Official Blondie Web Site: Chris Stein

im glad to see some of you were inspired, stirred up by my complaints about current conditions etc... (for starters of course i'm 100% behind getting the human race into space, i'm just pissed by the administrations blatant attempt to capture votes by making a big deal 'announcement' on the eve of the next election) so i got a letter from Brian that i quote from here, he says that he "cannot read another sad commentary by you! Use your position to enlighten, not show us that you too, have lost all hope. What's the fucking point? ... We want you to be happy. We want you to be safe in the knowledge that no matter how negative the world around you can get, the world of supporters that YOU have, *that are ALSO part of this world*, are here for you..."
[link to complete text] this is in a way what i am most worried about in making statements about politics, current affairs etc... one of the reasons i for one have left this kind of stuff out of the music/lyrics over the years... so firstly i am the most optimistic motherfucker in the universe, brian has badly misconstrued my perspective... for me personally im verry happy etc etc BUT we have reached a crunch time in our civilization and the world of tv and music and related is in as much jeopardy as the rest of our so called freedoms... simply, people in their forties and fifties like myself who have been watching the world have a basic observational advantage over people in their twenties and thirties (in the past when i've said something like this i've gotten comments about how the sixties were only about wearing tie dyed t shirts and that i'm stuck being a hippie etc etc) i'm not at all attempting to take a superior or know it all position here its just soo frustrating seeing the way things are changing in America... having seen all of these different realities come and go in my lifetime is just amazing... you guys have got to believe me, one of the ways the system is getting over on you is by making you indifferent, so that your reaction is to want to 'escape' from 'depressing' subjects... one of the things that we are constantly discussing in interviews all over the world is how the world of popular music has lost its ability to ferment, cause social change, how the world youth culture which used to have an anti-establishment position and used to be a force for change has been co-opted into just another layer of consumerism... just thirty years ago most of the big corporations that bloated the airwaves with advertising were plain shit scared to have their products represented by contemporary music and celebrities... products were never advertised as 'extreme' or connected to slogans or ideas that emerged from the underground... there were two worlds in america: the safe world of family and walt disney and the dangerous world of teenage wildness and rock and roll... so what happened? well the establishment got the message with the success of things like mtv and like in the days of the roman empire the 'enemies of the state' were absorbed into the great over culture... when i was growing up rolling stone magazine was a radical far out informative piece of work that actually did for a while represent the counter culture... so look where thats wound up with the full page salem cigarette ads and awful boy bands being promoted as the 'future of rock'... now think what things are gonna be like in another twenty years if things continue the way they are going now... in his letter brian complains that he doesnt feel as carefree and wild as he used to when he listens to blondie, that he has "to rely on past experiences to conjure up that excitement." he suggests that his reading that i "dont care" might in part be responsible for his lack of enthusiasm... well of course i care about music and performing etc but what i wrote last time means exactly what it says that in the face of what is happening in the world, entertainment and escaping doesnt feel right and i think that his inability to get back to how he used to feel when listening to music has a great deal to do with what music means to us now... we turn on the tv and hear music advertising mcdonald death burgers that is as good or better than some of the stuff on the horrible limited radio... rock and roll is no longer special, dangerous or mysterious, its a background drone for our lives as consumers... its safe... of course youre not gonna feel the same excitement... actually i've thought quite a bit about writing in this vein, about going to 'the next level' as it were and discussing this stuff in a 'fan' environment, but i just wouldnt feel true to myself by ignoring how i feel and just playing the part of rock and roll dude who only lives for 'the music'... i'm sorry but that is just false and corny and i guess there are people in bands who live only in the bubble environment of their musical selves but 'it aint me babe' as the fella says... what im saying then is that blondie will continue and we will continue doing and living for and with music but i'm urging you out there to get involved with the world now and dont try to avoid the 'depressing' stuff out there cause its sure as shit isnt going away... i'll continue to write about stuff that happens on the road and tell stories, but everything in the world is connected big time and i just have to deal with it... for a quick way to get involved a bit more check out 'adbusters' magazine and site... dont be isolated try and connect with each other in contexts beyond being fans, everyone can do something now to keep us all free love, to be continued chris