WHEN JOHNNY MET BLONDIE
Johnny Marr used to play cover versions of Blondie singles Denis and Hanging On The Telephone (both, ironically, covers themselves) in his first teenage band. When he met his wife at a house party in Manchester, aged 15, he remembers their classic 1978 album Parallel Lines being on the stereo. His love of the New York post-punk legends has been a constant throughout his life. So how does it feel that he now writes songs for them (he contributed My Monster to their 2017 album Pollinator and has written another, Spectrolite, which will appear on their next record) and is about to join them as special guest on their UK tour. “It’s magical,” he says “I’ve always shared a musical sensibility with them. Plus they’re great people to be around. They’re the only band that nobody doesn’t like.”
Marr is talking to me via Zoom from his rehearsal studio on the outskirts of Manchester. Also on the call are Blondie’s songwriter-in-chief Chris Stein (from downtown New York) and – from her charmingly appointed living room in New Jersey – Debbie Harry. I’m in my garden shed in South-West London. Ordinarily, speaking with either Marr or Stein – two of the greatest rock musicians of the past 50 years – would feel like a privilege in itself. But there’s something about being on a call from your shed with Debbie Harry that really monopolises your focus. You can’t help but continually think to
