Tag: Debbie Harry

Other Fine Blogs, Two Puzzles and Debbie Harry

I’m going to blame Rol from My Top Ten for my lack of posting something new for a while. I’ve been busy as I am now part of the Cancel Culture Club over at his place, where we debate whether songs from the past should be seen in a rather different light in these modern, progressive times. Should they be “cancelled” or do they still have merit despite their old-fashioned attitudes?


It’s been a really interesting series to be a part of, so I would recommend you hop over and spend some time reading the responses. So far we’ve been broadly in agreement about the songs in question: Young Girl, Turning Japanese and Girls, but I think with the next song on his list, it could be a lot harder to find consensus. Watch his space.

Rol’s other popular feature is Saturday Snapshots, where we have to work out from the photo and clue who each artist is and then find a link between one of each of their songs. We are now up to #420, so as you can imagine it’s been going for many years and a great reason to get up early on a Saturday morning and give the old grey matter a workout.


Those of us who join in however do feel guilty about poor Rol having to do all the legwork on Snapshots (although he has had some help of late in the form of guest posts). I have racked my brain over the years to think of a puzzle I could host but my ideas always seem lame and unworkable. I do however like saving things I like the look of on social media that relate to music, and at a push they could make for a bit of a puzzle.

As regular visitors to this place know I am fond of a spreadsheet and can’t imagine my life without them. I spotted something recently relating to songs that was in the form of a spreadsheet, but I then lost it again before I could save the picture. No matter I thought, I could remember how it went so I would create my own. The cells do end up quite small, so you’re going to have to blow up the image, but can you work out what all five songs are and who they are by? Each line represents a different one and you should be able to work out what it is by noting what the singer did on each day of the week. It’s very easy so don’t look at the comments boxes until you’ve got them all.


What I would most like from you guys however are more entries for my spreadsheet – there must be many out there that have lyrics relating to days of the week. If you have any, let me know via the Contact Me link. I can then add them to my sheet and share it again. Thanks in advance for your help.

The other picture I saw recently was this one of New Wave stars of the 1980s. I recognised most of them but not all so let’s see how you get on. At the moment I’m stuck with the chap at the far right of the top row and the two girls at the extreme left and right of the bottom row – can anyone help? I’m sure between us we can identify them all. Once we do have them all (if I’m lucky enough to get enough visitors to help) I’ll do a row by row spreadsheet with their names. Of course you will I hear you say!


As I’ve shared Rol’s photo of Debbie Harry, I’ll end with a song from Blondie, hopefully a politically correct one (although I’m starting to notice that I often missed the metaphors and euphemisms in songs when I was young – so naïve). Here is The Tide Is High from 1980, a song not written by the band but originally recorded by a Jamaican vocal group called The Paragons. But is Debbie in the picture above – I think she is but I don’t think it’s a very good likeness. What do you think?

The Tide Is High by Blondie:


Until next time…

The Tide Is High Lyrics
(Song by John Holt)

The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
I’m not the kind of girl
Who gives up just like that
Oh, no

It’s not the things you do
That tease and hurt me bad
But it’s the way you do
The things you do to me
I’m not the kind of girl
Who gives up just like that
Oh, no

The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
the tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
Number one,
my number one
number one

Every girl wants you to be her man
But I’ll wait right here ’till it’s my turn
I’m not the kind of girl
Who gives up just like that
Oh, no

The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
The tide is high but im holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
Number one,
my number one
number one

Every time that I get the feeling
you give me something to believe in
every time that I got you near me
I know the way that I want it to be
but you know I’m gonna take chance now
I’m gonna make it happen somehow
and you know I can take the pressure
a moment to pay for a lifetime pleasure

Every girl wants you to be her man
But I’ll wait right here ’til it’s my turn
I’m not the kind of girl
Who gives up just like that
Oh, no

The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
The tide is high, but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one

Postscript:

As my puzzles have been up for a week now, I think it’s time to offer up the solutions.

