Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone 1978 Video HQ

I’m the phone booth it’s the one across the hall If you don’t answer I’ll just ring it off the wall

Songs Everybody Should Know

“Hanging on the Telephone Line” Blondie (1978)

Deborah Harry is a street-wise punk-wave icon. In the late seventies the MTV revolution found a camera-ready bad-Barbie, former Playboy bunny with natural sass and blonde hair.  The lyrics of Deborah Harry/Chris Stein songs were emotionally expressed, accessible and executed with a punker-in-the-know attitude. Not crass or hardcore; but more like art meets stylistic rock. This is probably the most observable example of where the cross-over between punk and new wave happened.

From the epicenter of the American punk movement came the surprisingly inspired, complex concoction of a beautiful punk-wave icon and as it turns out her brilliant band. It always helps to have a beautiful front person in the band, but the music has to stand on its own or the band becomes a flash in the pan. The Roxy Music/Bowie inspired experimentation would take us from garage rock, surf, 60’s pop influence, reggae, punk, and new wave to disco and even a precursor to rap from the streets of New York.

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