Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Goodbye Valentine


Blondie : Scenery


On the 4th of July, 1977, Blondie bassist Gary Valentine ( far right in the photo above) split from the group. He had given Blondie their first single, "X-Offender", and the band's 1978 hit "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear". But, as he told Rolling Stone, he had some artistic integrity issues with Chris Stein and Deborah Harry. "I would write six songs, and they would say, 'Okay, we'll do this one.'" 

Valentine would move to L.A., form a band called The Know and write books and articles, many of which would deal with mysticism and occultism. An interest that would surface in "Presence" with lyrics like "Floating pass the evidence of possibilities /We could navigate together, psychic frequencies /Coming into contact with outer entities /We could entertain each one with our theosophies".

In the 90's he returned to New York to play with Blondie. The reunion didn't last. 







1 comment:

  1. Let's face it, if someone told you the support band were on and the lead singer was wearing a pair of your granny's bloomers you wouldn't exactly leave the bar tout de suite would you? However, those of us with a fetish for our granny's bloomers......

    ReplyDelete