Blondie Debbie Harry A Girl Should Know Better CBGB'S 1975

[rocker10541]

Does anyone have the lyrics to this song? I would love to figure out what she's saying.

[CMloveify]

I'm reading Making Tracks right now.

[13tigertim]

Love the side glance and smile at 2.40, she looks different somehow, kind of off-guard and very natural. The intro sounds like the ending of Little Girl Lies. Great posting.

[Timmybear]

@13tigertim - on the bootleg recording of this, it's a medley/run-together with Little Girl Lies.

[BlondiEmilio]

Well, I think this 30 year ''girl'' could not know better that 30 years later she'd become an icon and a legend!

[ladygabba2010]

@ bigkitten actually debbie was 33 in 1978 :D :D :D

[toemeraldcity]

@ladygabba2010 YIKES then she was 30 when this came out...that would make her? sorry I failed at counting in grade school I only knew how to count how many minutes was left on the clock before recess

[Timmybear]

I named my 'zine A BEAR SHOULD KNOW BETTER...AND I DO after this song. Not that anyone ever catches the reference. :) (of course, my first 'zine NOISE QUEEN was so dubbed after 'Queens of Noise' by the Runaways - and 'cause I'm a noisy queen... :) ).

[admanphoto]

She looks remarkably like a young Alexandra Bastedo in this vid.

[kookooboy]

I love when she forgets the words at 2:01 LOL

[uItravioIet]

I keep wondering if anyone is going to post one of Blondie doing "Heat Wave".

[ihasch]

Btw, since you brought up Patti Smith, I started out as a Patti Smith fan. Blondie was not arty" enough for me I guess,so I didn't take the band seriously. Then, thinking I knew all about it, I rediscovered Blondie. And here is the thing: for all the talk of Patti Smith's originality and poetry, it was actually cute, little Debbie who was i/m/o the more talented original songwriter. I'm still a Patti Smith fan (she's a terrific performer), but how you end up seeing things can be surprising.

[BloodyRose3000]

@ihasch You know what, 9 months or so later I finally bought Blondie's first album after listening to clips and such for a long period of time and getting acclimated to their sound; I actually think it's an amazing album. With that being said, I still think Patti Smith is in a leauge of her own ;), but Blondie is well above just about any other band fronted by a women (or a man, for that matter).

[ihasch]

@BloodyRose3000-That's cool. To each his own. As to myself I first became a Blondie fan a little over a year ago just by randomly seeing their old clips. It's a strange thing. They were the last of the main bands in the NYC scene to be signed to a label. And even after all their success they were among the last bands to get recognition when the era was reevaluated. Something just causes people to overlook them. I'm glad I found them.

[ihasch]

PS-if anyone is interested, From the Velvets to the Voidoids (Clinton Heylin) is a decent musical introduction, although a bit skewed. Not a fan of England's Dreaming (Jon Savage), which is not very useful for the NY punk scene. Please Kill Me is a great book but I read it too long ago to recall how it describes the musical development of punk.

[BloodyRose3000]

Can anyone please explain to me how Blondie was considered punk???? Sounds more like 60's pop to me, or something like that lol.

[ihasch]

@BloodyRose3000-Early punk partially involved recapturing the sound of early 60s rock bands. You even hear it with the Ramones. Bands like Blondie were playing before the "punk" label even came up and punk had not yet become a rigid orthodoxy regarding how you dressed and how loud you played. That said, early bootlegs of Blondie or their filmed performance at the Whiskey in 1977 are definitely punk even in the superficial way you have in mind.

[BloodyRose3000]

@ihasch I don't know how superficial it is. I can see how something like Patti Smith would have been considered punk. Especially b/c of how original she was compared to the bands around her. I guess I can see why Blondie might be considered it, but it still seems more pop than punk to me LOL. Granted, the Ramones def had a 60's influence to them too.

[ihasch]

@BloodyRose3000 -Punk was initially just a term to describe the underground rock scene in NY. This scene was very diverse, with bands such as Television, Suicide, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, the Dictators. It was only later that "punk" became equated with the aggressive style of the Sex Pistols, which is too narrow. Patti Smith is a good example of 60's influence. Her most important songs were 60s covers: Gloria, Horses (which combines two 60s songs) and Hey Joe.

[77safetypin]

nice to see girl in punk music!!!

[haj1909]

Wow! amazing! Didn't think sth like this even existed. Sounds like a godd song, too, w/a little production (keys, notably) Thank U YouTube!

[lloydsk]

I thought there was I read about it and we talked about it. kirsten is perfect she has the same deadpan thats required to transfer debbies attitude, I read that debbie also wanted her for that part.

