52 Songs #17 - Blondie, Fan Mail

This week: Fan Mail, Blondie, from the lp Plastic Letters, released in 1977.

So at the same time I was listening to Mott the Hoople and Queen, I was also discovering the NYC punk scene. I still have the original lp of Plastic Letters, which I think I bought at Bleeker Bob's around 1979 or so. Something about these early Blondie records really appealed to me, although in general I'm not a big fan of the guy-band-fronted-by-woman concept; maybe it was because Debbie wrote songs, making it clear that Blondie was her and Chris Stein's band. "Fan Mail", despite its dense lyrics, spoke to me about the kind of fannish hero worship I was just starting to engage in. (And still do. Still available to be Steve Merchant's girlfriend!) This song always makes me remember those times when I stayed awake too long, listening to loud music, and I got dem ol' teenage angst blues again.

Great guitars, too.




Come back next week for another of the 52 songs!