| Blondie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 1976 | |||
| Recorded | August–September 1976 | |||
| Studio | Plaza Sound (New York City) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 32:58 | |||
| Label | Private Stock | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Blondie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Blondie | ||||
| ||||
Blondie is the debut studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in December 1976 by Private Stock Records.
The first single "X Offender" was originally titled "Sex Offender", but since radio stations would not play a song with such a provocative title, the band renamed the song. After disappointing sales and poor publicity, the band ended their contract with Private Stock and signed with Chrysalis Records in mid 1977. Chrysalis re-released the album in September 1977, when they issued Blondie's 2nd album "Plastic Letters", along with the single "In the Flesh". The album reached No. 14 in Australia, [1] where the band had already had a top-3 entry with "In the Flesh". The album also charted at No. 75 in the UK in early 1979, where the band had become immensely popular.
Through the production of Richard Gottehrer, who had worked with the Angels and other artists of the 1950s and 1960s, much of the music is suffused with the girl group sound of that era. Debbie Harry told an interviewer in 1978 that the band never intended to be retro and when some journalists described them that way, it was "quite a shock". [2] Likewise she rejected any attempt to brand the music as pop, insisting that Blondie played new wave music. [3]
The album was first digitally remastered by Chrysalis Records UK in 1994. In 2001, the album was again remastered and reissued, this time along with five bonus tracks. "Out in the Streets" (The Shangri-Las cover), "The Thin Line" and "Platinum Blonde" are three of five tracks from a 1975 demo recorded by Alan Betrock; all five were first issued on the 1994 compilation The Platinum Collection . Bonus track "Platinum Blonde" was the first song that Harry wrote. [4] Original single versions of "X Offender" and "In the Sun" are both sides of Blondie's first single, issued on Private Stock, and are different mixes from the album versions. The two Private Stock versions are both remastered from vinyl.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [7] |
| Q | [8] |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [10] |
| Sounds | [11] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 [12] |
| The Village Voice | B+ [13] |
Reviewing Blondie in 1977 for Rolling Stone , Ken Tucker called the album "a playful exploration of Sixties pop interlarded with trendy nihilism" and found that all the songs "work on at least two levels: as peppy but rough pop, and as distanced, artless avant-rock". He noted that Harry performed with "utter aplomb and involvement throughout: even when she's portraying a character consummately obnoxious and spaced-out, there is a wink of awareness that is comforting and amusing yet never condescending." He also noted that Harry was the "possessor of a bombshell zombie's voice that can sound dreamily seductive and woodenly Mansonite within the same song". [14]
[15] Giovanni Dadomo of Sounds gave the album a two star rating, calling it a "pretty dumb affair" and that "nobody here seems to really be trying very hard.". [11] Dadomo went on to state the production had " an almost totally bland lack of depth and colour" finding the main highlight to be "there's plenty of Farfisa and sometimes Blondie sounds a little bit like Jim Morrison." [11]
In 2020, Rolling Stone included Blondie at number 401 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "X Offender" | 3:11 | |
| 2. | "Little Girl Lies" | Harry | 2:04 |
| 3. | "In the Flesh" |
| 2:26 |
| 4. | "Look Good in Blue" | Jimmy Destri | 2:56 |
| 5. | "In the Sun" | Stein | 2:40 |
| 6. | "A Shark in Jets Clothing" | Destri | 3:35 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Man Overboard" | Harry | 3:20 |
| 8. | "Rip Her to Shreds" |
| 3:20 |
| 9. | "Rifle Range" |
| 3:37 |
| 10. | "Kung Fu Girls" |
| 2:29 |
| 11. | "The Attack of the Giant Ants" | Stein | 3:20 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Out in the Streets" (Original Instant Records demo) | 2:20 | |
| 13. | "The Thin Line" (Original Instant Records demo) |
| 2:16 |
| 14. | "Platinum Blonde" (Original Instant Records demo) | Harry | 2:12 |
| 15. | "X Offender" (Original Private Stock single version) |
| 3:13 |
| 16. | "In the Sun" (Original Private Stock single version) | Stein | 2:38 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Blondie. [17] [18]
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [20] | 14 |
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC) [21] | 75 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [22] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
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Plastic Letters is the second studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in February 1978 by Chrysalis Records. An earlier version with a rearranged track listing was released in Japan in late December 1977.
"X Offender" is the debut single by American band Blondie. Written by Gary Valentine and Debbie Harry for the band's self-titled debut album, Blondie, the song was released as the album's lead single on Private Stock in June 1976.
"Rip Her to Shreds" is a song by American new wave band Blondie, which features on the band's self-titled debut album.
"In the Flesh" is a song by American band Blondie and their first to chart. Originally from the band's self-titled debut album, Blondie, the song was Blondie's second and final single on the Private Stock label.
"Heart of Glass" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie, written by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. It was featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines (1978), and was released as the album's third single in January 1979 and reached number one on the charts in several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blondie, released on September 28, 1979, by Chrysalis Records. The album was certified Platinum in the United States, where it spent a year on the Billboard 200. Peaking at No. 17, it was one of Billboard's top 10 albums of 1980. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in October 1979 and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Autoamerican is the fifth studio album by American rock band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached No. 3 in the UK charts, No. 7 in the US, and No. 8 in Australia. The album spawned two singles, "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture". "The Tide Is High" hit number one in several countries, including the US and the UK. "Rapture" became the first rap song ever to reach number one on the singles chart in the US. It also reached number five in the UK and number four in Australia.
The Best of Blondie is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Blondie. It was released in October 1981, by Chrysalis Records. The album peaked at number four in the United Kingdom and number 30 in the United States, while becoming the band's only number-one album in Australia.
KooKoo is the debut solo album by American singer Debbie Harry, released on July 27, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, the album was recorded whilst Harry took a break from her band Blondie. It was a moderate commercial success, reaching number 25 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart.
"Suicide Blonde" is the lead single from Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, X (1990). It was released on 22 August 1990 in the United States and on 3 September 1990 in the United Kingdom. The song reached number two in Australia, number nine in the United States, and number 11 in the United Kingdom. In Canada and New Zealand, the single peaked at number one for two and three weeks, respectively. At the APRA Music Awards of 1991, "Suicide Blonde" won the award Most Performed Australian Work Overseas.
Blonde and Beyond is a compilation album of recordings by Blondie released on Chrysalis Records in 1993.
The Platinum Collection is a two disc compilation album of recordings by Blondie released by EMI/Chrysalis in 1994. The forty-seven track compilation contains the A- and B-sides of all singles issued by the band in the U.S. and the UK between the years 1976 and 1982 in chronological order, five demo recordings made before the release of their debut album including an alternative version of "Heart of Glass", as well as two 1994 dance remixes of their hits "Atomic" and "Rapture".
The liner notes contain extensive interviews with band members Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Frank Infante and Gary Valentine.
Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie is a greatest hits album by American rock band Blondie, released on July 13, 1998, by Chrysalis Records, at the time when the band reunited and shortly before the beginning of their successful comeback tour.
Deborah Ann Harry is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached No. 1 on the US charts between 1979 and 1981.
Alan Betrock was an American music critic, publisher, editor, author and record producer. Initially a music critic, Betrock founded the influential New York Rocker magazine in 1976 and the publishing house Shake Books in 1979. He has written and edited several books, including the critically acclaimed Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound. He produced Blondie's first demos in 1975 and launched the short-lived record label Shake Records. He has produced and/or released music by such artists as Marshall Crenshaw, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the dB's and the Smithereens.
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