 Debbie Harry/Blondie Blondie hasn't really been anthologized to perfection yet, but I'd have to say that this CD probably brings me the most satisfaction of all the compilations available. Released in 1988, Once More Into The Bleach contains 1988-era remixes of Blondie tunes and select album tracks from Debbie Harry's solo work. It's really more of a Debbie Harry album, since the actual live musicians have been pretty much mixed out entirely. The dated production values (i.e. the Kylie Minogue tart-up of "Denis") should make this album a wincing embarrassment, but I actually think that it's held up pretty well. (By contrast, Remixed Remade Remodeled, far more recent, fares far less well in retrospect.) Something about the naïve cheesiness of details like the melodic telephone tones on "Call Me" and the synthesizer "waves" on "The Tide Is High" make more recent remixes look unattractively cynical (like much of the so-in-the-know '90s). In other words, I can put this album on and simply enjoy it. The rest of the track listing is well-chosen: "French Kissin' in the USA," "Feel The Spin," "In Love With Love" … makes a strong case for Debbie Harry's enduring permanence factor. I wish that there were a truly great Blondie collection available (similar to The Platinum Collection but with fewer attempts to justify the "Blondie is a band" idea). Yes, Blondie was a band, but it was pretty much a bullshit male pop band, musically. So to me, Debbie Harry is Blondie, and the absence of much of the band's semi-successfully-executed new-wave chops here is refreshing. The album seems to get at the essence of Blondie's appeal while avoiding the obvious. Not a perfect album, and quite definitely dated, but an underdog of a CD that has survived a decade of CD collection pogroms and sell-backs. And don't hold it against me that I also still like Madonna's You Can Dance and Paula Abdul's Shut Up And Dance … I can't choose what I enjoy any more than I can choose my parents.
Review by Cuddly Dog |