Customer Reviews

Blondie - Greatest Video Hits

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blondie made some great videos (particulary their earlier ones). Content-wise, this disc is great fun. But for collectors, it's a major disaopintment.. It only has about 16 of the band's 25 videos, is not culled from original source material but rather a pre-edited compilation that came out in the '80's, has virtually NO packaging (there's not even a sheet of paper where a booklet could have been) . It's a slap-dash affair.

First of all, whoever put it together did not go back to original source materials as I've stated. No digital remastering here. Worse, it's copied from an '80's VHS compilation called "The Best Of Blondie" and still has all the dated footage of a NYC cabbie riding around town and running into Blondie blaring from TV screens and radios betweeen every song--in most cases, cutting off the beginnings of the videos to accomodate the hackneyed wraparound. It even says "Blondie is managed by Shep Gordon" at the end, which hasn't been true since 1982! No attempts were made here to update or improve this presentation. It was just dubbed off with a new title slapped on. It was done with minimal effort, and it shows. Too bad, too. Blondie is certainly worth a better product than this.

The DVD follows the playlist from "Best of Blondie" and adds as "bonus tracks" two oldies:"The Hardest Part" and "Atomic" as well as 1999's "Maria". The good news here is that this version of the "Maria" video is slightly longer than the one on "Behind the Music" DVD and has the alternate, original ending where the team of guys spying on Blondie through a window actually attempt to assasinate Debbie by shooting a bullet through the window, which she catches in her hand, still singing!

Absent are most of the videos from "Eat to the Beat" (like Shayla, Eat to the Beat, Accidents Never Happen, Slow Motion, Die Young Stay Pretty, Victor, Sound Asleep & Living in the Real World). I was most disapointed to see that "In the Sun" from the first album was not included. The Cathay Che bio on Debbie Harry makes reference to an un-named "fourth" video that was made at the same time as "X Offender", "In the Sun" and "In the Flesh". Whatever it was, it's nowhere to be seen on this compilation.
All fans should own this, as it's currently the only chance to have the band's vids on DVD, but I hope someone goes to the bother of releasing a quality, comprehensive collection down the line! Something along the lines of what Abba just did, with their complete collection of remastered vids and deluxe packaging/booklet etc.

Lots of buzz-kill types are complaining about how the sound hasn't been remastered and how the video looks too grainy. So what? -- These were low budget videos made in the 70s. What else would you expect? The point is, it's great that these are finally available on DVD. These are fun to watch. I can't believe I almost didn't buy this just because of some of the bad reviews I read. Ignore them -- if you like Blondie, you need to buy this. You're never going to get anything better. It's not like they have some 75mm films of the band shot by Scorsese lying in a vault somewhere, just waiting to be unearthed and remastered. This is it, folks.

OK OK, so the picture on DVD is no better than the home video. And yes the cab scenes are pointless. By the way, do NY cabbies really drink beer in a bar on lunch break? But look at what you do get, the sexy, slinky Debbie Harry pulsating her way across your TV screen. If her outfit in "Detroit 442" doesn't drive you crazy, you must be comatose. And what about 'Denis' she hopping around in a bathing suit man! Who wouldn't want this for their home video collection.

Of course the 'Rapture' video set the stage for all new wave early 80's video. Dig the man from Mars in his white ducktails and top hat.

Hey the songs are great, the videos are great. Youget Union City Blues with Debbie looking like a folk singer (playing guitar too), to the farmhouse nuclear trashbag outfits in 'Atomic'. From bouncing cleavage in 'Dreaming' to the skin tight dress in 'Heart of Glass'.

If you love Debbie, you got to got to got to have this.

I see that some of the reviews here are critical of video quality and that cab scene ("Call Me") that opens the dvd. I agree about the cab scene. Was there not a video of Blondie doing "Call Me?" I don't recall one, although I do recall the Richard Gere gigolo movie. Anyway, the video quality is just fine - these were shot back in the late 70s and early 80s, remember? I have played this dvd in the wee hours on my wide screen surround sound a dozen times so far. It's great to see the gorgeous and captivating Debbie Harry in full flower. What a great trip back in time. I know the group performed many times on the old Wolfman Jack's Midnight Special. I have not been able to find a dvd of those performances ... but I am quite grateful for this dvd!

