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Blondie

One of the ways to spot a bootleg is an unusually cute, humorous, or goofy title. Some bootleggers go with straightforward titles (Live at Madison Square Garden, Live at the Hollywood Bowl, etc.), while others can't resist the urge to be clever. Mondo Blondage (as opposed to "Mondo Bondage," a Tubes favorite from 1975) doesn't sound like the sort of title that would make the grade at a major-label marketing meeting, and sure enough, this CD is among the Blondie bootlegs that came out in 1999. While other Blondie bootlegs focus on one concert exclusively, Mondo Blondage contains an assortment of live and studio material, most of which is from the 1970s and early '80s (although "Maria" is from 1999) and offers good or excellent sound quality. The CD starts out with four studio demos from 1975: "Platinum Blonde," "The Thin Line," "Puerto Rico," and a cover of the Shangri-Las' "Out in the Streets," all of which were heard on various bootleg LPs in the late '70s but weren't released commercially until Chrysalis provided The Platinum Collection in 1994. The studio offerings that haven't been released commercially include "Scenery" (a 1976 rarity), an alternate version of "Denis," and the forceful "Underground Girl," which is from the sessions for 1978's Parallel Lines but wasn't included on that album. Blondie probably felt that "Underground Girl" was too hard-edged and abrasive for Parallel Lines; while Blondie's main focus was new wave and power pop, "Underground Girl" is outright punk and has the sort of reckless aggression that would have been perfect for an Avengers or X-Ray Specs session. Meanwhile, the live material ranges from a performance of "Die Young, Stay Pretty" at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1980 to performances of "Dreaming" and "The Hardest Part" on Saturday Night Live in 1980. Also from SNL is Devo's "Come Back, Jonee," which finds Deborah Harry joining forces with that innovative new wave combo. And "The Rainbow Connection" is from The Muppet Show; Harry is heard performing a duet with Kermit the Frog. Obviously, casual listeners don't need to hear Harry's appearance on a children's program, but then, this collection wasn't assembled with casual listeners in mind. Mondo Blondage is strictly for hardcore collectors. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide