Cocktail Slippers is a five-piece, all-female rock band from Oslo, Norway . Current band members are: Hope (vocals), Rocket Queen (guitar), Vega (guitar), SMASH (drums) and Sugar (bass). Cocktail Slippers was formed in 2001 and has released five studio albums. They are known for their entertaining live rock ′n' roll performances and have played alongside artists such as Nancy Sinatra , Crowded House , Elvis Costello and The Strokes . The band is continuously touring Europe and the US.
134-483: The band's main musical influences are Blondie , The Shangri-Las , Joan Jett , Foo Fighters , The Ramones , The Go-Go's and The Beach Boys . In early 2001, Cocktail Slippers was formed out of another all-female band called the Barbarellas. Bass-player Sugar Cane was one of the original members of the Barbarellas. Rocket Queen and Modesty Blaze joined after the then-guitar and keyboard players left. Eventually,
268-443: A horn section , a string orchestra , and a variety of " classical " solo instruments (for example, flute, piccolo, and so on). Disco songs were arranged and composed by experienced arrangers and orchestrators , and record producers added their creative touches to the overall sound using multitrack recording techniques and effects units . Recording complex arrangements with such a large number of instruments and sections required
402-443: A Dance Floor , Random Access Memories , Future Nostalgia , and Kylie Minogue 's album itself titled Disco . Modern day artists like Dua Lipa , Bruno Mars and Silk Sonic have continued the genre's popularity, bringing it to a whole new younger generation. The term "disco" is shorthand for the word discothèque , a French word for "library of phonograph records" derived from "bibliothèque". The word "discotheque" had
536-619: A North American tour of mid-sized venues with Pat Benatar and the Donnas in the summer of 2009. Following the tour, in October, the band began recording sessions for their ninth studio album with producer Jeff Saltzman in Woodstock, New York . After playing with the band for over a decade, both Foxx (bass) and Carbonara (guitar) were elevated to official membership status with Blondie. Keyboard player Matt Katz-Bohen , who had replaced Destri,
670-422: A Thing for Me". The album received positive reviews worldwide with respected critics such as Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke describing the band as "Norwegian Devil Dolls" that "sing their you-done-me-wrong songs with avenging-angel-army-harmonies". Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad called the women "Norwegian Rock heroines" that "pick up where Blondie left off". Cocktail Slippers was submitted to one of
804-525: A Wall . Burke also played drums on the Eurythmics ' debut album In The Garden . Harry, Stein and Destri also worked together on music for the 1981 John Waters film Polyester . In October 1981, Chrysalis Records released The Best of Blondie (UK number four, US number thirty, Australia number one ), the group's first greatest hits compilation. The band reconvened in December 1981 to record
938-514: A back injury. Former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock filled in for Foxx. Matlock also recorded with the band for the forthcoming Blondie album. Blondie performed at the 22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023. In a June 2024 interview for BBC Radio 6 Music, Harry and Stein confirmed that Blondie's upcoming album will be released in Spring 2025. Disco Disco
1072-486: A beat (which in 4/4 time is 4 beats per measure). Disco is further characterized by a 16th note division of the quarter notes (as shown in the second drum pattern in the picture above, after a typical rock drum pattern). The orchestral sound usually known as "disco sound" relies heavily on string sections and horns playing linear phrases, in unison with the soaring, often reverberated vocals or playing instrumental fills, while electric pianos and chicken-scratch guitars create
1206-584: A concert for PBS 's Soundstage to be aired some time in 2016 and included two new tracks, "My Monster" and "Gravity". In 2015, Blondie members Harry and Stein made a guest appearance alongside the Gregory Brothers in an episode of the YouTube series Songify the News , where they collaborated again to parody the 2016 US presidential election debates . In January 2017, it was announced that
1340-545: A free download. A music video for the song was released on May 18, 2011. It was directed by Laurent Rejto and features cameos by Kate Pierson from the B-52's , James Lorinz (Frankenhooker), Johnny Dynell , Chi Chi Valenti , the Dazzle Dancers , Rob Roth , Barbara Sicuranza, Larry Fessenden , Alan Midgette (Andy Warhol's double), The Five Points Band, Guy Furrow, Kitty Boots, and Hattie Hathaway. A second single from
1474-625: A full-time writer under his real name, Gary Lachman —his New York Rocker: My Life in the Blank Generation (2002) is a memoir of his years with the band. Former members Nigel Harrison and Infante did not participate in the reunion, and they unsuccessfully sued to prevent the reunion under the name Blondie. In 1997, the original five-piece band re-formed—including Valentine on bass—and did three live performances, all at outdoor festivals sponsored by local radio stations. Their first reunion performance occurred on May 31, 1997, when they played
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#17327982873051608-551: A group of accompanying musicians who were among the most dextrous, knowledgeable, and brilliant in all of popular music (Motown bassists have long been the envy of white rock bassists) and 7) a trebly style of mixing that relied heavily on electronic limiting and equalizing (boosting the high range frequencies) to give the overall product a distinctive sound, particularly effective for broadcast over AM radio." Motown had many hits with disco elements by acts like Eddie Kendricks (" Keep on Truckin' " in 1973, " Boogie Down " in 1974). At
1742-441: A key influence in the development of electronic dance music , house music , hip hop , new wave , dance-punk , and post-disco . The style has had several revivals since the 1990s , and the influence of disco remains strong across American and European pop music. A revival has been underway since the early 2010s , coming to great popularity in the early 2020s . Albums that have contributed to this revival include Confessions on
1876-465: A key part of the disco club experience. The Loft party host David Mancuso introduced the technologies of tweeter arrays (clusters of small loudspeakers, which emit high-end frequencies, positioned above the floor) and bass reinforcements (additional sets of subwoofers positioned at ground level) at the start of the 1970s to boost the treble and bass at opportune moments, and by the end of the decade sound engineers such as Richard Long had multiplied
2010-583: A later CD reissue of the Eat to the Beat album. In November 1980, Blondie's fifth studio album and third with Chapman, Autoamerican (UK number three, US number seven, Australia number eight ), was released. Autoamerican contained two more US number one hits: the reggae-styled " The Tide Is High ", a cover version of a 1967 song written by John Holt of the Paragons , and the rap -flavored " Rapture ", which
2144-714: A major trend in popular music in the United States following the infamous Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and it continued to sharply decline in popularity in the U.S. during the early 1980s ; however, it remained popular in Italy and some European countries throughout the 1980s, and during this time also started becoming trendy in places elsewhere including India and the Middle East , where aspects of disco were blended with regional folk styles such as ghazals and belly dancing . Disco would eventually become