While happy that the Blondie video's are available on dvd in 5.1 digital, this DVD reminds me of how far video's have come. With the exception of the later videos in Blondie's career they are mostly rough TV spots and live performances. The format of the DVD could have been done better, leave out the annoying "artsy" video of N.Y. city and the cab driver guy in a bar in between video's. Also, when you select to play individual video's from the main menu they are cut short by inncorrect track cuing. They play correctly when you chose the "play all" selection though. Bonus material is lacking, Only Island of Lost souls video and Maria from their last album, should have included Nothing is Real But the Girl video also.

I was all keyed up when I heard of the
"Greatest Hits" BLONDIE DVD.
I waited patiently for it's release, When I got it,
I played it and,,,

IT'S THE VHS VERSION OF THE "BEST OF BLONDIE" plus 3 bonus videos (Hardest Part, Island of Lost Souls & Maria).

I'm glad I have it, but I wish but I would have preferred to have the "Complete Picture" on DVD than "Best of Blondie".

The quality is excellent and so is the sound. I am just majorly disappointed in Capital Records for not including the recents Blondie videos: Nothing is Real but the Girl & Blondie Megamix.
Who comes up with the song lists? Not very creative.

The Bonus material was kind of irratating for it does not play continuously, you have to keep pushing enter to view each song.

The best part of the DVD is the back cover, stating Blondie's new album will be out February 2002. Let's hope is doesn't get push back another year or two.

A must for any BLONDIE fan those.

While some have complained about the quality of the videos, I think that we need to keep in mind that these were made when there was no real thought of them ever actually MEANING anything. The quality, in other words, was bad to start with. "The Tide Is High", for instance, seems to have been shot on an old "Super 8", and not very well at that. I doubt that there's very much there that CAN be remastered.

In any case this is a great DVD, not only for Blondie (or just Debbie Harry) fans, but for anyone interested in the evolution of music in general. Blondie was one of the first punk bands (yep, short but true), one of the first to add Carribean beats to rock, and one of the first New Wave bands. They also had the FIRST "rap" hit song with "Rapture", a really bad rap song, and a horrible video, but firmly endorsed by the REAL rap crowd, as evidenced by the presence in the video of Grandmaster Flash and Fab 5 Freddy, and graced by a rare appearance by Jean Michel Basquiat.

For those too young to have seen Blondie, and Debbie Harry, in their prime, this is a great DVD. They were an all-too-short-lived group, but one who seemed to be in on EVERYTHING happening at the time. AND Debbie Harry is evidenced, in these videos as a woman who DESERVED to be called "The Sexiest Woman Alive".

This one is worth the money, just don't expect CGI effects. Instead expect great, innovative (at the time) music, and one of the most beautiful women in music - EVER!

How wonderful that Blondie are entering the digital video era with more recent video releases like "Maria" and we are now able to see them along with vintage video tracks on this new DVD. How sweet it is! Although, the glaring and shameful lack of production values by their record company to release this DVD dubbed directly from a previous 1980's "Best of Blondie" videotape and not even attempt the release of the classic videos in their entirety is blatant disregard for the achievements of this groundbreaking and deserving band. Zero packaging excitement except for the cover photo. The first rock band to open doors in the video world to possibilities used by every artist since is slighted to the point of unforgivable with this compilation. How Low!

The videos are mostly performace videos that show Blondie performing in front of a camera. Okay so Debbie doesn't move that well and yes it is true that these videos are a bit hokey but for a Blondie fan they are pure gold. In this collection which by the way was already issued for the most part on the Best Of Blondie video in the early 80's. The only annoying thing about this video is that guy in the taxicab between videos. The songs are classics and to any Blondie fan they are worth collecting.

"Greatest Video Hits" is cursed by a terribly annoying "framing device" wherein a nondescript New York cabbie drives around New York City and comes across various Blondie videos playing on bar TVs, TV inside limos etc. What's worse, this weak attempt to "tie together" the videos ends up cutting off 30 second chunks out of the beginning of several of the videos. Today, however there is a remedy, albeit an imperfect one. The CD of "Blondie Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision" includes a DVD which contains all but two of the videos on the "Greatest Video Hits." The two songs omitted are "X Offender" and "(I'm Always Touched by your) Presence, Dear." which are early gems off their first and second albums, respectively. "Sound & Vision" compensates by including the clever video for the equally clever "Rapture Riders--Blondie vs. the Doors."
I give two stars, because this DVD is the only way to get the videos for "X Offender" and "Presence, Dear," otherwise, get "Sound & Vision"