Great Albums of 1979: Blondie- Eat to the Beat
There’s no denying it, it is a fact that 1979 was the year for Blondie. They began the year with their 1978 release “Parallel Lines” which included the number 1 hit single “Heart of Glass.” One of the few songs to successfully make the rock-disco crossover that year. Debbie Harry became a common fixture on the walls of many teenage boys, including mine. Then they ended the year with “Eat to the Beat,” also a good album. Along with “Get the Knack” and “The Long Run” by the Eagles, this was also one of the albums that first greeted me when I came home on leave from that no contact with the outside world three month period I call boot camp.
Debbie Harry
I won’t go into a compare/contrast with “Parallel Lines” the way I did with Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” album. “Eat to the Beat” took Blondie into a more new wave direction. The hard rock sound is still there but it seems more melodic this time around. There are some very good tracks like the singles, “Dreaming” and “Atomic” and I really like “Accidents Never Happen.” It is a good album on its own and kept Blondie at the top of the rock music hill for 1979 and early 1980.
Track Listing:
1. Dreaming
2. The Hardest Part
3. Union City Blues
4. Shayla
5. Eat to the Beat
6. Accidents Never Happen
7. Die Young, Stay Pretty
8. Slow Motion
9. Atomic
10. Sound Asleep
11. Victor
12. Living in the Real World
Blondie
Deborah Harry- vocals
Chris Stein- lead guitar
Jimmy Destri- keyboards, backing vocals
Nigel Harrison- bass
Frank Infante- guitar, backing vocals
Clem Burke- drums
“Eat to the Beat” was the second of two great albums from Blondie and the reason why 1979 was their year. Many boys like me first listened to them because they liked the lead singer, but stayed with them because of the music. It was something great to come home from boot camp to.
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November 4, 2012 at 3:26 am
Cool that you’ve covered Blondie. Yeah, I had a middle school crush on Debbie Harry too. 🙂
My favorite song from Blondie is “Call Me”… only that single was released in the next year you’ll be covering! \m/\m/
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November 4, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Did “Call Me” appear on an actual Blondie album or was it just on the soundtrack of American Gigolo? I need to know so I can get my metal facts right when I move onto 1980 which is still a way down the line.
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November 4, 2012 at 10:41 pm
“Call Me” only appeared on the “American Gigolo” soundtrack in 1980. A 12″ single was released in both American and Spanish versions in 1980.
in 2001, the reissue of “Autoamerican” has “Call Me” as a bonus track… yet “Call Me” was never included on the original 1980 release of “Autoamerican”… (phew) it can get detailed sometimes, huh? LOL!
Keep Rockin’ with no sign of stoppin’! \m/\m/
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November 6, 2012 at 11:39 am
Don’t worry about the details, I appreciate the history lesson! ;0)
My sister had “Call Me” on 45 and that is how I first got to hear it. It is a good song although “One Way or Another” continues to be my fave Blondie song
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