Blondie was the first band to record a No. 1 rap hit.

Blondie was the first band to record a No. 1 rap hit.
By JIM FARBER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Can you be a bad girl at 58?
Debbie Harry can.
On her latest album with Blondie, the iconic bombshell of the '70s and '80s exudes every ounce of her youthful sexuality.
"I'm holding on to my babehood," the singer told the New York Daily News with a laugh. "Somebody's got to do it."
Now that Tina Turner and Cher have retired, Harry may be alone in trying. Yet, in an era when the baby-boom generation keeps redefining what it means to age, Harry's erotic obstinacy could be the new cutting edge.
Playing a role
On the new record, cheekily titled "The Curse of Blondie," Harry marries her current vitality to her sensual legacy. During "Background Melody," she refers to Blondie's old records as the soundtrack to many fans' sex lives, potentially resulting in a generation of love children.
"Baby, when they made you, I was the background melody," sings Harry with a wink.
"You have no idea how many people come up to me and say that their mothers played Blondie when they were in the womb or that our records were playing when they were conceived," the singer explains.
Those kids would now be old enough to have families of their own. This year, Blondie celebrates its 30th anniversary, though the group had what Harry calls "quite a break in there" -- 15 years to be exact.
During its initial phase -- 1974 to 1982 -- Blondie made history by becoming the first act to have a No. 1 rap hit (1981's "Rapture"), the first CBGB act to become a worldwide success and one of the first acts to mix punk and disco (in the classic "Heart of Glass").
Along the way, Harry created the template Madonna later followed, as a Marilyn Monroe-styled rock babe and multimedia star.
Ups and downs
The band broke up for the usual "Behind the Music" reasons: bad record deals, power struggles and lawsuits. But after letting all that go, Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clem Burke and keyboardist Jimmy Destri reunited in '97. Two years later, they released a terrific comeback album, "No Exit."
They had to deal with a lawsuit brought by two members excluded from the revival -- Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison. But in its second phase, the group once again has become a strong worldwide touring attraction. Its retro-'70s song "Maria" was a hit overseas in 1999.
The new album covers every aspect of Blondie's sprawling sound. It contains pop-rockers, a great disco single ("Good Boys"), jazz songs, reggae and a strong rap. The last ditty, "Shakedown," lets Harry vent her New Jersey pride (she grew up in Hawthorne) in colorfully rude ways.
In the song's lyrics, Harry says she has learned to love solitude. But she's scarcely a loner.
"I have a pretty good social life. I'm always meeting people on the road," Harry explains. "So I don't have a lot of time to myself."
Harry has never married, though she and Stein were a couple for many years.
"I date," Harry says, "but I don't have a one and only. I would love to be in love. If this [interview] is some inducement to the public, I'm taking applications."
She has no children, but is interested in adopting.
"I think I have a lot to offer and I could really help some kids out," she says. "There may be a time when I actually do."