2278-406: A merengue, are commonplace. The quaver pattern is often supported by other instruments such as the rhythm guitar and may be implied rather than explicitly present. Songs often use syncopation , which is the accenting of unexpected beats. In general, the difference between disco, or any dance song, and a rock or pop song is that in dance music the bass drum hits four to the floor , at least once
2412-748: A much-in-demand session drummer, playing and touring with Eurythmics for their 1986 album Revenge , and Destri maintained an active career as a producer and session musician. A remix album entitled Once More into the Bleach was released in 1988, and featured remixes of classic Blondie tracks and material from Harry's solo career, including "Denis". Harry continued releasing solo albums, Def, Dumb and Blonde (1989) and Debravation (1993), while continuing to tour. Further collections follow with The Complete Picture - The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie reaching number three in UK charts in 1991. In 1993,
2546-648: A new Blondie album and previewed a new song entitled " Make a Way ". In June and July 2013, the band held a "Blast Off Tour" of Europe. The US "No Principals Tour" followed in September and October 2013. The first single from the album, " A Rose by Any Name ", was released digitally in Europe on June 24, 2013. A second single, " Sugar on the Side ", was released digitally in the US in December 2013. The album Ghosts of Download
2680-667: A new album, The Hunter , released in May 1982 (UK number nine, US number thirty-three, Australia number fifteen ). Infante was initially not included in the new album due to friction with other group members, but began legal proceedings and was later reinstated after an out-of-court settlement. In contrast to their earlier commercial and critical successes, The Hunter was poorly received. The album did have two moderate hit singles: " Island of Lost Souls " (UK number 11, US number 37, Australia number 13 ) and " War Child " (UK number 39 ). The album also included "For Your Eyes Only",
2814-428: A non-phallic full body eroticism. Through a range of percussion instruments, a willingness to play with rhythm, and the endless repeating of phrases without cutting the listener off, disco achieved this full-body eroticism by restoring eroticism to the whole body for both sexes. This allowed for the potential expression of sexualities not defined by the cock/penis, and the erotic pleasure of bodies that are not defined by
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#17327982873052948-420: A performance due to illness. In February 1978, Blondie released their second album, Plastic Letters (UK number 10, US number 78, Australia number 64 ). The album was recorded as a four-piece during the summer of 1977, with Stein responsible for both bass and guitars. Plastic Letters was promoted extensively throughout Europe and Asia by Chrysalis Records. The album's first single, "Denis",
3082-460: A prominent Moog synthesizer on the beat, was one of the first disco tracks to use the synthesizer. The rhythm is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines (with heavy use of broken octaves , that is, octaves with the notes sounded one after the other) played on the bass guitar and by drummers using a drum kit , African/ Latin percussion , and electronic drums such as Simmons and Roland drum modules . In Philly dance and Salsoul disco,
3216-585: A rarities album Blond and Beyond appeared while The Platinum Collection was released a year later in the US. A second remix album Beautiful: The Remix Album was released in 1995 and a live album Picture This Live followed in 1997. During the 1990s, Blondie's past work began to be recognized again by a new generation of fans and artists including Garbage and No Doubt . Chrysalis / EMI Records also released several compilations and collections of remixed versions of some of their biggest hits. Harry continued her moderately successful solo career after
3350-495: A relationship to a penis. The sexual liberation expressed through the rhythm of disco is further represented in the club spaces that disco grew within. In Peter Shapiro 's Modulations: A History of Electronic Music : Throbbing Words on Sound , he discusses eroticism through the technology disco utilizes to create its audacious sound. The music, Shapiro states, is adjunct to "the pleasure-is-politics ethos of post- Stonewall culture." He explains how "mechano-eroticism", which links
3484-586: A song titled "One Heartbeat Away", where they played the role of moderators. On October 20, 2020, Blondie announced that they would be embarking on a ten-date arena tour of the UK in November 2021 with Garbage as the opening act. The tour was postponed until April 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Johnny Marr , formerly of the Smiths , replaced Garbage on the tour. Additional dates were subsequently added in
3618-399: A stronger effect. According to Peter Braunstein , the "massive quantities of drugs ingested in discothèques produced the next cultural phenomenon of the disco era: rampant promiscuity and public sex . While the dance floor was the central arena of seduction , actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exit stairwells , and so on. In other cases
3752-480: A team that included a conductor , copyists , record producers, and mixing engineers . Mixing engineers had an important role in the disco production process because disco songs used as many as 64 tracks of vocals and instruments. Mixing engineers and record producers, under the direction of arrangers, compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with builds and breaks . Mixing engineers and record producers helped to develop
3886-405: A track the band had been commissioned to write and record for the 1981 James Bond film of the same name ; however, it was rejected by the film's producers who ultimately chose another song with the same title recorded by Sheena Easton . In June 1982, Harry contributed backing vocals to The Gun Club 's second album Miami , being credited as 'D.H. Lawrence Jr'. Stein produced the record, and
4020-498: A young reporter, who happened to be covering the opening of the club, impulsively took control of the record player and introduced the records that he chose to play. Klaus Quirini later claimed to thus have been the world's first nightclub DJ. During the 1960s, discotheque dancing became a European trend that was enthusiastically picked up by the American press. At this time, when the discotheque culture from Europe became popular in
4154-406: Is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines , string sections , brass and horns , electric piano , synthesizers , and electric rhythm guitars . Discothèques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with
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4288-595: Is achieved by lightly pressing the guitar strings against the fretboard and then quickly releasing them just enough to get a slightly muted poker [sound] while constantly strumming very close to the bridge." Other backing keyboard instruments include the piano , electric organ (during early years), string synthesizers , and electromechanical keyboards such as the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and Hohner Clavinet . Donna Summer 's 1977 song " I Feel Love ", produced by Giorgio Moroder with
4422-593: Is credited as 'bongos' and 'cover photos/design'. The Gun Club's singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce was a fan, emulating Harry's hairstyle and founding the West Coast Blondie Fan Club, before becoming friends with the band in New York. For the brief North American tour (July to August 1982) to promote the Hunter album, guitarist Infante was replaced with session musician Eddie Martinez. Also added to
