On the Road with Blondie

While Blondie were paying their dues in small clubs almost every day of the year, and while Pleasant, Randy and I were making Lobotomy in her bedroom and in my apartment...somewhere back in 1978, we spent a lot of time together. The Lobotomy crew made road trips to see Blondie all over California from San Francisco to San Diego, mostly in my little Honda hatchback.

In 1978, just a few months before they hit the pop charts with "Heart of Glass," a surprise to everyone, we spent just about the whole month of April seeing Blondie play all over California.

Above is a series of shots from an April show in Berkeley, CA, and below are some shots from the trip and hanging out.



This crazy action hair shot was on one of the covers of Lobotomy.



Clem Burke during soundcheck.





Clem and Chris Stein during soundcheck, in a room so dark and with such particular light that only Clem is in focus - the depth of field was that narrow in the darkness that I couldn't get both men standing so close to each other in focus.

If you didn't know - Chris Stein is quite the photographer himself. He was always great for off-the-cuff tips and help with my camera.



Chris Stein doing a soundcheck. Notice the "Welcome Back Blondie" banner hanging as a backdrop? It was the palette of the tour - black backgrounds with hot pink letters. They had buttons and t-shirts proclaiming, "Blondie is a Group!" and I had tons of them...if only I could find them now.



Debbie Harry and Pleasant backstage at the Starwood, and below, a live shot of Debbie on stage at the Starwood. The Starwood shows were just a few days before the shows in the Bay Area.