Blondie - 20/20 March 1980 Part One

Blondie profiled by Pierre Salinger on 20/20 March 1980
Part One of Two. Part Two: • Blondie - 20/20 March ...

[@ODN67]

Oh no, she had range. Those angelic high notes that she could string together like a lullaby in rapture or sound asleep, combined with an impressive punked out lower range. Who else could do Punk, Disco, Pop and Reggae without being a fantastic singer?

[@rjs617]

I checked out Miley Cyrus’s version of Heart of Glass, and she is no doubt a great singer who does a respectable job, but Debbie Harry sounds so natural and effortless. She really did have a great voice.

[@doetim]

When she says "I try to be natural" that pretty much sums up what Debbie Harry is and sets her apart from other performers who build their careers on calculations and rehearsed dance moves.

[@CamRebires]

Well put!.. 10 years ago

[@johnsmith-zh1bt]

true enough

[@kristiadams6259]

One of the most beautiful women on the planet

[@justaman5418]

@@ricdavid7476 YOUR WEIRD

[@ricdavid7476]

@@justaman5418 yup you are right

[@justaman5418]

ric david still not convinced

[@justaman5418]

ric david and what you’ve said is still happening today

[@cherokeeheartct8633]

@@ricdavid7476 she is all Gums tiny teeth eyes look like she is high all the time,they are halfway shut,sometimes I can't even tell if they are even open at all,and she has no rhythm cant dance lol she was cute back in the day,but to say she is Beautiful thats alot,and to say one of the most beautiful women in the world,is alot alot.!!

[@taylortimeless]

Oh my god she’s singing pretty baby! Literally in my top 3 fav songs of theirs!

[@roryotoole3279]

She's a neon nebula!

[@fitnessfirst5111]

Debbie = incomparable beauty + true musical and style genius.

[@BlackRaven156]

We all know where that interviewer's mind is at. Every question about her sex appeal, no questions about music. She's not even dressed skimpy like The Runnaways did.

[@jamonster66]

Hearing an older, established news guy describe punk music is simultaneously sad and hilarious

[@andyanderson4086]

There's nobody now in 2016 who can compare to Debbie.

[@robinson01902]

Denise(Vanity)Matthews anyone?

[@erickrubencabreraochoa5699]

Not even in 2020

[@cherokeeheartct8633]

R u seriois???Lmao

[@Natalie-gb8tt]

@@erickrubencabreraochoa5699 not even in 2021

[@EnGee23]

Nor in 2021

[@bostonseeker]

It's really funny listening to Pierre Salinger talk that way: in the 70s, older people talked that way about "those young people." What Salinger didn't get was that by 1980, the 60s rebellion was over. Punk was a rebellion against the rebellion. Debbie Harry was already in her 30s by this point and no spring chicken. It was hard to get, but in a few years, Blondie invented the 80s sound, before there were any 80s. It had to be invented.

[@HadenRobert]

They seem to be degrading Debbie to her looks a little bit in this... But she speaks beautifully, and makes even more beautiful music!

[@EF-fc4du]

People were way more comfortable and hobest about beauty then.

[@lacuaimabritanica]

I love this woman. Always have and always will.

[@spamwagon]

1:35 Debbie never looked more beautiful, a natural goddess just being herself, not having to try. And enjoying herself. One of a kind.

[@riobabic8960]

That s the look !

[@bostonseeker]

Without Debbie Harry, the latter day 80s and 90s female rockers would never have done it. But Debbie did it from scratch, with no models. She had to create the archetype. The punk movement made success possible for later serious female rockers.

[@iggyreilly2463]

Deborah Harry was exquisite. Her looks were classic enough that everyone recognized her beauty, yet she was unique, rare, and iconic -- so much so that no other woman really compares very favorably. She had an almost French look, with her impossibly high cheek bones and pouty mouth, her large wide eyes, and perfect skin. She was also very stylish in a way that was far ahead of her time. Compared to Harry, Marilyn Monroe's beauty was of a far more common, generic type -- a pinup.

[@eddieleelewisshow7257]

Blondie, Clem and All of Blondie are wonderful ! Merci :)

[@doetim]

@cloudydaiz123 What are you talking about? She was a great singer! She had a perfect voice for the kind of music blondie created, new wave rock. She was famous because her group had great songs and yes her beauty helped too and that she was very likable with lots of charisma. Not because she was punk or blond.

