This song has a very nice groove to it, the musical texture is outstanding in this studio recording, and Debbie brings some outstanding vocals as always. Perhaps controversially, I do think that the rap section is a bit lacking in delivery… but the genre wasn’t even mainstream at the time, this is just 1980. So there’s that. And let’s be honest, we’re discussing Debbie Harry… and for some, mysterious, reason I feel very, very willing to forgive a blond beauty like her. Specially one with her voice.
Oh yeah, no disputing that. Nowadays it sounds like the sort of parody that Weird Al would do. To be fair, rap back then was a lot different than it is now, or even what it was in the 90s. Compare it to one of the better rap songs of 1980, Freedom by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and we can see that Blondie’s cadence wasn’t really that bad. And nonsense rap lyrics were pretty common back then – Sugarhill Gang’s version of Apache doesn’t make sense in a lot of places, and I keep thinking of that part of Rapper’s Delight where one of them hits on Lois Lane and starts insulting Superman – wtf is that about lol. But it adds to the party vibe that they were going for.
Anyway, Blondie was a New Wave band who was taking inspiration from a lot of difference sources, and gave credit in their songs, all of which is laudable.
Sure. No doubt Blondie made a brave and early exercise in the, then exotic, rap genre… and they managed to add a distinct flavor beyond the standard synthpop. To be honest, I enjoy this song greatly, from the moment the bells start ringing until the end, and felt that it couldn’t be missing in our 80’s playlist. Besides, for rap pioneers, Blondie was probably a gateway to the mainstream later in the decade.
Thanks for the history lesson, Rolando.
This song has a very nice groove to it, the musical texture is outstanding in this studio recording, and Debbie brings some outstanding vocals as always. Perhaps controversially, I do think that the rap section is a bit lacking in delivery… but the genre wasn’t even mainstream at the time, this is just 1980. So there’s that. And let’s be honest, we’re discussing Debbie Harry… and for some, mysterious, reason I feel very, very willing to forgive a blond beauty like her. Specially one with her voice.
Oh yeah, no disputing that. Nowadays it sounds like the sort of parody that Weird Al would do. To be fair, rap back then was a lot different than it is now, or even what it was in the 90s. Compare it to one of the better rap songs of 1980, Freedom by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and we can see that Blondie’s cadence wasn’t really that bad. And nonsense rap lyrics were pretty common back then – Sugarhill Gang’s version of Apache doesn’t make sense in a lot of places, and I keep thinking of that part of Rapper’s Delight where one of them hits on Lois Lane and starts insulting Superman – wtf is that about lol. But it adds to the party vibe that they were going for.
Anyway, Blondie was a New Wave band who was taking inspiration from a lot of difference sources, and gave credit in their songs, all of which is laudable.
Sure. No doubt Blondie made a brave and early exercise in the, then exotic, rap genre… and they managed to add a distinct flavor beyond the standard synthpop. To be honest, I enjoy this song greatly, from the moment the bells start ringing until the end, and felt that it couldn’t be missing in our 80’s playlist. Besides, for rap pioneers, Blondie was probably a gateway to the mainstream later in the decade.