Blondie – “The Best of Blondie”

The Sleeve:

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
None.

Personal Review:
Does Blondie really need an introduction?
This is one of the greatest Blondie albums, only because it’s the best of Blondie, and it opens with my favorite Blondie track, “Heart of Glass” – which has the most superb chorus and amazing musicianship. It’s then followed by another favorite Blondie track of mine, “Dreaming” which has the greatest drum-off at the beginning, and then goes off into another amazing Blondie song. Then comes the track, “The Tide is High” – and it was that one Blondie track that was supposed to be pop reggae or something, for me it never really came off as reggae, but more as simple pop. Then comes the song “In the Flesh” – which is kind of a slower pop song, I feel it was used at a lot of school dances when it came out as a slow dance song. Then comes the song “Sunday Girl” – which is just like the ONE Blondie song I don’t like that much. I don’t hate it, but the chorus is bad. Oh, then there is that whole french part. I don’t like that either. The A-Side ends with another personal favorite Blondie song of mine, “Hanging on the Telephone” and thus far, the album is absolutely amazing! Like, everything is amazing, and Debbie Harry just has amazing vocals!

The B-Side opens with “Rapture” which is the hip hop/funk song Blondie did, and well, surprisingly I like it more than I like “Sunday Girl” – I especially like when Debbie Harry begins to rap. It’s then followed by “One Way or Another” which is like the one Blondie song every single living person knows due to the fact it’s used in so many movies. After that it’s “(I’m Always Touched by your) Presence Dear” which is another good track, catchy tune and rather nice to hear. After that comes like the first Blondie song I ever heard, “Call Me” – which is the theme from that god awful Richard Gere movie – the song is ten times better than the movie. It makes me want to dance, to be quite honest! Then comes another great Blondie song, “Atomic” which is like the second Blondie song I’ve ever heard, and well, it’s another amazingly great Blondie song. I definitely dig the bass playing, it’s pretty good. The album closes with the track “Rip Her to Shreds” – which reminds of Debbie Harry’s role in the film ‘Hairspray‘ – overall, it’s a good ending track and good song.

Interesting Facts:
None.

Track Listing:
A1 – Heart of Glass
A2 – Dreaming
A3 – The Tide is High
A4 – In the Flesh
A5 – Sunday Girl
A6 – Hanging on the Telephone

B1 – Rapture
B2 – One Way or Another
B3 – (I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence Dear
B4 – Call Me (Theme from American Gigolo)
B5 – Atomic
B6 – Rip Her to Shreds

Label:
Chrysalis

Catalog Number:
CHR 1337

Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Drums – Clem Burke
Keyboards – Jimmy Destri
Bass – Nigel Harrison
Vocals – Debbie Harry
Guitar – Frank Infante & Chris Stein
Front Cover Photography – Martyn Goddard
Back Cover Photography – Brian Cooke
Producers – Mike Chapman, Richard Gottehrer & Giorgio Morodor

Other Albums I Own by Blondie:
“Eat to the Beat”
“Parallel Lines”
“The Tide is High / Suzy & Jeffrey”

Other Albums I Own that Blondie Appears On:
“Rock ’81”

Released:
1981

Related Vinyls:

Big Country – “The Crossing” INXS – “The Swing” Richard Simmons – “Reach” Roman Holliday – “Roman Holliday”