THE 1,503rd TVV POSTING....

I had actually intended this as the 1500th posting, but I miscounted how many times I or my guest posters had entertained or bored you, and so its a wee bit late.

Looking back it is quite incredible to consider just how much Blondie conquered the world with the release of Parallel Lines in late 1978. The self-titled debut LP from 1976 had more or less by-passed everyone but by early 1978 the UK hit singles Denis and (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear had awakened interest in Debbie Harry and her boys.

And let's not pretend otherwise, very few were all that interested in anyone other than the singer, notwithstanding that Gary Valentine, Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante, Chris Stein and Clem Burke were all reasonable musicians.

The release of Plastic Letters in February 1978 had gotten the band their first Top 10 LP in the UK although it was a relatively poor seller in their home country. But within weeks of its release, the band were back in the studio working with Australian producer Mike Chapman who had enjoyed all sorts of chart success in the pre-punk years. What emerged from two months of activity was an incredible blend of new wave, pop and disco that had the bands dominating the airwaves and the charts and capturing the hearts of many a music lover of all ages.

By the time of recording, Blondie had a new bassist in Nigel Harrison who had replaced Gary Valentine and whose playing in a rhythm section with drummer Burke was fundamental to the band's changing sound.

The twelve songs on Parallel Lines take less than 40 minutes to digest. They are all between 2 mins and 4 mins in length, just about all of them tailor-made for daytime radio. There's 10 original Blondie tracks and 2 covers. Four of the tracks were released as singles in the UK, while a further two were separately released in the USA. Most of the b-sides were also taken from the LP showing that while they were excellent recordings, there weren't many spare songs in the locker at the time. It was of course the UK where Blondie had made the initial commercial breakthrough, and Picture This, followed by Hanging On The Telephone were both hits. But it was the release of Heart Of Glass in January 1979 that really broke the band internationally, including their homeland.

It was Blondie-mania and sales of their first two LPs also benefited, although many new fans were left scratching their heads as the difference between the extremely poppy and polished Parallel Lines and the earlier work was quite marked. Sunday Girl gave them a second successive #1 in the UK. It wasn't released as a 45 in the USA but One Way Or Another was and gave the band another hit.

Parallel Lines is an album that usually features highly in critics lists. The NME placed it 18th of all time in 2003, while Blender Magazine had it as 7th best American LP ever. Even Rolling Stone with its infamous concentration on white male-orientated classic rock or singer-songwriters managed to place it 140th of all time. It is one that has aged well for the most part.

No-one can dispute that Heart Of Glass is a timeless piece of music that perfectly combines pop, new wave and disco in one fell swoop. But many of the other tracks are excellent in their own way and style:-

mp3 : Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
mp3 : Blondie - One Way Or Another
mp3 : Blondie - Picture This
mp3 : Blondie - Fade Away and Radiate
mp3 : Blondie - Pretty Baby
mp3 : Blondie - I Know But I Don't Know
mp3 : Blondie - 11:59
mp3 : Blondie - Will Anything Happen?
mp3 : Blondie - Sunday Girl
mp3 : Blondie - Heart of Glass
mp3 : Blondie - I'm Gonna Love You Too
mp3 : Blondie - Just Go Away

I'm particularly fond of the new-wave pop of the LP opener which was also a hit single, while non-singles Pretty Baby and 11:59 also take my fancy.....

Parallel Lines has sold 20 million copies worldwide in 32 and a bit years. That's a lot of homes it has found its way into...

N.B. : - SONGS REMOVED AFTER DMCA NOTICE......BUT I'M GUESSING MOST OF YOU OWN THE LP ANYWAY..