Blondie, Madonna, and Gaga

This weekend I spent quite a bit of time watching Blondie videos and listening to interviews with Debbie Harry.  I have to say that I was pretty shocked by the number of interviewers and reporters who compared her to Lady Gaga -- and actually had the guts to mention that to her.  No offense to anyone, but come on.  Blondie and Lady Gaga?  I am SURE that Debbie Harry must have had some influence on Lady Gaga, but is it really fair to compare them?  I often read about comparisons between Madonna and Lady Gaga -- and that seems more logical to me.  I'm still pondering the Blondie/Gaga connection.  Okay, both Debby Harry and Gaga were NYC natives, right?  They both started out sort of "underground" on the dance circuit, right?  Uh, wrong.  Blondie as a group seemed to be very anti-establishment and counter-culture, although punk was a "counter culture culture" in and of itself.  I actually found some videos of Debbie Harry when she was in her twenties, and she was singing '60s folk kind of stuff.  This made me think of Pat Benatar, who went through all kinds of genres with her band, and so did Debbie Harry.  So, it's fair enough to compare Debbie Harry and Pat Benatar, I think. 

Meanwhile, I guess there's more of a connection between Madonna and Gaga.  Madonna started as a dancer and was pretty broke when she moved from Michigan to NYC.  Her early hits were very "dancy," and so were Gaga's.  Remember "Holiday?"  How about "Just Dance?"  Okay, so the former was Madonna and the latter Gaga.  I think Madonna really paved the way for Gaga.  Madonna seemed really intrigued by commercialism and marketing, and I think Gaga does as well.  I don't think Debbie Harry cared one iota.  Both Madonna and Gaga like the "shock factor," too.  When Gaga first came out, I was pretty engaged by the quality of her music and her musicianship.  She seemed so incredibly talented for such a young woman.  I think it's getting a bit creepy now, and I may have lost touch with her message and direction.  Meanwhile, Madonna was always pretty straightforward.  She liked to shock people.  She loved to throw religious images into the mix just to cause a ruckus.  She also really liked to push her sexuality in everyone's face for shock value.  Hey, no problem.  At least it wasn't creepy.  Seems pretty mild in retrospect.  So, I thought it would be fun and nostalgic to share one of he big shockers, "Justify My Love."  It was written by Lenny Kravitz and basically features an awesomely provocative and "dirty" drum track underscoring Madonna whispering about sexual stuff.  It was extremely controversial back in the day (1990, just at the dawn of the new decade).  It has sort of R-rated images.  Yeah -- but the video is very artsy.  Not really creepy at all.  Just very Madonna.  I think Gaga's last equivalent was "Bad Romance," so I threw that in, too.  I absolutely love the hairless cat -- and the message of the tune.  So, enjoy these two -- I think they are light years closer than Gaga and Blondie (in fact, that comparison is a non-issue in my mind).