[@kennethoats2322]

THE TIDE IS HIGH....and so were Debbie and Chris

[@shirleylemoine3658]

Debbie is my goddess! The most beautiful woman I've never seen! Blondie is THE group! Debbie's voice is so beautiful, pure, intense and she makes me crazy :-)

[@yasminlopes9230]

Shirley Lemoine I think that Debbie is "my" MARIA! Kkkkkkkkkkkkk

[@MilesBellas]

The group was very good on it's own.

[@johndean4765]

Shirleylemoine shame you never saw this beautiful icon Debbie Harry maybe your too young. I have seen her 25 times up to 1991 and she looked even better in the flesh than on screen.

[@jerryturner3997]

Here it's already 2023.Debbie will always be are LADY of CLASS.✨🌹✨..🎶🎵🎶...

[@mustlovepretzels]

Glad I read Debbie Harry's biography "Face It". I would have never known this existed. Thanks MyVHSArchives. Cheers!

[@roryotoole3279]

I saw this interview when it originally aired and audio taped it at the time. Then listened to it many, many times after that. Only sometime within the last 10 years did I find this report on KZbin and was able to see it again. I haven't read her book yet but I'm wondering what does it say about this interview?

[@tracycartwright978]

One cool and gorgeous woman, she seems so friendly too, not above herself.

[@WideWorldofTrains]

Great interview, I used to watch 20/20 back in those days but don't remember this one.

[@ICA31]

Incidentally, Blondie was already huge before the Pretenders emerged in 1980. And Debbie and Hynde had very different images. Nicks with Fleetwood Mac was also a totally different image.

[@EnGee23]

Because of her exceptional beauty, it's often over-looked that she was a genius songwriter. Easy to see why, though.

[@dlamb2840]

That woman, was without ANY question the hottest, sexiest human being on this earth in her day but it has to be said that she had an UTTERLY amazing voice as well!! A complete honey !!

[@johndean4765]

Dlamb agree Debbie back in the day was so hot she even made young pretty teenage girls gasp with admiration.

[@newaddress456]

She is more beautiful than Marilyn Monroe. Pierre brought that up.

[@maryreilly5102]

Stein is gorgeous too xx

[@ICA31]

@fannicoleely-Debbie was 1970s. Trends? Well Blondie, a 70s band, helped establish the music of the early 80s, including post-New Wave dance pop. And that Maripol created thrift store look was very much derivative from the punk thrift store style that Debbie helped to popularize. And her persona/image, which altered the perception of women in popular music, was one that later stars developed and ran with. In a sense Debbie was a trendsetter for the 70s and 80s. Respect is a two way street.

[@mrindecisive100]

The outfit Debbie is wearing at 0:23 looks very much like the same one she wore on the UK 'Dreaming' cover (minus the hat). Also, the dress that Debbie is wearing at 5:08 looks like it could be the one she is pictured wearing on the UK 'Hanging on the Telephone' cover.

[@doetim]

I actually feel the exact opposite! MM was a cute girl but Debbie Harry is striking and I think MM would have killed for Debbie's bone structure! I have always thought MM was attractive and cute but not beautiful like other actresses in her time like Liz Taylor or Ava Gardner, she had this helpless vulnerable act that made her extra attractive. Debbie Harry to me is like really stunning with an amazing face that many would kill to have! I don't feel that way about MM.

[@kristiadams6259]

I love you Deborah & Chris

[@johnsmith-zh1bt]

the thing about all of debbies interviews from that era is the fact that she is totally zonked out on drugs in all of them i am glad she overcome them later plus the fact that she put her career on hold to take care of chris stein when he developed that skin disease her career never recovered from that hiatus but it indicates that she was and is a nice person deep underneath

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

They also got robbed out of most of their money by accountants and record companies. But she bounced back. Apparently she's got around $30 million now, but should have a LOT more.

[@65rowan]

Madonna does not come close to Debbie for style, talent, beauty, coolness or originality. she got lucky and ran with the ideas that Debbie had in the 70s. Debbie was a sex symbol of the 70s and 80s then she took time off to look after her sick boyfriend who was dying at the time thats when the gap was filled by Madonna it was little screaming girls who took to Madonna like the spice girls had but soon the gay community took to her and she also become a globle superstar and iconic like DH b4.

[@Jonaontheradio]

I'm pretty sure that Ms. Harry would disagree with that. Madonna is in a league of her own. Do we really want to be comparing the two because they're both female? Pretty lame.

[@evanwolf6618]

Madonna hung out at Max's and the lower east side , but her original singing style was was based on black female pop music that only played on 'black' radio. Most of those artists at the time were much better . ( really all ) . 'Holiday' was a club hit (12inch) for maybe a year before it became a real radio hit . Then she was signed to Sire records . Madonna's stardom came when she performed " Like A Virgin " at The First Annual MTV Awards in 1984. The rest is ......

