Amanda Taraska/News & Guts MediaBlondie frontwoman Debbie Harry is featured in the latest episode of the Dan Rather-hosted AXS TV series The Big Interview, which premieres tonight, April 22, at 8 p.m. ET.
In a sneak peek of the episode, Rather points out that, while Blondie was considered a punk band, the group scored its first major hit with the disco-influenced “Heart of Glass,” and also had success experimenting with genres like reggae and hip-hop.
“I don’t know if we were intentionally trying to break rules, but we were trying to expand our own experience,” Harry explains. “And I don’t think that we actually were a traditional punk band in that sense.”
“We were trying to be experimental in our way, and we were always sort of developing and sort of reaching out and embracing different styles of music that…we admired and that we liked and we felt were sort of a part of our reference.”
The 74-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also noted that being based in the New York City exposed the band to a diverse range of music and art.
“[T]he great thing about New York City is that…there’s always been different styles of music, ethnicities and, you know, jazz,” she maintains. “We’ve had great influences, and it’s always been very expansive.”
“[I]t’s just…been very exciting,” says the New Jersey native. “I think that that’s one of the reasons…people come to New York. That’s why I came to New York.”
The episode also features Harry discussing her 2019 memoir Face It, as well as how Blondie got its name, her search for her birth parents, her acting career, her long friendship and creative relationship with her ex, Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, and more.
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