4556-454: Is played for dancing, typically equipped with a large dance floor, an elaborate system of flashing coloured lights, and a powerful amplified sound system. " Its earliest example is use as the name of a particular venue in 1952, and other examples date from 1960 onwards. The entry is annotated as "Now somewhat dated". It defines Disco as "A genre of strongly rhythmical pop music mainly intended for dancing in nightclubs and particularly popular in
4690-514: The HFStival at R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, DC. An international tour followed in late 1998 and early 1999. During this period, and without Valentine, they released a cover of Iggy Pop 's song "Ordinary Bummer" on the tribute album We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute (1997) under the pseudonym "Adolph's Dog". A new album, No Exit (UK number three, US number eighteen),
4824-482: The Panic of Girls sessions ("Bride of Infinity", "Rock On", and "Dead Air") on Amazon.com which were made available for free download in the US, and in the UK via the band's official website. Another track, "Practice Makes Perfect", was also made available as a free download in November 2012. On March 20, 2013, Harry and Stein were interviewed on the radio show WNYC Soundcheck in which they confirmed they were working on
4958-690: The Patti Smith Group . Stein and Harry continued the band, and proceeded with auditions to recruit drummer Clem Burke and bassist Gary Valentine (Gary J. Lachman). Blondie became regular performers at Max's Kansas City and CBGB . In June 1975, the band's first recording came in the way of a demo produced by Alan Betrock . To fill out their sound, they recruited keyboard player Jimmy Destri in November 1975. The band signed with Private Stock Records and released their first single " X-Offender " in June 1976, while their debut album, Blondie ,
5092-531: The Step By Step disco dance TV show was launched with the sponsorship support of the Coca-Cola company. Produced in the same studio that Don Cornelius used for the nationally syndicated dance/music television show, Soul Train , Step by Step' s audience grew and the show became a success. The dynamic dance duo of Robin and Reggie led the show. The pair spent the week teaching disco dancing to dancers in
5226-552: The hippies informed proto-disco music like MFSB 's album Love Is the Message . Partly through the success of Jimi Hendrix , psychedelic elements that were popular in rock music of the late 1960s found their way into soul and early funk music and formed the subgenre psychedelic soul . Examples can be found in the music of the Chambers Brothers , George Clinton with his Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Sly and
5360-490: The recording studio . Larry Levan, for example, was a prolific record producer as well as a DJ. Because record sales were often dependent on dance floor play by DJs in the nightclubs, DJs were also influential in the development and popularization of certain types of disco music being produced for record labels. In the early years, dancers in discos danced in a "hang loose" or "freestyle" approach. At first, many dancers improvised their own dance styles and dance steps. Later in
5494-468: The "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding, sophisticated disco mix . Early records were the "standard" three-minute version until Tom Moulton came up with a way to make songs longer so that he could take a crowd of dancers at a club to another level and keep them dancing longer. He found that it was impossible to make the 45-RPM vinyl singles of the time longer, as they could usually hold no more than five minutes of good-quality music. With
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5628-531: The 1960s, the Motown record label developed its own approach, described as having "1) simply structured songs with sophisticated melodies and chord changes, 2) a relentless four-beat drum pattern, 3) a gospel use of background voices, vaguely derived from the style of the Impressions , 4) a regular and sophisticated use of both horns and strings, 5) lead singers who were half way between pop and gospel music, 6)
5762-548: The Barbarellas split up in 2000, but Sugar Cane, Modesty Blaze and Rocket Queen hooked up with a new drummer to continue the project. Shortly after it was decided that it would be better to rename the band. The new name was Cocktail Slippers . The band recorded their first album, Rock It! in early spring 2001 with Modesty Blaze (Ingjerd Sandven Kleivan, formerly known as Lisa Farfisa) on vocals and keyboard, Rocket Queen (Stine Bendiksen) vocals and guitar, Sugar Cane (Astrid Waller) on bass and Tammy Lee Sticks on drums. Later that year,
5896-644: The Flesh" as "a forerunner to the power ballad ". The single reached number two in Australia, and the album entered the Australian top twenty in November 1977. A subsequent double-A release of "X-Offender" and "Rip Her to Shreds" reached number 81. A successful Australian tour followed in December 1977, though it was marred by an incident in Brisbane when disappointed fans almost rioted after Harry cancelled
6030-633: The Gang , and Village People . While performers garnered public attention, record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, and DJs would mix dance records at clubs such as Studio 54 in Manhattan , a venue popular among celebrities . Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, consisting predominantly of loose, flowing pants or dresses for ease of movement while dancing. There
6164-515: The Guinness Book of World Records. He danced for 205 hours, the equivalent of 8½ days. Other dance marathons took place afterward and Roberts held the world record for disco dancing for a short period of time. Some notable professional dance troupes of the 1970s included Pan's People and Hot Gossip . For many dancers, a key source of inspiration for 1970s disco dancing was the film Saturday Night Fever (1977). Further influence came from
6298-505: The Jacksons and solo in the same decades). The re-formed band released the follow-up album The Curse of Blondie (UK number 36, US number 160) in October 2003. Curse proved to be Blondie's lowest-charting album since their debut in 1976, although the single " Good Boys " managed to reach number 12 in the UK charts. In 2004, Jimmy Destri left the group in order to deal with drug addiction, leaving Harry, Stein and Burke as
6432-514: The Know; he was replaced by Frank Infante . In September 1977, the band bought back its contract with Private Stock and signed with British label Chrysalis Records . The first album was re-released on the new label in October 1977. Rolling Stone ' s review of the debut album observed the eclectic nature of the group's music, comparing it both to Phil Spector and to the Who , and commented that
6566-562: The Snake for two shows in August 1974, they had renamed themselves Blondie by October 1974, while Ivan Kral joined the band on guitar. The new name derived from comments made by truck drivers who catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove past. By the spring of 1975, O'Connor had left the music business and Smith replaced Richard Hell in Television , while Kral eventually joined
6700-683: The Stilettoes in 1973 as their guitarist and formed a romantic relationship with Debbie Harry, who was one of the band's vocalists, a former waitress and Playboy Bunny . Harry had been a member of a folk-rock band, the Wind in the Willows , in the late 1960s. In July 1974, Stein and Harry parted ways with the Stilettoes and Elda Gentile, the band's originator, forming a new band with ex-Stilettoes bandmates Billy O'Connor (drums; born 1953, died 2015) and Fred Smith (bass). Originally billed as Angel and