[@65rowan]

Search Madonna - Debbie Harry as role model, In the whole original interview Madonna stated she was only influenced be one woman and that was Debbie Harry. Madonna when she had nothing in the beginning and was hanging around in New York she used most of Debbie friends even slept with a few to climb the fame ladder in the beginning that's total fact. Madonna named Debbie as a role model not long ago on a big awards show. Debbie was in the audience at that show in 2018.

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

​@@65rowanDid she publicly thank the friends of Debbie that she slept with?

[@musicisbrilliant]

I LOVE BLONDIE BEYOND WORDS.

[@gohamroad990]

Thank you so .. so much!! :D

[@1988WHISKY]

She's so hot, beautiful, love her voice!

[@geekay1349]

she feels natural and she likes it - we like it too!

[@alexs5070]

They always have to bring up her looks, don't they?

[@Jonaontheradio]

How can you NOT? everyone loves to look at her. She's pretty--she's got style. Expecting anything different is like looking at a beautiful exotic car and expecting people to focus solely on its function.

[@louiso.4325]

I agree. I mean, she is really REALLY attractive. Like...abnormally so almost, but she's not a model. She's a singer and songwriter, a FANTASTIC one at that, who kicked ass onstage. Debbie Harry was many things and being a one trick pony was definitely NOT one of them.

[@aryanson]

@@Jonaontheradio Yep, you don't buy a Lamborghini, just because it's fast. Chris Stein was one lucky dude, abd the amazing thing was, she never acted like she was beautiful

[@whyismylifeweird4251]

I mean just read the comments.

[@cherokeeheartct8633]

@@louiso.4325 she didng age well

[@miskay5526]

what a cool couple!

[@EliteRock]

Still can't help smiling when I see those old pics where Debbie had that beehive - straight out of _Madmen!_

[@TheInnerParty]

Weird to love a woman you've never met since nearly I've been alive ! 😎

[@kristiadams6259]

Deborah is a Goddess !

[@soschannel1]

The pricks negative commenting on You Tube is the biggest down side. Get a life and don't spoil it for genuine fans.

[@tasibho]

You know if debbie had had half the ambition and had been just as showbiz driven she could have been more successful than madonna today. Still an icon though.

[@rjs617]

Some of this was timing too. Madonna came up in the MTV era. Blondie started pre-MTV, pre-Internet, just living in a filthy, dangerous city with no money doing whatever they felt like with very little guidance or backing. So, I feel like Madonna had an advantage as far as the business side of things. Also, let’s be honest that Debbie Harry and Madonna occupy different niches. Madonna was all about music videos, big shows, and choreographed dancing. Debbie was more about being a singer, either as a front-man for Blondie or solo. I can’t picture her doing what Madonna did, nor vice versa.

[@tasibho]

@@rjs617 i agree their niches are different. But Blondie really ruled the world at one point. I think blondie and debbie just let that hype cool off for too long and it just faded almost. I was referring to that massive self promotion and marketing aspect that Madonna seemed to really be masterful at. She seemed to have more hunger for. And Image. Which Debbie was also so powerful at but couldn't somehow find longevity with even though their videos were some of the earliest at MTV.

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

Well, seeing as Debbie was a few months off her 35th birthday when this was first broadcast, I'd say they were products of entirely different eras, even if there's only a six year age difference between them. Madonna was definitely the smarter business woman (Debbie and Blondie were swindled out of a large part of their money by accountants and record companies), and as far as I know didn't struggle with heroin addiction. But as a true singer/song writer artist, Debbie has it all over Madge, though I'd give Madge the "performer" badge(yuk-yuk), simply because she worked with bigger budgets and production values.

[@JBinOtown]

Oh to have lived in those times.

[@alan5863]

I did. It was crap.

[@trappistpreserves]

Al blake Was not. It was great!

[@alan5863]

It was great because it was great, not because it happened in 1980.

[@sandrasullivan8136]

Love Debie harry

[@DiscoMatty79]

dean b I agree. I was born in 1982. I wish I could have experienced that era

[@Tomsaulk]

Which concerts are the excerpts from? I would like to see those videos, since they were obviously recorded, but I haven't found them anywhere.

[@kennethj1956]

Debbie's perky hair, pouty lips, strong voice......all so intoxicating, it should be Illegal.

