Blondie suspect their success at Molly Meldrum's hands was no accident
Updated
Iconic 70s and 80s new wave pop band Blondie had its first big break in Australia.
In 1977, an apparent accident by Molly Meldrum on Countdown gave the group its first hit single anywhere in the world.
Meldrum was supposed to play Blondie's edgy track, X Offender, but instead played the single's B-side — the much poppier In The Flesh, which promptly went to the top of the charts.
Meldrum has always insisted it was a mistake.
But speaking to 7.30 at the beginning of their latest tour, Blondie founders frontwoman Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein said they weren't so sure.
"In retrospect, I wonder if it was really an accident [and not] Molly having the better view of his audience," Stein said.
In recent years the band questioned Meldrum about the mistake and while he stands by the original story, they're not convinced.
"He gave me a wink, wink," Harry said.
'Hip hop is a fad, it's going to go away'
While Blondie is far from a hip hop act, in 1981 the band's single Rapture became the first ever commercially successful single in the US to contain rapping.
"A lot of people I spoke to that were on the inside of the record business said it was a fad and it was going to go away," Stein said.
"It's kind of dominating the American music scene now."
Brooklyn artist Jean-Michel Basquiat made a cameo as a DJ in the Rapture music video. He was hired for the role when Grandmaster Flash did not show up for filming.
The band felt it was important to acknowledge New York's African American hip hop scene that had pioneered the genre.
"You know, for me it was the young black kids literally finding a voice, so I was always moved by that aspect of it," Stein said.
'It all just melted away'
Harry and Stein were in a relationship until 1989.
When Stein was diagnosed with a life-threatening auto immune disease in 1983, both stepped away from the spotlight and reassessed their priorities.
"It led to me not doing so many drugs because that definitely screwed with my immune system," Stein said.
It was a difficult period for the band.
"Not only was Chris desperately ill and recovering, but our record company folded," Harry said.
"Chrysalis [Records] went out of business, so with that we were sort of left in a big sort of floating ... what do we do? What do we do now? And it just sort of all melted away.
"It was terribly, sort of scary, and I mean we just didn't know what to do other than to just keep going and eventually is just sort of worked its way out."
As a result of pressure and tensions within the band, Blondie broke up in 1982.
After Stein recovered from his illness, Harry resumed her solo career.
"We kept on doing music and I did solo albums and Chris was a big part of that," she said.
Blondie reformed in 1996.
Being sexual is part and parcel of being a lead singer
Style icon Harry has been referred to as a "sex symbol" throughout her career, and it hasn't worried her.
"I don't really think about it that much, and at this point in my life I think it's terribly flattering," she said.
"I think it's part and parcel of being in entertainment and being a lead singer.
"I think one has to be sexual and one has to attract people in that way, it has to be a magnetic thing."
Now 71, Harry believes that all women are threatened by ageism.
Stein witnessed it early on in their career.
"I remember it was a big deal when it was revealed very early on that you were 30 and that was like, oh my God, because you can't trust anybody over 25," he said.
But Harry thinks the rock scene has matured.
"It's something about rock and roll having come of age as well, and I definitely have sort of come along with it," she said.
The band will soon release its 11th studio album Pollinator and is about to hit the road in Australia to co-headline a tour with fellow New York icon, Cyndi Lauper.
Topics: music, sydney-2000
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