A reunited Blondie, fronted by former Playboy bunny Debbie Harry, returned to the top of the British hit parade Tuesday with the band’s first single in 17 years.
This makes Blondie the first group in U.K. history to have No.1 singles in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Overjoyed at their revival, the singer who launched a million schoolboy fantasies in the 1970s told the British press: “I want to recapture my youth, jerk around in front of thousands of people and make money, of course.”
The group’s new album, “No Exit,” will hit American stores on Feb. 23. Harry and Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri spoke to The Post recently. Here’s what’s on their minds.
Q: There’re a lot of kids out there who know Blondie’s music but don’t necessarily know the band’s history. Jimmy, what do you consider the band’s mileposts?
Jimmy: Besides the records – we had a lot of success with singles – we were the first band of its kind to have a singer like Debbie, who put her own sexuality and womanhood out front and was unapologetic about it. Every other female artist in other bands, from Janis [Joplin] to Grace Slick, was always like one of the boys. Debbie’s no-apology approach about being a woman in a rock band was groundbreaking. She was the model for so many female singers today. Debbie might be more modest about that but, in my opinion, she was the first to do it. We were also raw and powerful, but we had a great pop sensibility.
Q: Debbie, there are going to be some people who’ll say doing this reunion thing was just a way to snag loads of cash. Can you respond to them?
Debbie: As far as cashing in, I say “Yeah, baby! Seven come 11!” That’s pretty obvious. We’re in a business and we make money. On the aesthetic side, it took a lot of work getting to know each other again, testing the waters and seeing if we could actually play together and feel good about it. We took our time – about three years – to work it all out, write new material and put the album out. Creating the new music makes it a fresh start instead of a grab-the-cash reunion. What we’re doing makes a clear statement that it’s more than just money. The approach we took made sense to us.
Q: From what you seem to be saying, this new disc and the upcoming tour aren’t a one-shot deal. Will Blondie continue?
Debbie: Hopefully, if we sell enough records. I believe we have an option in our contract with the record company to make another record.
Q: How about with each other? Are you ready for that kind of commitment?
Jimmy: Well, we’ll see how we’re getting along. Right now, everything is fine. You just can’t make those kinds of plans. We’re all just human and we can’t predict what will happen. Last time, it wasn’t us – it was the outside situations that pulled us apart. This time, I hope the situations remain good and we can stick together.
Debbie: Making records is what we’re really about. We’re songwriters who work well together – we really enjoy that process. So making the records is the gravy and the other stuff, like traveling for the tour, sort of drags you down and makes you ask, “Why aren’t we home?”
Q: Blondie had the unique distinction of recognizing the relationship between rap and rock before most white Americans even knew what rap was. Do you feel you have a place in hip-hop history because of your song “Rapture”?
Jimmy: We’ve been told by guys from Wu Tang that “Rapture” was the first rap song they ever heard – which is pretty amazing. It’s really touching to hear it from those guys, because that’s what they do. Chris [Stein] and Debbie must be pleased, too, because it was their idea to do this song in the first place.
Q: Your new disc sounds very much like a classic Blondie album. Why didn’t you attempt to give it a ’90s style?
Debbie: I’m curious about what you mean, “’90s style.” I hear everything happening all the time and I can’t really say what I’d do to make anything sound ’90s.
Q: Well, for instance, why not have any elements of electronics?
Jimmy: We are a pop band. Rather than go into the studio and try to sound current, we went into the studio and were ourselves. The only concession we made to new technology was to record it digitally. We didn’t change our style or anything like that. We have chemistry and we put it on record.
Q: Debbie, your single “Maria” just went No. 1 in the U.K. Can you describe what the tune is about?
Debbie: It’s a song that fantasizes about a woman who is unattainable and who doesn’t know you exist.
Jimmy: Like the robot [named Maria] in “Metropolis.”
Q: What will the upcoming tour be like – big venues like the Garden or smaller club shows?
Debbie: We will do whatever the market will bear. It will all depend on what happens with the record and the interest that’s shown. That’s what will dictate the size of the venues.
Q: Debbie, you’ve kept very busy since Blondie disbanded. You’ve been involved in a film with Meat Loaf and a Broadway production in which you co-starred with the late comic Andy Kaufman. What were those projects like?
Debbie: I worked with Meat Loaf in the film “Roadie,” and up until then, I don’t think any of us had met him – but we liked him from his “Rocky Horror Picture Show” role. I didn’t follow his musical career but, working with him on the film, I gained an appreciation of how good an actor he is. When I worked with Andy, he knew he was sick. Still, when we were working [on “Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Fly Trap”], he was totally focused. It was an awkward situation, because the director we were working with – who I won’t name – was a c—.
Q: Debbie, you have shown you could probably do anything you want in entertainment. Why music?
Debbie: There’s something very visceral about music to me. Theater and movies seem too intellectual compared to music. I’m a sort of dreamy kind of person and I think music suits me. I guess I have a musical mind. I feel comfortable there.