Book Blondie

Blondie expanded to a sextet in November with the addition of bassist Nigel Harrison, as Infante switched to guitar. Blondie broke commercially in the U.K. in March 1978, when their cover of Randy and the Rainbows’ 1963 hit ‘Denise,’ renamed ‘Denis,’ became a Top Ten hit, as did Plastic Letters, followed by a second U.K. Top Ten, ‘(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear.’ Blondie turned to U.K. producer/songwriter Mike Chapman for their third album, Parallel Lines, which was released in September 1978 and eventually broke them worldwide.

‘Picture This’ became a U.K. Top 40 hit, and ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ made the U.K. Top Ten, but it was the album’s third single, the disco-influenced ‘Heart of Glass,’ that took Blondie to number one in both the U.K. and the U.S. ‘Sunday Girl’ hit number one in the U.K. in May, and ‘One Way or Another’ hit the U.S. Top 40 in August. Blondie followed with their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, in October. Its first single, ‘Dreaming,’ went Top Ten in the U.K., Top 40 in the U.S. The second U.K. single, ‘Union City Blue,’ went Top 40. In March 1980, the third U.K. single from Eat to the Beat, ‘Atomic,’ became the group’s third British number one. (It later made the U.S. Top 40.) Meanwhile, Harry was collaborating with German disco producer Giorgio Moroder on ‘Call Me,’ the theme from the movie American Gigolo. It became Blondie’s second transatlantic chart-topper. Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican, was released in November 1980, and its first single was the reggae-ish tune ‘The Tide Is High,’ which went to number one in the U.S. and U.K. The second single was the rap-oriented ‘Rapture,’ which topped the U.S. pop charts and went Top Ten in the U.K. The Hunter, Blondie’s sixth album, was released in May 1982. In 1998, the original lineup of Harry, Stein, Destri, and Burke reunited to tour Europe, their first series of dates in 16 years; a new LP, No Exit, followed early the next year. After more touring, this was followed by another studio set, The Curse of Blondie, in 2003, and a DVD of the Live by Request program from A&E was released in 2004. In 2006, Blondie celebrated their 30th anniversary with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the release of Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision, a best-of collection that contained all their classic videos as well. They also got back to work on original material and Panic of Girls was released in July 2011.