6834-467: The Stonewall riots. As New York state had laws against homosexual behavior in public, including dancing with a member of the same sex, the eroticism of disco served as resistance and an expression of sexual freedom. He uses Donna Summer's singles " Love to Love You Baby " (1975) and " I Feel Love " (1977) as examples of the ever-present relationship between the synthesized bass lines and backgrounds to
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#17327982873056968-716: The UK and the album was certified gold the following month. Blondie's next single, the Grammy-nominated " Call Me ", was the result of Debbie Harry's collaboration with the Italian songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder , who had been responsible for many of Donna Summer 's biggest hits. The track was recorded as the title theme of the Richard Gere film American Gigolo . Released in the US in February 1980, "Call Me" spent six consecutive weeks at number one in
7102-430: The UK charts and the first single " Maria ", which Destri had written thinking about his high school days, became Blondie's sixth UK number one single 20 years after their first chart-topper "Heart of Glass". This gave the band the distinction of being one of only two American acts to reach number one in the UK singles charts in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s (the other being Michael Jackson who had number one hits with
7236-458: The UK, number six in the US, and number two in Australia. It finally broke the band into the American market on the strength of the worldwide hit single " Heart of Glass ". Parallel Lines became the group's most successful album, selling 20 million copies worldwide. The album's first two singles were " Picture This " (UK number 12) and " Hanging on the Telephone " (UK number five). As
7370-524: The UK. Blondie co-headlined a tour with the New Cars in 2006, releasing a cover of Roxy Music hit " More than This " in support of the tour. On June 5, 2008, Blondie commenced a world tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Parallel Lines with a concert at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland. The tour covered some Eastern and Midwestern US cities throughout the month of June. In July,
7504-500: The UK. With Infante moving to guitar, the British musician Nigel Harrison was hired as the group's full-time bassist, expanding Blondie to a six-piece for the first time and marking a stabilization in the band's line-up. Blondie completed the recording of their third album, Parallel Lines during the summer of 1978 together with Australian producer Mike Chapman . It was released in September of that year and reached number one in
7638-462: The US and Canada. Released in the UK in April 1980, it reached number one and became a global hit. The single was also number one on Billboard magazine's 1980 year-end chart. In the summer of 1980, the band appeared in a bit part in the film Roadie starring Meat Loaf . Blondie performed the Johnny Cash song " Ring of Fire ", and the live recording was featured on the film soundtrack and on
7772-457: The US and the UK. Blondie took a break for most of 1981. Debbie Harry appeared on Saturday Night Live in February 1981 as both the guest host-actor and as a singer, with Stein and Burke backing her during musical performances. Harry and Destri both released solo albums. Stein worked on Harry's album KooKoo (UK number six, US number twenty-eight) produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. He also joined Burke on Destri's album Heart on
7906-402: The US was a more aggressive rock song, " One Way or Another " (US number 24), though in the UK, an alternate single choice, " Sunday Girl ", became a number one hit. Parallel Lines has been ranked number 140 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest albums of all time. In June 1979, Blondie, photographed by Annie Leibovitz , was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. In
8040-449: The US. In the UK, the album delivered three top 20 hits, including the band's third UK number one ("Atomic", UK number one, US number thirty-nine). The lead track off the album, " Dreaming " featuring Ellie Greenwich , reached number two in the UK. But it only made it to number 27 in the US. The second single "Union City Blue" (UK number 13 ) shared the title of a film featuring Harry, directed by Marcus Reichert . Along with
8174-467: The US. In April 2022, prior to the launch of the UK/US tour, it was announced that Stein would be unable to tour with the group due to heart issues. "I've been dealing with a dumbass condition called Atrial Fibrillation or AFib which is irregular heartbeats and combined with the meds I take for it I'm too fatigued to deal," Stein said. He was replaced by Andee Blacksugar. Bassist Foxx, too, was absent due to
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#17327982873058308-446: The United States, several music genres with danceable rhythms rose to popularity and evolved into different sub-genres: rhythm and blues (originated in the 1940s), soul (late 1950s and 1960s), funk (mid-1960s) and go-go (mid-1960s and 1970s; more than "disco", the word "go-go" originally indicated a music club). Musical genres that were primarily performed by African-American musicians would influence much of early disco. Also during
8442-641: The album Rock It! was released on the Norwegian label MTG Records. In 2004 the band recorded their follow-up album Mastermind , which was also released on MTG Records. In the same year, a cover of Wham! 's " Last Christmas " was released as a limited edition CD single . The song was made available as a digital download in 2009. In 2007, Cocktail Slippers was signed by Steven Van Zandt (also known as "Little Steven") on his label Wicked Cool Records. In 2009 Cocktail Slippers recorded and released their third studio album Saint Valentine's Day Massacre . The album
8576-508: The album's two strengths were Richard Gottehrer 's production and the persona of Debbie Harry. The band's first commercial success occurred in Australia in 1977, when the music television program Countdown mistakenly played their video " In the Flesh ", which was the B-side of the single "X-Offender". Jimmy Destri later credited the show's Molly Meldrum for their initial success, commenting that "we still thank him to this day" for playing
8710-561: The album, "What I Heard", was available as a digital release in July 2011. On August 20, 2011, Blondie performed a live set for " Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV . The episode included an interview with program host Nic Harcourt . The band continued to tour regularly into 2012. A concert in New York City was streamed live on YouTube on October 11, 2012. The same week, the band listed three previously unreleased songs recorded during
8844-416: The background "pad" sound defining the harmony progression . Typically, all of the doubling of parts and use of additional instruments creates a rich " wall of sound ". There are, however, more minimalist flavors of disco with reduced, transparent instrumentation. Harmonically, disco music typically contains major and minor seven chords, which are found more often in jazz than pop music. The "disco sound"
8978-581: The band broke up, releasing albums in 1989 and 1993 which helped keep the band in the public eye. In 1990, she reunited with Stein and Burke for a summer tour of mid-sized venues as part of an "Escape from New York" package with Jerry Harrison , the Tom Tom Club and the Ramones . In 1996, Stein and Harry began the process of reuniting Blondie and contacted original members Burke, Destri, and Valentine. Valentine had by this time moved to London and become