[ShaylaScissorhands]

michelle pfeiffer would be much better actress to play debbie than kirsten dunst, that poor girl can't sing at all and doesn't have even a small part of debbie's charm. but the truth is that anyone who tries to copy her won't get even close.

[molly4711]

true. also i dig your username.

[Annbeauj]

according to imdb there is no blondie movie in the making. Apparently it was just a rumor.

[johnjohnb1]

that's true, at least kirsten is not playing the role (it's not even amongst her fiuture projects) and there is no movie called "blondie" in the making. She does look a lot like Michelle but Michelle is too old to play her today...

[molly4711]

2:42 cuuuuuute

[sandrovic1970]

I have this whole concert on MP3 (sadly not video) and I can tell you it kicks ass! Lots of songs that never made it onto Blondie albums like CHARLOTTE THE HARLOT and early stuff like ATTACK OF THE GIANT ANTS. Send me a PM if you want to trade stuff!

[justiina32]

@sandrovic1970 i'm very happy with my own concert what you sent to me there far Finland...listen with my blondie fan friend's

[Annbeauj]

she looks sooooo much like Michelle Pfeiffer. They could be related!

[td2gether4ever]

Seems that Michelle says she was mistaken alot for Debbie on the streeets when she was an unknown in her 20's. But the best compliment was from Debbie saying she had wanted Michelle to do a biopic on Blondie playing her.(imdb) Posted a comment elsewhere on the topic as seems alot of people think they looked alike here including them:)

So glad I finally got to see Debbie a couple of months ago and she still vamps it up. Even the teens were in awe of this legend

[Annbeauj]

you'd be surprised to know that Debbie is an icon for a lot of teens. Regarding the bio pic... I think they are making one with Kirsten Dunst. I don't think she looks like Deb, they are going to need tons of make up to create a resemblance...

[DianaVisitor]

I was thinking the same thing!

[moomoochacoo]

holy shit this girl has been hot her WHOLE LIFE, even now she looks good for her age. Jesus

[atomicplayboy4u]

Debbie has a sexy stomach Mmmmm

[justiina32]

Emmerdale's Shadie King looks like Debbie here;) this video and song is one of my favourits!! and of course never recording..:(

[cisum54]

I love it....

[sandrovic1970]

Imagine if you staggered into a bar on the Bowery and basically saw this for free!!! Compare this to hundreds of pounds for flabby-arsed lip-synching Madonna!

[kcrhk]

Is Debbie's ring dedicated to Chris?

[ChloePuffz]

OMG! This proves that Debbie had that whole Girls can wear tie things...not Stupid Avirl!

[PunkInTheBox]

okay, that's because blondie was fresh and new and did what they liked cause it's how they were, while avril is a poser. i mean come on. she's so fucking fake. she trys to be a bad ass, but she aint. damn that's why we have so many fucking 12 yearold posers out there.

[SarahCCal]

oh my god. I have been a fan for years and have NEVER seen this! TYSM for posting! New fave <3

[slh950]

excellent postage!!!

where did this footage come from? amazing! they just always do it their own way don't they?

[sketchmeister]

She's got a better voice than most singers of the past 4 decades. Clem is a wicked drummer. Chris wrote some amazing songs. They developed their style, and were original for the times. You are a complete dickhead.

[Timmybear]

Chris wrote some amazing songs indeed - but not this one. One of the Miamis wrote it (I have a boot of this concert, and it gets announced at the end). Still, they should have recorded it... :)

[ChloePuffz]

Woah...this was b4 she was bleached!...I heard somewhere that she also bleached Nancy Spungen's hair

[td2gether4ever]

Amazing footage. So Debbie was 30 here? Still looks amazing:) She is a legend in new wave punk.

Blondie Forever.

[rocknrollporn]

this is way better than heart of glass

[birdy47]

they dont sound good here they even said on the documentery one way or another :)

[visaman]

It's a very raw sound, but then that's the appeal to it, compared to the canned synth sound of today.

[paris400]

Imagine walking into a sleazy CBs, getting a cheap beer and watching her onstage? Oh, the old days .......

[bigkitten]

God!...I remember being told back in early '78 that she was about 35 years old but I didn't believe it. However, she's been a sex icon for me since that time! And from what I've seen of her in interviews etc., she's a very down-to-earth, self-deprecating and humble person. How far are we off cloning Humans??? I have a suggestion.....

[EscapeNewJersey]

@bigkitten No she was 30 back in 75.

