Born on November 15th: Frank Infante; discreet guitarist of the first stirrings of emotion provoked by Blondie

Frank Infante was born in New Jersey in 1951 and is obviously known for his time in Blondie, including "Plastic Letters" and "Parallel Lines".

Before joining Blondie in 1977, initially as Gary Valentine's replacement, alternating between bass and guitar, he already had an impressive resume. Admittedly, his early experiences in hard rock and electric blues bands like World War and Sniper (names that speak for themselves) didn't leave much of an impression. Although he played both bass and guitar on "Plastic Letters," Blondie's second album, he doesn't appear on the cover!

To say the least, his time alongside Debbie Harry and Chris Stein was anything but smooth sailing. While producer Mike Chapman considered him an excellent guitarist—"the best in the band," he would later suggest—his importance in the group's rise to fame was consistently downplayed. So much so that legal action, ultimately settled out of court, proved necessary to secure a sufficient share of the royalties generated by the band. So, quite logically, when Blondie reformed in 1997 after a fifteen-year hiatus, no one thought to invite him to join them. He resented this, but his legal action was dismissed. Clearly, Debbie Harry has vilified him ever since! As further proof, when Blondie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, the singer refused to let her former guitarist join her on stage for their live performance. The two artists seem irreconcilable…

Frank Infante can be found alongside a handful of essential American alternative rock artists such as Stiv Bators (Lords of the New Church) and Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls). He also played on "Bad Reputation" by former Runaways member Joan Jett, as well as with The Divinyls and Iggy Pop. Around 2010, he also performed several times in a trio called Infante's Inferno with Clem Burke (Blondie's drummer, who passed away in April 2025) and Steve Fishman (bass), though no record of their collaboration has been found.

Now in his seventies, Frank Infante prefers to keep a low profile, although in a 2024 interview with "Guitar World" magazine, he once again sought to set the record straight regarding his contribution to Blondie's success. He also mentioned a little-known anecdote about the iconic guitar riff of "Atomic" (from the 1979 album "Eat To The Beat"). "For the recording of this track, Bruce Springsteen (also a New Jersey native) was kind enough to lend me one of his guitars," he recalled.

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Frank Infante with Blondie on stage at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels (Belgium) on September 6, 1978