{"id":538091,"date":"2025-10-30T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/538091\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:49:15","slug":"blondie-on-the-90s-no-exit-and-how-the-future-looks-without-clem-burke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/538091\/","title":{"rendered":"Blondie on the ’90s, \u2018No Exit’, and how the future looks without Clem Burke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blondie<\/a>\u2019s Debbie Harry<\/a> and Chris Stein have spoken to NME about the new reissue of their\u00a0classic 1999 comeback album \u2018No Exit\u2019, and how the future of the band could look following the death of Clem Burke.<\/p>\n

Released tomorrow (Friday October 31), the remastered and expanded Deluxe Edition of \u2018No Exit\u2019 celebrates album that marked their return after a 17-year hiatus and contained the chart-topping hit \u2018Maria\u2019. It will be shared on vinyl for the first time, and arrives alongside remixes, updated artwork from Rob Roth, new liner notes, and \u2018Hot Shot\u2019 \u2013 a track previously released only in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an idea that\u2019s been hatching for a while, but it\u2019s only just come to fruition now,\u201d iconic frontwoman Debbie Harry told NME. \u201cIt took a while putting it all together and getting the remixes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was coming up to the 25th anniversary, so I guess it marks the halfway point of our 50 year career,\u201d guitarist Chris Stein added.\u200a \u201cPlus there\u2019s a lot of cool material on it that went under the radar. \u2018Maria\u2019 took up the spotlight for that album and period, but there was a lot of other really cool stuff on there too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BlondieBlondie \u2018No Exit\u2019 2025 reissue. CREDIT: Press<\/p>\n

The 2025 edition of \u2018No Exit\u2019 was completed before the passing of founding member Clem Burke<\/a>. The drummer, who was recruited by Harry and Stein shortly after they formed in 1975, died in April following a battle with cancer. He was aged 70.<\/p>\n

Check out our full interview with Blondie below, where Harry and Stein tell us about putting together one of the most celebrated comebacks of all time for \u2018No Exit\u2019, as well\u00a0 as the artists inspiring them in 2025, advice for emerging talent, new material on the way, and how the band will return to the stage without Burke.<\/p>\n

NME: Hi Debbie and Chris. \u2018No Exit\u2019 marked a huge new chapter for Blondie as it was both a comeback album and a record that reflected the sound of the \u201890s at the turn of the decade. How did you seek to capture that vibe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris Stein:<\/strong> \u201cWell, we\u2019re always caught up in the momentum, so I don\u2019t know if we were thinking about making a capsule vision of that period. We were just doing it to get the band back on track because, when we got the band back together then, we didn\u2019t have the kind of elder statesman status that we have now. We are in a different public light at this moment to how we were then, so that may be reflected in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever it was, it paid off. \u2018Maria\u2019 became a global hit and the album introduced you to a new generation of fans. What was the secret was to having such a successful comeback?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201cIt was because we came back with viable material. That song \u2018Maria\u2019 was hugely successful, so that underpinned the whole thing. It was very gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Any words of advice for Oasis<\/a> who are now back on the comeback trail themselves, playing their first shows in 16 years<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debbie Harry:<\/strong> \u201c[Laughs], \u200aI personally don\u2019t think they need any advice! They have such a large exposure and they\u2019re much more recent. I guess I would say maybe having somebody who\u2019s like a mediator involved. That could help them a lot along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aThey have a tremendous fandom and it\u2019s generational. I think if the Talking Heads<\/a> ever got back together, it would be almost equal to the Oasis phenomena we\u2019re seeing now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Debbie, you said recently that you can\u2019t imagine going back on stage as Blondie<\/a>. Is that still the case?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201cWell it was Chris, Clem and myself who were the only original members doing live shows. We just lost Clem, and Chris isn\u2019t playing anymore\u2026 but maybe that could change.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve never liked it when there was just one original member performing and everybody else there is a stand-in. [That said,] the guys I\u2019ve been working with until this last tour are terrific. I\u2019ve been working with them for at least five years in most cases, and it\u2019s been a privilege to work with [Sex Pistols\u2019] Glen Matlock<\/a>, but I just feel like they deserve more of the identity somehow.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe if I were to rename whatever version it is using Blondie as an umbrella term\u2026 like \u2018Blondie Presents\u2019 I\u2019d be tempted. But, I just don\u2019t feel comfortable marching out on stage without my original guys and calling it Blondie. It doesn\u2019t make sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BlondieBlondie \u2018No Exit\u2019 2025 reissue. CREDIT: Press<\/p>\n

