Samira Ahmed – The Blondie hit that’s about Debbie Harry’s stalker

The award-winning broadcaster and insightful voice of BBC Radio 4 chooses Pulp, Nick Drake and Blondie.

Click here to listen to the Spotify playlist that accompanies this episode.

I suspected we might be listening to The Beatles in this episode. Instead I got Blondie and The Monkees, neither of which were expected… both of which put a big smile on my face!

Welcome to another episode of All About The Music where I’m joined by Samira Ahmed — broadcaster, journalist and author – whose interest in music is every bit as great and varied as you’d expect from a presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.

From her first album - Blondie’s Parallel Lines - via piano lessons and Claude Debussy, to the bizarre brilliance of William Shatner covering Pulp’s Common People, Samira and I chat our way through many times in her life, and find music at the heart of all of them.

I absolutely loved picking apart the simple poetic magic of Nick Drake, with someone who adores his work. And it’s always a pleasure to discuss how much better The Monkees are than many people assume!

Featured artists & tracks: 

• Blondie “One Way or Another”,“Heart of Glass”

• Nick Drake “At the Chime of a City Clock”, “Parasite”

• Claude Debussy “Arabesque No.1”

• The Monkees “The Girl I Knew Somewhere”

• Frank Sinatra & Betty Garrett “Come Up To My Place”

• Pulp “Babies”

• William Shatner “Common People”