On January 21st, 1979, Blondie found themselves in a strange predicament. Canadian megaband Rush (R.I.P. Neil Peart) needed a last-minute opening act for their sold-out show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia—most likely New Jersey’s early-glam metal band Starz, or perhaps the opener from the previous night, Georgia band Stillwater had to cancel. It’s not entirely clear. What is clear is that the unlikely pairing of the New York New Wavers and the Canadian rockers wasn’t what Rush fans were expecting that night, and they let Blondie know this the minute they walked out on stage.
Blondie had played the Spectrum before, opening a show for Alice Cooper in the summer of 1978. This gig also started off on shaky ground for Blondie as they were greeted by boos as well as one Cooper fan shouting “Boo Blondie off stage…they’re PUNK!” The crowd kept jeering Blondie, but, according to people at the show, by the time they ripped into their second song, the audience was hooked, and they finished their set, incident- and heckling-free. For some reason, Rush fans were not as well behaved as Alice’s (which seems weird in its own right, right?). There are several first-hand accounts posted by fans who were there, telling the story of what happened that night at The Spectrum, describing Deborah Harry getting pelted with glow sticks and more. And it wasn’t pretty like Deborah Harry. Not even close.
A photo of Deborah Harry backstage at the Spectrum as seen in the book, ‘Daft Punk: A Trip Inside the Pyramid’ By Dina Santorelli.
The Spectrum was packed to the gills with around 18,000 rock fans waiting to see their idols perform jams from their sixth album, Hemispheres. Blondie took the stage in front of a standing-room-only floor, and the audience immediately started to boo them. Ignoring the haters, they started their set. By the second song, objects were steadily flying at the stage. At one point, Harry leaned into the crowd during “One Way or Another” and was slapped by dozens of glow sticks.
Sufficiently pissed off, the band started flipping off the crowd. When they began their third song, Harry narrowly avoided being hit by a glass bottle thrown at her head by someone who must have really, really wanted to hear “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres.” The New Jersey girl then retrieved the bottle and hurled it back into the audience. Blondie did make it through most of their set, performing thirteen songs until the gig was declared officially over when Clem Burke tipped over his drum kit in protest, using his cymbals as the most punk rock shields ever to protect himself and the band from getting hit with trash and other detritus tossed at them. As Harry exited the stage, she flipped the crowd the bird, yelling, “Fuck you, Philadelphia,” proving that punk rock always comes to play, but does not play around.
In a “To the Editor” letter published in the Philidelphia Inquirer, a woman named Marie O’Donnell who attended the show wrote in to share her thoughts on how terribly Rush fans treated Blondie:
“Recently, I made the mistake of attending a Spectrum concert. The first act of the night’s bill, Blondie, was treated in a way I have never before witnessed. The group was pelted with garbage by a drugged, hostile audience. These shows seem no more than mass babysitting for a group of bored pre-teens and high schoolers who feel that their main purpose of their attendance is to get stoned.”
Well, yeah. Kind of, Ms. O’Donnell. But I digress. It’s important to note (according to a review of the show in The Triangle, the independent student newspaper for Drexel University in Philly) that the crowd also booed the glorious sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” and sang over it with an obscenity-laced anti-homage to disco. Yeesh. Clearly, whatever the crowd was smoking that night in Philly was some weird, awful sounding kind of weed that makes you hate disco, New Wave, and Stevie Wonder. As a palate cleanser, here are a few vintage clippings related to the show as well as some fantastic footage of Blondie being appreciated as they should be in Glasgow, Scotland on New Year’s Eve, 1979.
Weirdest. Bill. Ever.
The article citing Blondie’s setlist from The Triangle.
Blondie live in Glasgow in 1979. The show was partially broadcast live as it happened on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ and BBC Radio 1.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Blondie show ends in a riot before it even starts, and cherries were to blame?
It’s 1978 and Blondie has invaded Japan like a punk rock Godzilla
In the Flesh: Blondie live in Asbury Park, NJ, 1979
Debbie does Mick: Blondie performing The Stones’ ‘Obsession’, 1977
Cover versions: Debbie Harry stars in pulp romance novels based on Blondie songs
‘What is it?’: Björk, Blondie & the story of the fish from Faith No More’s infamous video for ‘Epic’