1982)



Blondie Discography - Studio Albums

1976 - Blondie - Released: December 1976
1977 - Plastic Letters - Released: October 1977
1978 - Parallel Lines - Released: September 1978
1979 - Eat To The Beat - Released: October 1979
1980 - Autoamerican - November 29, 1980
1982 - The Hunter - Released: June 5, 1982
1999 - No Exit - Released: February 23, 1999
2003 - The Curse Of Blondie - Released: October 13, 2003

Wiki info can be found here --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_%28band%29

Have a groovy day :)

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Retro Rebirth

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