Blondie

Probably the most commercially successful band to come out of the NYC punk/new-wave scene of the late 1970s (although it’s anyone’s guess once you add in the money the Ramones made from T-shirts), Blondie broke big with 1979’s “Heart Of Glass” and kept the hits train rolling with “One Way Or Another,” “Call Me,” “Rapture,” and the reggae-tinged “The Tide Is High.” More than 30 years later and after at least one break-up and reunion, Debbie Harry and the gang have a new record, Panic Of Girls, digitally released in May, and set to drop as a real-life physical object in September. The band claims it’s darker than previous material, and it is, combining the acerbic lyrics and waning snide sexuality of the 65-year-old Harry in a way that is mildly pleasant, but certainly nowhere near as affecting as the output from 30 years ago.

Updated 08/25/2011