Blondie
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
In August, Chrysalis Records bought their contract from Private Stock and in October reissued Blondie and released the second album, Plastic Letters. Blondie expanded to a sextet in November with the addition of bassist Nigel Harrison (born in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England), 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, (Im 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 albums 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 groups 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 Blondies second transatlantic chart-topper. Blondies fifth album, Autoamerican, was released in November 1980, and its first single was the eggae-ish tune The Tide Is High, which went to number one in the U.S. and U.K. The second single was the ap-oriented Rapture, which topped the U.S. pop charts and went Top Ten in the U.K. But the bands eclectic style reflected a diminished participation by its members -- Infante sued, charging that he wasnt being used on the records, though he settled and stayed in the lineup. But in 1981, the members of Blondie worked on individual projects, notably Harrys gold-selling solo album, KooKoo. The Best of Blondie was released in the fall of the year. The Hunter, Blondies sixth album, was released in May 1982, preceded by the single Island of Lost Souls, a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and U.K. War Child also became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., but The Hunter was a commercial disappointment.
At the same time, Stein became seriously ill with the genetic disease pemphigus. As a result, Blondie broke up in October 1982, with Deborah Harry launching a part-time solo career while caring for Stein, who eventually recovered. 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 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.
