Customer Reviews

Blondie - VH-1 Behind the Music

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For my money, when it comes to Blondie, it's all about 1976-1978. These were the years when Debbie & Co. were their most interesting and free in their exploration of their craft. Whoever went digging for vintage footage for Blondie's "Behind the Music" segment did an incredible job. There is lots of 16mm color concert footage from 1977 and 1978 (presumably, much of it from the unreleased John Cassavettes/Sam Shaw documentary shot in Los Angeles in 1977). There's even a brief video segment on Wind in the Willows! The DVD differs from the program as it aired on television in that the music video segments run longer here, and the music video for the band's comeback single "Maria" is added as a bonus. This is mecca for fans of Blondie.

I love Blondie and I couldn't have asked for a more thorough and entertaining documentary of the group. There are in-depth interviews with the band members as recent as the No Exit album. (It is interesting to see how jittery a couple of them are, including Debbie; too much coke from the Studio 54 days?!!) The video plays many snippits of songs spanning their career, as well as showing video clips. It even covers some of their solo work, and Debbie's 1968 music venture with the group, The Wind in the Willows. I bought that album as a result of it being mentioned. You'll find the complete Maria video in this, too. This is a must-have for any Blondie fan. At this price, you'll be very satisfied!

Got this at a Dollar Tree store for just a buck brand new and sealed(there was a cut-out slash through the barcode but no big problem in my opinion),money well spent! This Behind The Music runs slightly longer than the TV version from years back,a must for Blondie fans!

"Blondie: Behind the Music" is your typical "E! True Hollywood Story"-type expose that promises to blow the lid off and reveal scandal and unsavory facts about the band. VH1's "Behind the Music" tends to be less sensationalistic than their E! counterparts however.

The DVD runs a little short of an hour and contains many rare early performances of the group as places such as CBGB's.

There are a lot of clips from their videos including "Dreaming," "Heart of Glass," "Picture This," "Rapture," "Eat to the Beat" and more.

The performance/video clips are surprisingly lengthy in some cases; perhaps the producers needed to pad the running time.

The early footage is fascinating to watch and in surprisingly great condition.

We get to hear Debbie explain how the name of the group came to be, and later hear the origin and evolution of one of their biggest hits, 'Heart of Glass".

A lot of time is spent discussing the close relationship between Debbie and Chris Stein, as well as his subsequent illness.

We get interviews with Debbie, Chris Stein, Jimmy Destri and Clem Burke. Unfortunately, Gary Valentine, Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison are nowhere to be seen or heard from. However, John Waters pops up several times to sing the band's praises.

The narrator tells us how the band drifted apart at the height of their success but neither Debbie nor any of the boys really go into any great detail about the problems. Perhaps because they had just reunited at the time this was filmed, no one wanted to open old wounds. Those looking for a lot of "dirt" may be disappointed.

There are some minor factual errors mostly concerning chart appearances of certain songs, etc.

The end features the full video for their 1999 single release "Maria".

For diehard Blondie fans, this DVD may seem too generic and not detailed enough, but the more casual fans should really enjoy it.