Deborah Harry Chris Stein Jimmy
Destri Clem Burke Nigel Harrison Frank Infante
See Kris Needs' piece on the rise of Blondie including this gig in the Mojo new wave special (March 2008). Also these photos from ZigZag
(courtesy of the John Braley collection)
Clem Burke,
writing in 2009 for the Friars Aylesbury website:
"I must say that I have fond memories of the gig although they're
somewhat clouded with time. I noticed that the Blondie band member info
was incorrect as this was our first UK gig with the new line-up of Nigel
Harrison and Frank Infante. As you can see the newspaper article with
Nigel shows this.
(webmaster - duly noted and updated!)
It was the beginning of a 6 month worldwide tour to promote the Plastic
Letters LP. I can only say I remember the audience response to be
fantastic and we were all delighted to be back in the UK again. I seem
to remember thinking what a fantastic kick off for the tour."
Blondie went on to become one of the biggest
bands in the UK. Shortly after these gigs, Valentine was replaced on bass
by Princes Risborough's very own Nigel Harrison who had
played Friars
before with Silverhead. After massive success, the band petered out but
came back in 1999 as if they had never been away and as at 2008, they are
still playing the UK's biggest venues.
Not long before this gig, XTC had played the
King's Head in Aylesbury Market Square. A year later they headlined
Friars.