9112-404: The band previously had success with a cover, Chrysalis Records chose their version of Buddy Holly 's " I'm Gonna Love You Too " as the lead single from Parallel Lines in the US. This turned out to be a miscalculation as the single failed to chart. "Heart of Glass" was released in early 1979 and the disco-infused track topped the UK charts in February 1979, and the US charts in April 1979. It
9246-560: The band would support Phil Collins at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on June 25, 2017, as part of his Not Dead Yet tour. The band also toured Australia and New Zealand on a co-headlining tour with Cyndi Lauper . In the March 2017 issue of Mojo magazine, the band announced that their eleventh studio album, Pollinator , would be released on May 5, 2017. The album was recorded at The Magic Shop in SoHo , New York City, and featured songs written by
9380-667: The beginning of another song using the DJ mixer's crossfader. Notable U.S. disco DJs include Francis Grasso of The Sanctuary, David Mancuso of The Loft , Frankie Knuckles of the Chicago Warehouse , Larry Levan of the Paradise Garage , Nicky Siano of The Gallery , Walter Gibbons , Karen Mixon Cook , Jim Burgess , John "Jellybean" Benitez , Richie Kulala of Studio 54 , and Rick Salsalini. Some DJs were also record producers who created and produced disco songs in
9514-490: The capital area's gay and straight college students in the late '70s. By 1979 there were 15,000-20,000 disco nightclubs in the US, many of them opening in suburban shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants. The 2001 Club franchises were the most prolific chain of disco clubs in the country. Although many other attempts were made to franchise disco clubs, 2001 was the only one to successfully do so in this time frame. Powerful, bass-heavy, hi-fi sound systems were viewed as
9648-574: The cha cha ". The pioneer of disco dance instruction was Karen Lustgarten in San Francisco in 1973. Her book The Complete Guide to Disco Dancing (Warner Books 1978) was the first to name, break down and codify popular disco dances as dance forms and distinguish between disco freestyle, partner, and line dances. The book topped the New York Times bestseller list for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German, and French. In Chicago,
9782-557: The chest. Men often wore Pierre Cardin suits, three piece suits with a vest, and double-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as the leisure suit . Men's leisure suits were typically form-fitted to some parts of the body, such as the waist and bottom while the lower part of the pants were flared in a bell bottom style, to permit freedom of movement. During the disco era, men engaged in elaborate grooming rituals and spent time choosing fashion clothing, activities that would have been considered "feminine" according to
9916-418: The dance and fashion aspects of the disco club scene, there was also a thriving club drug subculture , particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud, bass-heavy music and the flashing colored lights, such as cocaine (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite (" poppers "), and the "... other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude , which suspended motor coordination and gave
10050-413: The dancers wanted, transitioning from one song to another with a DJ mixer and using a microphone to introduce songs and speak to the audiences. Other equipment was added to the basic DJ setup, providing unique sound manipulations, such as reverb , equalization, and echo effects unit . Using this equipment, a DJ could do effects such as cutting out all but the bassline of a song and then slowly mixing in
10184-487: The dancing, sex, and other embodied movements that contributed to the corporeal vibrations within the Sanctuary. It supports the argument that disco music took a role in facilitating this sexual liberation that was experienced in the discotheques. The recent legalization of abortion and the introduction of antibiotics and the pill facilitated a culture shift around sex from one of procreation to pleasure and enjoyment. Thus
10318-402: The deal, leaving the album still unreleased. The album's release date was finally set for mid-2011 without the involvement of a major record label. The album was first released in May 2011 as a limited edition "fan pack" in the UK with a 132-page magazine and various collectible items, before being released as a regular CD later in the summer. The lead single " Mother " was released beforehand as
10452-415: The disco became a kind of 'main course' in a hedonist's menu for a night out." At The Saint nightclub, a high percentage of the gay male dancers and patrons would have sex in the club; they typically had unprotected sex , because in 1980, HIV-AIDS had not yet been identified. At The Saint, "dancers would elope to an unpoliced upstairs balcony to engage in sex." The promiscuity and public sex at discos
10586-571: The disco clubs. The instructional show aired on Saturday mornings and had a strong following. Its viewers would stay up all night on Fridays so they could be on the set the next morning, ready to return to the disco on Saturday night knowing with the latest personalized steps. The producers of the show, John Reid and Greg Roselli, routinely made appearances at disco functions with Robin and Reggie to scout out new dancing talent and promote upcoming events such as "Disco Night at White Sox Park". In Sacramento, California, Disco King Paul Dale Roberts danced for
10720-686: The disco era, popular dance styles were developed, including the "Bump", "Penguin", "Boogaloo", "Watergate", and "Robot". By October 1975 the Hustle reigned. It was highly stylized, sophisticated, and overtly sexual. Variations included the Brooklyn Hustle, New York Hustle , and Latin Hustle . During the disco era, many nightclubs would commonly host disco dance competitions or offer free dance lessons. Some cities had disco dance instructors or dance schools, which taught people how to do popular disco dances such as "touch dancing", "the hustle", and "
10854-519: The effects of these innovations in venues such as the Garage." Typical lighting designs for disco dance floors include multi-colored lights that swirl around or flash to the beat, strobe lights , an illuminated dance floor , and a mirror ball . Disco-era disc jockeys (DJs) would often remix existing songs using reel-to-reel tape machines , and add in percussion breaks, new sections, and new sounds. DJs would select songs and grooves according to what
10988-454: The end of the 1960s, musicians, and audiences from the Black, Italian, and Latino communities adopted several traits from the hippie and psychedelia subcultures. They included using music venues with a loud, overwhelming sound, free-form dancing, trippy lighting, colorful costumes, and the use of hallucinogenic drugs. In addition, the perceived positivity, lack of irony, and earnestness of
11122-441: The entire body rather than the obvious erotic parts of the body. The New York nightclub The Sanctuary under resident DJ Francis Grasso is a prime example of this sexual liberty. In their history of the disc jockey and club culture, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton describe the Sanctuary as "poured full of newly liberated gay men, then shaken (and stirred) by a weighty concoction of dance music and pharmacoia of pills and potions,
11256-585: The first discotheque and to have been the first club DJ in 1953 in the "Whisky à Go-Go" in Paris. She installed a dance floor with colored lights and two turntables so she could play records without having a gap in the music. In October 1959, the owner of the Scotch Club in Aachen, West Germany chose to install a record player for the opening night instead of hiring a live band. The patrons were unimpressed until
