This isn't my favorite Blondie song -- or even one of my favorites on their first comeback LP, "No Exit." But I found myself listening to it yesterday when my brother Bill sent me a link Jeremiah's Vanishing New York about the Sweet Banana Candy Store on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, and how Debbie Harry loved the name so much she tried to compose a song about it. The track apparently never came together, but it seems she tried to write it with Romy Ashby, a name that popped up on a number of tracks since Blondie's re-formation, including "Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room." (Clem Burke received a rare writing credit on that one, along with his Go-Go ex, Kathy Valentine.) I remember being perplexed by this "Romy Ashby" character being all over Blondie's writing credits back in 1999 ("Screaming Skin," "No Exit," "Night Wind Sent," "Happy Dog," "The Dream's Lost on Me"). Then I met another hardcore fan who told me that he had heard that Romy was also a dog walker -- who may have even worked for Chris or Debbie -- before becoming writing partners with them. (Talk about a New York story!) Romy tells the tale of the failed attempt at the Sweet Banana Candy Store song HERE -- and, even better, you can read her fun New York City blog, Walkers in the City, HERE.