[capemichael]

This is so rich. I was 5 years old when this was recorded. My most vivid memory of childhood is listening to "The Tide is High" in the back of my sisters purple Vega. I ran right into Debbie Harry in a cabaret in Manhattan a couple years back and I was dumbstruck. She has layers upon layers of cultural relevance.

[LAKERSRDABOMB]

Thanks for putting this on! Love Debbie and she's still HOT!

[dylanfan1969]

Sweet Jesus she was gorgeous back then! Didn't she work in a playboy club previous to becoming a singer?

[redishio]

Yep a playbpoy waitress.

[Splitskirts]

Great stuff - considering the audio and video - I love it !  I just love Debbie's long hair and she looks great in Black and White - I don't think this takes anything away from the " look " or the performance. Thanks for putting it on.

[ForeverYoung58]

A couple of observations/questions: Was this black & white or an old video with the color washed out? Also, it looks to me like the camera lens could have used a cleaning. However, an amazing historical video document of the birth of American punk/new wave. Ms. Harry, still pretty young and fresh-faced (she hadn't been glammed up yet), at the height of her powers... A beautiful woman rockin' out, having fun and singing with attitude. Male dreams are made of this. Cool in every way.

[visaman]

Keep in mind that this was recorded in 1975. Home video cameras only shot in B&W at that time. Television news crews were still using film cameras.

It was filmed inside CBGBS, which no doubt was rather devoid of light, hence the dark quality of the tape.

[ForeverYoung58]

Yeah, you're right. I remember the small black and white video cameras that the audio/video department in school used back in the 70's; although I don't think they were made for the home. I should have known better. Color would have been way too high budget for CBGB's. Still, great footage. Deborah is blue-flame hot. Would love to know where this video came from.

[justiina32]

GODDESS DEBBIE!!!!!! where can I get this consert??!!!! sound's great

[frackus101]

....simply great

[CanGuy70]

I have this full concert on CD and it sounds great! It's from July/August 1975 at CBGB's.

[psychicdelic]

amazing - so rare - such great talent!

[retro1466]

It is amazing to think that 32 years later, Debbie is still recording, touring, writing and singing. Not for the money but because she loves it.

A true artist, a true legend. Forever sexy Forever beautiful. No one can touch her.

[W1C1W]

Debbie so talented, so beautiful. Chris looks cool, kinda cooper-esq. I wonder where the rest of this film is? Thanks for posting!

[fancellu2]

That is awesome.

Where did you get it from?

Such early days, but even then she's magnetic.

[godadameve]

Holy Sh**T! Fantastically RARE! Where on earth did you get this?!! THANK YOU so MUCH! Once again, YOUTUBE and its users RULE!!!

[ReeseMac]

Thats a pretty raw video which is part of what makes it good. Hard to believe that was over 30 years ago.

[TOKguy]

She looks and sounds great

[carberyroe]

thanx this is great! id love to see sth from wind in the willows or the stilletoes

[dylanfan1969]

goddamn she is so sexxy...

[hotbohemianpotato]

I'm loving Chris Stein's hair... Why didn't he keep it like that?

[chamaleon63]

oh debbie!!!! great video,the beginng of an era...

[YerachShvan]

WOW! One foot in Hippie era, and foot alraedy in the PUNK era, BUT EVERYTHING feels and sounds BLONDIE!

no less than X Offender, Call Me! & Maria!

Les Paul Guitar.. I think these are about the same Structures as in X Offender... Not the same tune obvoiusly LOL Who cares? Debbie is so sexy, Talented, HOT, cute, she is a Goddess! And this is Before Sid has founded the sex Pistols, In the UK. I love this song! I wish I knew Debbie Personaly in 1975! GO GO Debbie! I KNOW BETTER!

[thereagauze]

where is this sourced from? is there more from this show?

[neverbeen2]

brilliant :)

[hankbreeze]

great clip!

[Timmybear]

Gary Valentine's comments on how Chris seemed to play guitar as though he were unable to decide between rhythm and lead, and so played both kind of randomly, makes more sense now upon viewing this.

[sundaygirl4]

Debbie is so cute and so young! Thanks for sharing, george6915.

[thereagauze]

not that young, she's 30 in this video!

[sundaygirl4]

That's true, but she's young compared to how old she is now (61). Then again age is no matter with Debbie Harry, she's amazing no matter how old she is!

[Atomyk]

she was 29 years old (this was just before her 30th b-day)!!

[thereagauze]

pwned

[claudenorth2007]

Debbie is the goddess of cool! What a great song! Too bad it never turned up on an album.

[chrishead1]

how amazing to see debbie in '75! this is incredible!!!

[cuenca2284]

This video rules!