There's a suggestion- how true, I'm not sure- that Patti Smith more or less ran Debbie Harry out of town because the NYC live music scene wasn't big enough for the both of them.
As a few US acts over the years have found- Jimi Hendrix being the most obvious example- sometimes you've got to pack your bags for England in order to be able to re-export yourself back to the States.
Blondie- and Debbie, in particular- were HUGE in England.
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The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas