In July, 1979, I had just completed my first year at Queens College while continuing my part time jobs as a stock boy Monday thru Friday at Gertz Department Store on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens and making deliveries every Saturday morning for the Golden Rule Meat Market on Bowne Avenue, also in Flushing. I was geared more toward the arena rock of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith and Queen who put on the big shows that became tribal social gatherings for the teenagers of the time, however, New Wave and punk rock did not completely escape us as Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Dave Edmunds, The Clash Talking Heads, the Ramones and of course Blondie had begun to get radio airplay and recognition as bands to be reckoned with. Those of us with an inquisitive ear and a sense of tock and roll adventure investigated the new music with varying degrees of acceptance depending on who you were. The Stiff Records recording acts and others had made serious inroads on Long Island rFM adio stations WLIR, WBAB and eventually New York City’s WNEW-FM. Blondie had some huge hits coming off of the commercial and artistic breakthrough “Parallel Lines”. Nick Lowe opened and is a great singer songwriter who came out of the same school of rock as Dave Edmunds who he played with in the band Rockpile. Once again, no particular recollection of this Central Park concert but at this point we were attending shows at a furious pace and absorbing the music and common experiences with our peers as much as we could while having a lot of fun in the process.

Blondie was still touring on occasion pre-pandemic, and the professorial looking talented Mr. Lowe could be found playing his gems on occasion at City Winery.

Heart of Glass

Rock on!

GQ