There is an album of new material on the way<\/a> that you wrote with Clem. What can we expect from that and when?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aWe thought it was going to arrive at the end of this year, in the last quarter, but now it\u2019s moved to next year. I think it\u2019ll maybe be in the first or second quarter of next year. But the sound? I \u200alike it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201c[Laughs] \u200aYou like it? I like it too! I think that it\u2019s a traditional Blondie composite of sounds and styles of music. That\u2019s a format we\u2019ve stuck with from the get-go. Over the years we\u2019ve gotten better and better at it, and we\u2019ve also taken a few outside tracks from outside artists. We have a track from Johnny Marr<\/a>, and we have one from Glen [Matlock] too. \u200aChris did a lot of writing for this one, and I did a lot of lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201cThe \u200alyrics are terrific. It\u2019s very, it\u2019s great, sophisticated, mature, and also accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clem is all over this forthcoming album. Does it feel like this could be the end of Blondie after this album comes out?
<\/strong>
Stein:<\/strong> \u201cClem was OK when we did this new record. His situation was very sudden and very fast. It shocked everybody\u2026 so It\u2019s hard to say. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve been dealing with health bullshit, so I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll get back to making music\u2026 hopefully at some point I\u2019ll get back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201cWhen it comes to another Blondie album [after this upcoming LP], I think it\u2019s probably the same thing that I said about doing shows, maybe it would be \u2018Blondie Presents\u2019 or something like that. \u200aI haven\u2019t really ironed it out yet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Who has been inspiring you at the moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201cI like a lot of modern pop music right now. I really like Doja Cat<\/a>, and \u2018Espresso\u2019 by Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> I\u2019ve been playing to death. \u200aI get caught up in all that stuff, but then I also listen to more weird, obscure stuff. There\u2019s Napalm Death<\/a> and Slipknot<\/a>, and Amyl And The Sniffers<\/a> who are some of my favourites. It\u2019s pretty broad, the stuff I\u2019m listening to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201cI still really like listening to rock. I\u2019m not listening to pop music so much these days, although I have to say that there is a lot of really incredible stuff around. But for me, there\u2019s something I like about the roughness of rock. Pop stuff is clean and clear and perfect, but I like the animal version of rock n\u2019 roll. I think my appetite for that was always cured by being on stage and doing live shows because it\u2019s rougher.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Debbie, you got people talking recently by naming Florence Pugh as the actor you\u2019d like to see portray you in a biopic<\/a>. Have you thought about who could play the rest of the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aNo, not really. And I sort of regret having mentioned Florence because, I think that she\u2019s wonderful, but I think it was premature to have said it because people have now latched onto it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there were to be a biopic, is there anything filmmakers could shed light on that people might not know about the band?
<\/strong>
Harry: <\/strong>\u201c\u200aI feel like we\u2019ve been very exposed, but I think if our backstories were put on film and done in a very realistic way, that could be interesting. Back then we were just kicking around and wanted to be in a band because that was everybody\u2019s dream. It was all just a matter of getting exposure. We got away with doing a lot of things that nobody was ever gonna see except the 25 or 30 people that came to see us at a club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are staggering numbers at play [for new artists] now and the potential of reaching millions of people immediately. That doesn\u2019t allow for that homogenous growth, or time to let things mould together and develop naturally. Now you can make three songs on a computer and reach a million people instantly\u2026 but there\u2019s something great that comes with fermentation\u2026 as we can see with good glass of wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did having that time to \u2018ferment\u2019 and build a local scene help Blondie find their sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201cYeah, and it was about \u200anot being sculpted or made into something that somebody thinks is marketable. \u200aI\u2019ve said in the past that the idea of doing something that\u2019s wrong and repulsive is probably the best idea you can ever have. It\u2019s about finding and building on that \u2013 not thinking of fitting into a format or a genre. I think that comes from strength of character or eccentricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BlondieBlondie in 1999. CREDIT: Vinnie Zuffante\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Could a band like Blondie make it today?
<\/strong>
Stein:<\/strong> \u201cWell, when Blondie started, we were referencing all this different material, and putting together all these components that hadn\u2019t previously been put together. That for us was a new approach. Everything\u2019s together more now, and while there are some paths of creative juxtaposition that maybe didn\u2019t happen before, it [feels like] everything\u2019s so fucking self-referential now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how people are gonna go out on their own and start doing something completely different like we did. There are no bands that sound like Suicide<\/a> now, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

What advice would you share with new artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harry:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aI think that persistence is very valuable, and you have to hold onto your instincts. I still feel privileged to have music be such a big part of my life. I truly never expected that. I was just a wannabe, but I just kept plugging along.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately for me, my partner Chris Stein, he made life fun. And although sometimes it was hard and horrible, for the most part we worked our way through it. Kudos to Clem Burke too, because we met him at a time when we were at a really low point, yet he sparked us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aMy advice is that you have to listen. We knew a lot of the music that came before us. We had been immersed in all this pre-history, and that made us [find our sound]. I think anybody who\u2019s just listening to the Top 40 now and basing what they\u2019re doing on that is missing the boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to maintain a sense of humour too. I think once you start getting too serious about stuff that\u2019s, that\u2019s when it becomes self-defeating.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Deluxe Edition reissue of \u2018No Exit\u2019 is on Friday October 31 via BMG. Pre-order it here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blondie\u2019s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein have spoken to NME about the new reissue of their\u00a0classic 1999 comeback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[77,269,453,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-538091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-rock","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115464384296964100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}