[@onlyme219]

Debbie is beautiful but people forget she is a talented singer and songwriter, her looks are just a bonus

[@peroxidie]

Thank you!!!!

[@carlosalbertoschiffinischi3976]

A cantora Debbie Harry a Diva da música Pop Rock Internacional a melhor cantora de todos os tempos

[@davidallen346]

Chris Stein , luckiest man alive.

[@lauraunderwood2999]

David Allen I want to die and come back as Chris Stein ♡

[@bradydavis5791]

Was

[@DAYGLOUKNOUKNO]

'No why should i?' ................................................EXACTLY

[@Heatherlasweet]

LOVE IT! LOVE Debbie (; x

[@dougie1968]

Whatever happened to Pierre Salinger?

[@LunaTricksTelevision]

anybody got links to those live performances shown in this clip?

[@roryotoole3279]

Don't know if they exist beyond what was done in the report. He obviously traveled with them for a while or at least the film crew did.

[@LunaTricksTelevision]

@@roryotoole3279 That would be a shame man that footage looked exciting.

[@saltycrotchwhiff3946]

Compare her to Lady Gaga and realise what a decadent age we are.

[@cheriebomb158]

Debbie loves Lady Gaga!

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

Pierre is the subject of the Tuff Darts song, "Phone Booth Man".

[@xavierbrown8053]

What's the song called in the beginning?

[@charlenepatterson8718]

Victor from the eat to the beat album good album!!!

[@richalderson6069]

I can see why Debbie never married, no man is good enough for a woman as incredible as her.

[@thinkingallowed7042]

I know Chris Stein is obviously a gifted musician but she was wasted on a man who didn't marry her from the start and then after she cared for him when he became seriously ill just found another woman to have children with. There is always a man out there somewhere good enough for a complete package woman who has it all. It's better for a woman to be alone even in her prime when she has more choices than to waste time on men who don't really appreciate what they have. A man who lives with a woman, never marries her then does marry another woman and have children later in life is a time waster. Maybe she was OK at the time with just living with him but I guarantee privately she wonders what might have been if she had dated someone else when the world was at her feet.

[@eoincorish4601]

I know she was a sex symbol of the 80s but how can you call someone that on the first year of the decade

[@michaelmckenna9341]

Debbie was classed as a sex symbol even in the 70's in Europe and Australia before America.

[@65rowan]

Because it was the 80's.. dah

[@michaeltnewyorknights8413]

@@65rowan no, it was 1980. 3 months into it only...1980 has way more in common with 1978/79 than it does with 1987/88

[@roryotoole3279]

She was coming on strong at that time. Her star was still rising.

[@philmstud2k]

Lol, I guess she was that hot. Knew nothing in the next ten years could compare.

[@madizzle90]

What song are they performing at 4:40?

[@roryotoole3279]

Victor from Eat to the Beat

[@geraldynsan]

Beauty and talent that’s Blondie 👱‍♀️

[@ICA31]

If you want to call a nose job minor, by all means, and that wasn't the only procedure. Monroe was naturally attractive. But that surgery created her whole iconic look. She wasn't the first or the last. In contrast Debbie didn't create her look artificially. But yes, older celebrities these days get work done to combat aging. That get criticized when they do it but eviscerated if they don't. It's still a lot less obvious than Madonna.

[@Jonaontheradio]

People used to have to hide that they dyed their hair for fear of ridicule. You know in years to come that folks will look back and scoff at our quaint times when people were chided for getting cosmetic surgery.

[@ajaxfilms]

Debbie is wonderful...her, Cyndi Lauper and Annie Lennox have the best voices to me.

[@EmpressOfWyoming58]

Debbie is tougher and so much more confident than Miss Monroe was.

[@philmstud2k]

And hotter.

[@duffbaker9554]

+EmpressOfWyoming58 And cooler.

[@aprilann4023]

EmpressOfWyoming58 stfu. Stop comparing two queens. How ignorant of you.

[@bradydavis5791]

@@philmstud2k I don't know about hotter. Both were equally hot as fuck.

[@ellie.l6585]

@@aprilann4023 both stunningly beautiful and there is a definite resemblance especially when Debbie smiles. I think the main difference between them is that Marilyn was a creation and even her friends said it was almost a role she played. Debbie just seems natural and like she would be the same whether cameras were there or not. Love them both.

[@rjs617]

Debbie Harry mentioned this interview in her memoir Face It, and she said she was exasperated by his relentless focus on her looks and his questions to Chris about what it was like living with a sex symbol. I think some questions about the role looks play in the music business are reasonable, but this was way too much. I did like hearing about the band as a whole.

