Happy birthday to the 'punk Marilyn Monroe'

As the original Sunday Girl turns 80 next week, famous fans of Blondie share their love for the legendary Debbie Harry in a Radio 2 documentary

- By Josh White

SHE is the Atomic singer, rapper and film star who has thrilled audiences for six decades with her ice-cool demeanour and sultry vocals, having pioneered the sound that emerged from punk in 1970s New York and sold more than 40 million records.

And next week Debbie Harry turns 80, with her legendary New Wave group Blondie still going strong, despite the recent death of drummer Clem Burke aged 70. A new album is expected later this year.

Raised in New Jersey by adoptive parents, Harry found herself in fortuitous proximity to the New York music scene, working as a waitress, go-go dancer and even a Playboy bunny before an apprenticeship in folk rock group, The Wind in the Willows.

Blondie was officially formed in 1974 by Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, her then boyfriend, the name originating from the catcalls of men in the audience commenting on her peroxide hairdo.

Veteran DJ “Whispering” Bob Harris tells Debbie Harry: The Fans’ Story - broadcast on BBC Sounds today and repeated on Radio 2 at midnight on Saturday: “There was this new band, Blondie, that people were talking about, and in particular, the lead singer, Deborah Harry... She was like a punk Marilyn Monroe, that's the way I was thinking about her and the way she was being described in New York at the time.

“It was her, she was the focal point of the band. And of course the music was great, in particular with Heart of Glass - that record arrived right in the middle at the disco moment, and on the floor at Studio 54, it fitted right in.

“We broadcast a wonderful concert with them which they performed at the Glasgow Apollo on New Year's Eve, 1979... the place went absolutely wild. I mean, the atmosphere was incredible.”