Throwback Track of the Week: Blondie - X Offender (1976)

Blondie is a band that isn't always brought up in discussions regarding the history of pop music, much less punk rock, but they should be.  Debbie Harry was a veteran of the mid-70s New York City weirdo circuit, previously a member of The Stilettoes and a waitress and regular of the elusive backroom at Andy Warhol's incubator Max's Kansas City.  By the time she joined Chris Stein, Clem Burke, and Gary Valentine to form Blondie, they were poised to take a place as CBGB strongholds; the front line of the impetus to music as we've known it ever since.  

X Offender, the opening track of Blondie's debut album, epitomizes the approach of a band that was as at-home within the CBGB grime as they would later be at the top of the charts in the 80s.  With a diary-like spoken intro (which isn't in the video for whatever reason--look up the album version), thumping drumbeats, and cooing backup vocals behind a toughgirl lead, Blondie sticks barbs into the sugary and dramatic sound of the 1960s girl-groups like The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las.  It never sounds like a send up, though.  Instead they play it loud and fast and embrace the camp of it all, cranking up the trashiness without crossing into irony.  Harry simultaneously brings the rock n roll fervor of the scene and an over-it-all dismissiveness, giving a confrontational, street-smart edge to the delivery.  The saccharine verses here are offset by the growly notes she hits at the end of lines ("and then you said") and inherently growly New York accent ("let's go and nothing mo-ah").  Through her leadership, Blondie found a fearless and authentic attack which was a perfect fit in the burgeoning scene during the birth of punk rock.  

Side note:  Gary Valentine, the dorky camera-hog bass player, is actually named Gary Lachman.  In his post-Blondie career he has become one of the most prolific modern writers of mysticism and the occult—we’re talking well-over 20 books!

Previous Throwback Tracks:

Neil Young - I'm the Ocean
Melvins - Revolve
Alice in Chains - Them Bones
New Found Glory - Understatement
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
Steve Miller Band - The Joker