Spreadsheet of Songs Answers
Row 1 – Friday I’m In Love by The Cure
Row 2 – 7 Days by Craig David
Row 3 – Everyday Is Like Sunday by Morrissey
Row 4 – Eight Days A Week by the Beatles
Row 5 – Manic Monday by the Bangles

Solution to the New Wave Faces Print

New Wave Faces SolutionDownload


Blondie, Debbie Harry and “Denis”

I seem to have stumbled upon “new wave” with my last couple of posts, writing first about The Clash and then Madness. I am still however not entirely sure how to define new wave which does seem to be a common problem. Although it started out with ties to late ’70s punk-rock, it eventually covered a myriad of sub-genres and the distinction between them leaves me confused and bewildered. Suffice to say it wasn’t “old wave” which up to that point had been rock, pop, country and soul.

The new wave artist that caused a fair bit of excitement when she first appeared on Thursday night’s Top Of The Pops in February 1978 was Debbie Harry, or Deborah as she preferred to be called. She was the lead singer with the band Blondie and this was the first time we had seen them perform the song Denis (pronounced Denee). Dressed in her “swimsuit” with what appeared to be her dad’s old tuxedo jacket casually thrown on top, she really made us sit up and take notice. She was stunningly beautiful with perfectly applied make-up but everything else was of a punk persuasion – Hair bleached a white blonde (it either had to be jet black or blonde if you were a girl) and odd combinations of black/red/white/striped clothes.

Denis by Blondie:

I was in my final year of high school and of course the topic of conversation the next day was Debbie Harry. I don’t know how it was done in those pre-internet days, but the shocking news got out quite early on that she was the grand old age of 32. Considering some of us probably had mothers who were not much older, I can see now how that would have been newsworthy. In the North of Scotland at that time (or anywhere?), our mothers just didn’t look like Debbie Harry.

The difference in look was because these guys were American and had emerged from New York’s punk-rock scene whose music venue of choice was CBGBs based in Manhattan’s East Village. This was where The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith and Talking Heads had also cut their teeth, but possibly because Blondie had Debbie Harry, they quickly moved on to more mainstream success, especially with their top-selling album “Parallel Lines” from which they took their disco-influenced single, Heart of Glass.

Yet again Debbie looked stunning, despite the fact her long hair seemed to have been roughly chopped off with a blunt pair of scissors and then dragged through the proverbial hedge backwards. Her dress appeared to have been fashioned from a bit of old sackcloth then suspended loosely from one shoulder, but as ever she looked marvellous. The hits kept on coming for a few more years until, as is wont to happen, they started to fall out of favour with the record-buying public.

A bit of trivia about the song Denis – It was originally recorded by American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows in 1963 but back then was called Denise. Changing it to a song about a boy sounded better with a silent “s” so the boy became French. Debbie sang the last two verses in that language although a bit of poetic license was used it seems with grammar, but who cared – Debbie in her swimsuit could sing the telephone directory, badly, and still get away with it.

randy .jpg

As someone who had their hair chopped off yesterday after having it long for over 20 years, I couldn’t help thinking that in life there are the Debbie Harrys, and then there are the rest of us. I would have loved to be able to carry off the sackcloth and mussed-up hair look back then and even now, but sadly I will continue to be a slave to hair products and styling techniques for the foreseeable future. As for Debbie, aged now 71, she still looks great and I will very magnanimously put that down to excellent genes.

Debbie+Harry+SHOT+Psycho+Spiritual+Mantra+rdbprDS6J8Cl.jpg

Denis Lyrics
(Song by Neil Levenson)

Oh Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you, Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you, Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you
Denis Denis, oh with your eyes so blue
Denis Denis, I’ve got a crush on you
Denis Denis, I’m so in love with you

Oh when we walk it always feels so nice
And when we talk it seems like paradise
Denis Denis I’m so in love with you

You’re my king and I’m in heaven every time I look at you
When you smile it’s like a dream
And I’m so lucky ’cause I found a boy like you

Denis Denis, avec tes yeux si bleux
Denis Denis, moi j’ai flashe a nous deux
Denis Denis, un grand baiser d’eternite

Denis Denis, je suis si folle de toi
Denis Denis, oh embrasse-moi ce soir
Denis Denis, un grand baiser d’eternite

Oh Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you, Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you, Denis doo-be-do
I’m in love with you

Postscript:

The law relating to freaky coincidences strikes again. I discovered after writing this post about Debbie Harry, that it happened to be her birthday today – Many happy returns D!