BEFORE Christina, Britney, even before Madonna, there was only one platinum Queen of Pop.

Debbie Harry, who became a household name in her 30s, at an age when most modern pop idols have "retired" after two albums and three hit singles, was the lust object of virtually every male in the country (this card carrying member of the Official Blondie Fan Club included).

That was back in 1978/9, when her band's brilliant album Parallel Lines, stormed up the charts, thanks to songs like Heart of Glass, Hanging on the Telephone and Sunday Girl.

The good news is that Deborah (as she now prefers to be addressed) hasn't changed all that much in the ensuing 25 years or so.

Okay, she's not as svelte as she once was, but on the evidence of Tuesday night's performance, not much else has altered.

She still has the electric blonde hair. She still possesses equal amounts of energy and awkwardness; dancing was never Ms Harry's forte and she still exhibits the jerky movements of a puppet when performing live.

But the crowd of mainly 30-somethings (probably slightly too young to see Blondie live when they toured at the pinnacle in the late 1970s) were not there to watch her dance. They were there for the songs. And what songs.

Among the 26 Debbie sang during the impressive two hour set, were classics like Atomic, Sunday Girl, Dreaming, X Offender, Hanging on the Telephone, Call Me, Rip Her to Shreds, One Way Or Another, Rapture, Maria, The Tide is High and, of course, Heart of Glass.

But the new songs, from the recently released album The Curse of Blondie, stand up pretty well too.

The new single, Good Boys and other tracks Golden Rod, End to End, The Tingler and Hello Joe, were received well by the audience, who were standing in the stalls area, which had had the seats taken out. The result was a fantastic view, just a few yards from the stage.

Debbie's ex-boyfriend and lead guitarist/writer Chris Stein had the crowd baying for more with some neat playing and drummer Clem Burke, whose mega-enthusiasm always reminds me of Animal from The Muppets, proved he is still one of the best in the business.

The show was polished, great value and worth seeing just to watch the original female pop icon perform beautifully written songs with that distinctive, seductive voice.

Debbie may well be pushing 60 now, but she still exudes more sex appeal than a million 19-year-old wannabe pop stars.

IAN SAVAGE