[@catolog96]

0:44 hey, shut up! I was listening to that! Just kidding. Love Blondie

[@kennethj1956]

Man, when I was a kid it was Princess Leia or Debbie Harry..... Debbie won hands down!

[@aldenunion]

Dont forget Lindsay Wagner,but Deb definitely hands down.lol...

[@gaynor1721]

Princess Leia.

[@superbulldog81]

the famous wrestler Dr. X tee shirt, made famous by Debbie Harry:)

[@themainproblem]

Debbie is the hottest woman that I have ever seen.

[@blew1t]

can you imagine they start the interview and just hit you with that "DO YOU FEEL LIKE A SEX SYMBOL??"

[@madsketcher]

Oh my God. The descriptions of the music. Hilarious!

[@ChawkDee]

She really lived on the bowery?

[@jackjamesmault]

without blondie, there w/b no gwen stephani just sayin

[@edmundpower1250]

And?

[@Philmoscowitz]

This interviewer is clearly out of his element. He can't understand Blondie so he frames them in the old stereotype of rebellious youth who are fed up with the establishment, Lol

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

And she was only a few months off of her 35th birthday when this was filmed.

[@S4vingErin]

Debbie and Joan Jett are my ultimate idols, I love them so much it hurts

[@guyinsf]

And it's such a big bonus that they are both very close friends since the 1970s.

[@aryanson]

A junkie, and a muff diver, you are batting 1000 so far...

[@habyss]

Dagwood was a lucky guy.

[@Jonaontheradio]

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!

[@roryotoole3279]

😆🤣😂

[@MyVHSArchives]

She Says: "No I think it's kind of perposterous, you know?"

[@gaynor1721]

Preposterous.

[@Amsterdam74yeah]

Terrible questions

[@tylercor8910]

Debbie was the one who could challenge Madonna

[@johndean4765]

Madonna not fit enough to wash Debbie s clothes.

[@doetim]

He said latter day 80's and 90's female rockers, the people you named (chrissie hynde, stevie Nicks) are not latter day 80's or 90's, they came out at the same time as Debbie, more or less.

[@Punxsiejett]

Looveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee blondieeee

[@robm2074]

GET ME A TIME MACHINE NOW! I AM IN LOVE!!!

[@usermariausercrodriguez5313]

KELINDA HERMOSAS DIOS VENDIGAS....

[@simonrandall5471]

Frank Infante. Always looked like Frankenstein to me.

[@charlenepatterson8718]

Lol! Lol! Same here.

[@chinchomeka6946]

Mi heart hurts when i see her eyes , her smile such a beauty ❤️

[@laradoodleann]

@yellowmackerel I think you mean that Taylor Momsen reminds you of her.

[@altq2001]

lol she coudn't dance but she had stunning beauty

[@stickybandit2346]

She is still saying " Ya Know" all these years later.

[@sarah.1387]

damn the interviewers were all so mean to her… jeez

[@simonrandall5471]

Helen of Troy.

[@mizzury54]

Where do they get this "new Marilyn Monroe" crap ? She's just Debbie Harry, she was herself.

[@secpac58chichi]

well looks don't hurt - I mean Patti Smith was something but she didn't get the fame

[@Jonaontheradio]

I think you have a point. Looks can't make you a great singer, but when you have the talent and the looks, people take notice.

[@EphemeralProductions]

chris was such a cutie! :)

[@pinkypurple3013]

Another singer with clothes on!

[@cherokeeheartct8633]

I noticed Lot of times her eyes seemed almost shut wonder why

[@scottelambertz]

And now we have Lady GaGa. Oofda.

[@EphemeralProductions]

Debbie is great and beautiful but all this about her vs Marilyn...marilyn had GREAT T&A! And she KNEW it!!!

[@guyinsf]

Yeah but Marilyn wished she had Debbie's face.

[@Jonaontheradio]

Silly comparison. They'd probably have been pals if they had known each other.

[@edmundpower1250]

@@guyinsf marlyn was dead long before Debbie rose to fame

[@gaynor1721]

@@Jonaontheradio They would have been rivals. Marilyn didn't like the fact that Cyd Charisse had blonde hair and insisted Monroe's hair was a few shades lighter in Something's Got To Give, her unfinished final film. Also Marilyn was a descendant of the Scottish Munroe clan and Debbie Harry is a descendant of their rival clan Mackenzie. They would definitely have been rivals.

[@andym1842]

billy bush, oh my god

[@nosense58]

Debbie is very yummy here