11390-721: The first ever video album. David Mallet directed and Paul Flattery produced it at various locations and studios in and around New York. It was nominated for a Grammy, the first year the Recording Academy instituted an award for music videos. At the end of the year, the show filmed at the Apollo theatre in Glasgow was broadcast by the BBC on the Old Grey Whistle Test . In March 1980, "Atomic" reached number one in
11524-662: The gender stereotypes of the era. Women dancers wore glitter makeup, sequins , or gold lamé clothing that would shimmer under the lights. Bold colors were popular for both genders. Platform shoes and boots for both genders and high heels for women were popular footwear. Necklaces and medallions were a common fashion accessory . Less commonly, some disco dancers wore outlandish costumes, dressed in drag , covered their bodies with gold or silver paint, or wore very skimpy outfits leaving them nearly nude; these uncommon get-ups were more likely to be seen at invitation-only New York City loft parties and disco clubs. In addition to
11658-414: The help of José Rodriguez, his remaster/mastering engineer, he pressed a single on a 10" disc instead of 7". They cut the next single on a 12" disc, the same format as a standard album. Moulton and Rodriguez discovered that these larger records could have much longer songs and remixes. 12" single records , also known as " Maxi singles ", quickly became the standard format for all DJs of the disco genre. By
11792-593: The inspiration from the film, "Union City Blue"'s lyrics derived from her living in Union City, New Jersey. She worked various jobs across the Hudson River from Manhattan, noting the scenic skyline and passion she embraced while living there, before giving birth to Blondie. The single was not released in the US in favor of the track "The Hardest Part". Chrysalis Records' Linda Carhart asked Jon Roseman Productions US division to shoot videos for every song and create
11926-441: The keyboard sections. Although some critics condemned Blondie for "selling out" by dabbling in disco, the song became a worldwide success and one of the biggest selling singles of 1979. As the focal point for the band, Harry began to attain a celebrity status that set her apart from the other band members. She also embarked on an acting career and appeared in the film The Foreigner directed by Amos Poe . Blondie's next single in
12060-581: The largest music festivals in the US, South by Southwest , both in 2010 and 2011. They performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London in the summer of 2012. Cocktail Slippers was featured in the episode "The Flamingo" in the Norwegian/American mafia comedy Lilyhammer . Blondie (band) Blondie is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1974 by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein . The band
12194-618: The late 1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 1960s counterculture to both the dominance of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music at the time. Several dance styles were developed during the period of 70s disco's popularity in the United States, including "the Bump ", "the Hustle ", "the Watergate", and "the Busstop". During the 1970s, disco music
12328-474: The late 1970s, Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan was arguably the best-known nightclub in the world. This club played a major formative role in the growth of disco music and nightclub culture in general. It was operated by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager and was notorious for the hedonism that went on within: the balconies were known for sexual encounters and drug use was rampant. Its dance floor
12462-899: The late 1970s, most major US cities had thriving disco club scenes. The largest scenes were most notably in New York City but also in Philadelphia , San Francisco , Miami , and Washington, D.C. The scene was centered on discotheques , nightclubs and private loft parties. In the 1970s, notable discos included " Crisco Disco ", "The Sanctuary", "Leviticus", " Studio 54 ", and " Paradise Garage " in New York, "Artemis" in Philadelphia, "Studio One" in Los Angeles, "Dugan's Bistro" in Chicago, and "The Library" in Atlanta. In
12596-633: The likes of TV on the Radio 's David Sitek , Johnny Marr , Sia , Charli XCX , and Dev Hynes . Pollinator spawned hit singles " Fun " and " Long Time " and embarked Blondie on an extensive promotional tour in North America, South America and Europe. The album peaked at number four in the UK and is Blondie's most successful studio album since No Exit . On December 21, 2019, Blondie announced through their social media that they would release an EP and mini-documentary entitled Vivir en La Habana . It
12730-418: The live lineup were second keyboardist Abel Domingues and a three-man horn section comprising Douglas Harris, Joseph Kohanski, and Arthur Pugh. A UK and European tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. In November 1982, the band publicly announced that they had disbanded. In 1983, Stein was diagnosed with the life-threatening illness pemphigus , and Harry cared for him. Harry embarked on solo career in
12864-512: The mid to late 1970s.", with use from 1975 onwards, describing the origin of the word as a shortened form of discotheque . In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the "discotheque dress" was briefly very popular in the United States. The earliest known use for the abbreviated form "disco" described this dress and has been found in The Salt Lake Tribune on July 12, 1964; Playboy magazine used it in September of
12998-418: The mid-1980s, including two singles—the 1983 track "Rush Rush" from the film Scarface , and the 1985 track "Feel The Spin"—released while she continued to feature in films. Harry released the album Rockbird in 1986, with active participation from Stein. The album was a moderate success in the UK where it reached gold certification and gave her a UK top 10 hit with " French Kissin' ". Meanwhile, Burke became
13132-799: The music and dance style of such films as Fame (1980), Disco Dancer (1982), Flashdance (1983), and The Last Days of Disco (1998). Interest in disco dancing also helped spawn dance competition TV shows such as Dance Fever (1979). Disco fashions were very trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore glamorous, expensive, and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco club. Some women would wear sheer, flowing dresses, such as Halston dresses, or loose, flared pants. Other women wore tight, revealing, sexy clothes, such as backless halter tops , disco pants , "hot pants", or body-hugging spandex bodywear or "catsuits". Men would wear shiny polyester Qiana shirts with colorful patterns and pointy, extra wide collars, preferably open at
13266-474: The off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line. A recording error in the 1975 song " Bad Luck " by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes where Earl Young 's hi-hat was too loud in the recording is said to have established loud hi-hats in disco. Other Latin rhythms such as the rhumba, the samba, and the cha-cha-cha are also found in disco recordings, and Latin polyrhythms , such as a rhumba beat layered over
13400-412: The only members of the original line-up still with the band. Though Destri's stint in rehab was successful, he was not invited back into the band. He intended to work on their 2011 album Panic Of Girls , but did not contribute as either a songwriter or a musician on the finished product. In 2005, a new CD/DVD hits package titled Greatest Hits: Sight + Sound was released, peaking at number 48 in
13534-425: The opening of Le Club , a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan , by French expatriate Olivier Coquelin , on New Year's Eve 1960. Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African-Americans , Hispanic and Latino Americans , gay Americans , and Italian Americans in New York City (especially Brooklyn ) and Philadelphia during
