Song · Blondie
“Denis” by Blondie
From the album Plastic Letters (1977)
“Denis” by Blondie appears on 7 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2001 and 2022. It was first released in 1977 on the album Plastic Letters. Its best result is #150 on the Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,512 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (BlondieVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Denis" is Blondie's spin on "Denise", the Neil Levenson song that Randy & the Rainbows turned into a doo-wop hit in 1963, written about his childhood friend Denise Lefrak. Blondie flipped the gender, cut it for Plastic Letters with producer Richard Gottehrer and engineer Rob Freeman, and turned it into a bubblegum new wave rave-up that went to number 2 in Britain in 1978.
Deborah Harry sings it with a knowing, breathless purr, and the band has a blast: Jimmy Destri piles on grand piano, Farfisa, synthesizer and strings, Chris Stein and Frank Infante split the guitars and bass, Stein adds a twinkle of vibraphone, and Clem Burke drives it like a girl-group record strapped to a motorbike.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 150 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 500 |
| 2002 | 752 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 973 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 306 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 207 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 311 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) | 500 |
| 2022 | 891 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
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