13668-501: The release of their sixth studio album, The Hunter , in 1982. Harry continued to pursue a solo career with varied results after taking a few years off to care for partner Stein, who was diagnosed with pemphigus , a rare autoimmune disease of the skin. The band re-formed in 1997, achieving renewed success and their sixth number one single in the UK with " Maria " in 1999, exactly 20 years after their first UK number one single, "Heart of Glass". The group toured and performed throughout
13802-529: The result is a festivaly of carnality." The Sanctuary was the "first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America" and while sex was not allowed on the dancefloor, the dark corners, bathrooms. and hallways of the adjacent buildings were all utilized for orgy-like sexual engagements. By describing the music, drugs, and liberated mentality as a trifecta coming together to create the festival of carnality, Brewster and Broughton are inciting all three as stimuli for
13936-609: The same meaning in English in the 1950s. "Discothèque" became used in French for a type of nightclub in Paris, after they had resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, it was also used to describe a Parisian nightclub in an English magazine. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Discotheque as "A dance hall, nightclub, or similar venue where recorded music
14070-625: The same year to describe Los Angeles nightclubs. Vince Aletti was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the 13 September 1973 feature article Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty! that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. The music typically layered soaring, often- reverberated vocals, often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and "chicken-scratch" rhythm guitars played on an electric guitar . Lead guitar features less frequently in disco than in rock . "The "rooster scratch" sound
14204-401: The sensation that one's arms and legs had turned to ' Jell-O . ' " Quaaludes were so popular at disco clubs that the drug was nicknamed "disco biscuits". Paul Gootenberg states that "[t]he relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough..." During the 1970s, the use of cocaine by well-to-do celebrities led to its "glamorization" and to the widely held view that it
14338-452: The simulated sounds of orgasms. Summer's voice echoes in the tracks, and likens them to the drug-fervent, sexually liberated fans of disco who sought to free themselves through disco's "aesthetic of machine sex." Shapiro sees this as an influence that creates sub-genres like hi-NRG and dub -disco, which allowed for eroticism and technology to be further explored through intense synth bass lines and alternative rhythmic techniques that tap into
14472-468: The sound was enriched with solo lines and harmony parts played by a variety of orchestral instruments, such as violin , viola , cello , trumpet , saxophone , trombone , flugelhorn , French horn , English horn , oboe , flute , timpani and synth strings , string section or a full string orchestra . Most disco songs have a steady four-on-the-floor beat set by a bass drum, a quaver or semi-quaver hi-hat pattern with an open hissing hi-hat on
14606-412: The summer of 1979, the band returned to the studio with Chapman to record their next album. Blondie's fourth album, Eat to the Beat (UK number one, US number seventeen, Australia number nine ), also produced by Chapman, was released in September 1979. Although well received by critics as a suitable follow-up to Parallel Lines , the album and its singles failed to achieve the same level of success in
14740-531: The technology used to create the unique mechanical sound of disco to eroticism, set the genre in a new dimension of reality living outside of naturalism and heterosexuality. Randy Jones and Mark Jacobsen echo this sentiment in BBC Radio's "The Politics of Dancing: How Disco Changed the World," describing the loose, hip-focused dance style as "a new kind of communion" that celebrates the sparks of liberation brought on
14874-527: The tour resumed in August and covered the US and Canada over the course of six weeks. Blondie then took the "Endangered Species Tour" to Australia and New Zealand in November to December 2010, co-headlining with the Pretenders . It was first revealed that the band's album was going to be released first in Australia through the Australian Sony label in December 2010, but Sony later backed out of
15008-520: The tour took the band overseas to Israel, the UK, Russia, Europe and Scandinavia, wrapping up on August 4, 2008, at Store Vega in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired by attendances for the tour, Burke and Carbonara both told interviewers in 2008 and 2009 that the band was working on another record, which would be their first new album since the release of The Curse of Blondie in 2003. Carbonara described it as "a real Blondie record." Blondie undertook
15142-541: The world during the following years, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Blondie has sold over 40 million records worldwide and continues to actively perform. The band's eleventh studio album, Pollinator , was released on May 5, 2017. Inspired by the burgeoning new music scene at the Mercer Arts Center in Manhattan , musician Chris Stein sought to join a similar band. He joined
15276-497: The wrong song. In a 1998 interview, drummer Burke recalled seeing the episode in which the wrong song was played, but he and Stein suggested that it may have been a deliberate subterfuge on the part of Meldrum. Stein asserted that "X-Offender" was "too crazy and aggressive [to become a hit]", while "In the Flesh" was "not representative of any punk sensibility. Over the years, I've thought they probably played both things but liked one better. That's all." In retrospect, Burke described "In
15410-448: Was a "soft drug". LSD , marijuana , and "speed" (amphetamines) were also popular in disco clubs, and the use of these drugs "...contributed to the hedonistic quality of the dance floor experience." Since disco dances were typically held in liquor licensed - nightclubs and dance clubs , alcoholic drinks were also consumed by dancers; some users intentionally combined alcohol with the consumption of other drugs, such as Quaaludes, for
15544-540: Was a cover version of the Randy and the Rainbows ' 1963 hit " Denise ". It reached number two on the British singles charts, while both the album and its second single, " (I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear ", reached the British top ten. Chart success, along with a successful 1978 UK tour, including a gig at London's Roundhouse , made Blondie one of the first American new wave bands to achieve mainstream success in
15678-774: Was a pioneer in the American new wave genre and scene of the mid-1970s. The band's first two albums contained strong elements of punk and new wave, and although highly successful in the UK and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the US until the release of their critically acclaimed third album Parallel Lines in 1978. Over the next two years, the band released a string of hit singles, including " Heart of Glass " (US No. 1), " One Way or Another ", " Dreaming ", " Call Me " (US No. 1), " Atomic ", " The Tide Is High " (US No. 1), and " Rapture " (US No. 1). The band became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles, incorporating elements of disco , pop , reggae , funk and early hip hop music . Blondie disbanded after
15812-550: Was a reworking of a rock and reggae-influenced song that the group had performed since its formation in the mid-1970s, updated with strong elements of disco music. Burke later said the revamped version was inspired partly by Kraftwerk and partly by the Bee Gees ' " Stayin' Alive ", whose drum beat Burke tried to emulate. He and Stein gave Destri much of the credit for the final result, noting that Destri's appreciation of technology had led him to introduce synthesizers and to rework
15946-571: Was also a thriving drug subculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as cocaine and quaaludes , the latter being so common in disco subculture that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits". Disco clubs were also associated with promiscuity as a reflection of the sexual revolution of this era in popular history. Films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Thank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity. Disco declined as
16080-541: Was also made an official member, making Blondie a six-piece band. In December 2009, the band released the song " We Three Kings " to coincide with the Christmas holiday. The new album, to be titled Panic of Girls , which was being mixed at the time, was said to be ready to follow in 2010. Stein stated that Dutch artist Chris Berens would provide the cover art. In April 2010, it was announced that guitarist Carbonara had amicably left Blondie to pursue other projects and
16214-526: Was decorated with an image of the " Man in the Moon " that included an animated cocaine spoon . The " Copacabana ", another New York nightclub dating to the 1940s, had a revival in the late 1970s when it embraced disco; it would become the setting of a Barry Manilow song of the same name . In Washington, D.C. , large disco clubs such as "The Pier" ("Pier 9") and "The Other Side", originally regarded exclusively as " gay bars ", became particularly popular among
16348-412: Was described as having a " pansexual attitude [that] was revolutionary in a country where up until recently it had been illegal for two men to dance together unless there was a woman present; where women were legally obliged to wear at least one recognizable item of female clothing in public; and where men visiting gay bars usually carried bail money with them." Disco was mostly developed from music that
16482-536: Was developed further, mainly by artists from the United States as well as from Europe . Well-known artists included the Bee Gees , ABBA , Donna Summer , Gloria Gaynor , Giorgio Moroder , Baccara , The Jacksons , Michael Jackson , Boney M , Earth Wind & Fire , Rick James , ELO , Average White Band , Chaka Khan , Chic , KC and the Sunshine Band , Thelma Houston , Sister Sledge , Sylvester , The Trammps , Barry White , Diana Ross , Kool &
16616-608: Was fostered a very sex-positive framework around discotheques. Further, in addition to gay sex being illegal in New York state, until 1973 the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as an illness. This law and classification coupled together can be understood to have heavily dissuaded the expression of queerness in public, as such the liberatory dynamics of discotheques can be seen as having provided space for self-realization for queer persons. David Mancuso's club/house party, The Loft ,
16750-422: Was issued in December 1976. Neither was initially a commercial success, and the band spent the rest of the year touring with Television and visiting the UK. Blondie opened for David Bowie and Iggy Pop on the latter's US tour in early 1977 supporting The Idiot . Blondie was invited by Bowie and Pop after the pair had heard their debut. In July 1977, Valentine decided to leave the band and form his own group,
16884-404: Was much more costly to produce than many of the other popular music genres from the 1970s. Unlike the simpler, four-piece-band sound of funk , soul music of the late 1960s or the small jazz organ trios , disco music often included a large band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums),
17018-473: Was part of a broader trend towards exploring a freer sexual expression in the 1970s, an era that is also associated with " swingers clubs , hot tubs , [and] key parties ." In his paper, "In Defense of Disco" (1979), Richard Dyer claims eroticism as one of the three main characteristics of disco. As opposed to rock music which has a very phallic centered eroticism focusing on the sexual pleasure of men over other persons, Dyer describes disco as featuring
17152-423: Was popular on the dance floor in clubs that started playing records instead of having a live band. The first discotheques mostly played swing music . Later on, uptempo rhythm and blues became popular in American clubs and northern soul and glam rock records in the UK. In the early 1940s, nightclubs in Paris resorted to playing jazz records during the Nazi occupation. Régine Zylberberg claimed to have started
17286-488: Was produced by the band together with Steven Van Zandt and co-produced by Jean Beauviour (known for producing Kiss , Blondie, and The Ramones ). The album features 12 tracks, although the US vinyl release includes 2 bonus tracks as well. Besides own material, the album features two cover songs: Lesley Gore 's " She's a Fool " and Connie Francis 's "Don't Ever Leave Me". The record also holds two songs written by Little Steven—"Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" and "Heard You Got
17420-653: Was recorded during the band's residency in Havana , Cuba, in March 2019, and directed by Rob Roth and was shown at several film festivals around the globe. The EP is not entirely a "live" recording as Stein, who was not present at the Havana concerts, added guitar parts in the studio to enhance the live tracks. In October 2020, Harry and Stein appeared in Schmoyoho's parody of the 2020 US presidential debates between vice presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Mike Pence in
17554-580: Was released in February 1999. The band was now officially a four-piece, consisting of Harry, Stein, Burke and Destri. By this point, Valentine had left the group and did not play on the album or contribute to the writing of any songs—two songs on the album co-authored by "Valentine" were in fact co-authored by Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's , no relation to Gary Valentine. Session musicians Leigh Foxx (bass) and Paul Carbonara (guitar) played on this and subsequent Blondie releases. No Exit reached number three on
17688-529: Was released in May 2014 as part of a two-disc package titled Blondie 4(0) Ever to coincide with the band's 40th anniversary. The package also includes Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux , a compilation of re-recordings of Blondie's past singles. The band's official worldwide 40th anniversary tour began in February 2014. In the summer of 2015, the band announced they would be working on a new album produced by John Congleton . Other collaborators are Johnny Marr , Sia , Charli XCX and Dave Stewart . Blondie recorded
17822-407: Was replaced by Tommy Kessler (the finished Panic of Girls album credits both Kessler and Carbonara as official members). In June 2010, Blondie began the first leg of a world tour named "Endangered Species Tour", which covered the UK and Ireland, supported by UK band Little Fish . The set lists featured both classics and new material from the forthcoming Panic of Girls . After a break in July,
17956-520: Was the first song featuring rapping to reach number one in the US. In the song, Harry mentions the hip hop and graffiti artist Fab Five Freddy who also appears in the video for the song. Autoamerican featured a far wider stylistic range than previous Blondie albums, including the avant-garde instrumental "Europa", the acoustic jazz of "Faces", and "Follow Me" (from the Broadway show " Camelot "). The album went on to achieve platinum success in both
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