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Blondie - their most overrated and underrated song ?


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Old 27-10-2015, 10:27
the chauffeur
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It always feels that Blondie get over looked when anyone reviews music from the 70's or 80's. Maybe because they never dominated either decade - as they hit it really big in the last couple of years of the 70's and the first couple of the 80's.
IMO they produced some great songs/singles and few that were underrated.

For me though, Denis was always a bit overrated although it proved their break through single here in the UK.
Underrated would have to be Union City Blue, great song.
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Old 27-10-2015, 11:09
Rocketpop
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Not to many overrated ones in my opinion. Plenty of underrated ones though, I'll stick to 5..

Overrated : Dreaming & Tide is High.
Underrated : Angels on the Balcony, Pretty Baby, Detroit 442, Susie and Jeffrey & Golden Rod.
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Old 27-10-2015, 11:18
barbeler
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Not an easy question to answer as far as over rated songs go. They certainly churned out some proper rubbish in their later years, but they weren't really over rated because everyone knew they were rubbish.

Under rated is a bit easier, because there are so many album tracks that many will be unaware of. The magnificent No Imagination from Plastic Letters springs to mind, but you could include most of the tracks on that album. From more recent years, Golden Rod is a simply MASSIVE song and seems to be criminally ignored.

Well I've thought hard about it and I really can't think of any track that is actually over rated. Call Me is perhaps one of their weaker singles, but even that is better than most bands will ever achieve in their entire careers.
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Old 27-10-2015, 11:47
JohnnyForget
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Overrated:
Heart Of Glass
Maria
One Way Or Another

Underrated:
Picture This
Hanging On The Telephone
I'm Always Touched by Your Presence, Dear
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Old 27-10-2015, 12:26
mushymanrob
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tbh for me they havnt aged well. after an initial atraction to these 60's wannabes i went off them when they courted the disco scene.

overrated - the tide is high ..... awful

underrated - im always touched by your presence dear, picture this.
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Old 27-10-2015, 13:19
barbeler
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tbh for me they havnt aged well. after an initial atraction to these 60's wannabes i went off them when they courted the disco scene.

overrated - the tide is high ..... awful

underrated - im always touched by your presence dear, picture this.
Hardly under rated, as they are widely acknowledged as classics.

I always loved The Tide Is High and it always brings a smile to my face, but remember it was a cover version.

I found this recently and was amazed at how good musically Blondie were at the start of their career. Some of the vocals are sensational, especially on I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No and Kidnapper. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qWvlG6uOIA
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Old 27-10-2015, 16:09
mushymanrob
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Hardly under rated, as they are widely acknowledged as classics.l]
are they? by who? i never hear them on the radio, at pop quizes, they are easily the lesser known of their hits despite being superior IMHO to the likes of heart of glass, atomic, tide is high, etc.

ps... i note that im not the only one nominating those tracks either
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Old 27-10-2015, 18:32
barbeler
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I suppose it depends how old you are. I can remember the sheer electric shock to the groin of seeing Debbie Harry in the videos for those songs, which changed the lives of countless thousands of lads (and probably a few lasses) from the moment they were released. It also depends which country you live in: the truly outstanding Plastic Letters (from which both those singles came) had hardly any airplay at all in the US, but was very well received here. Admittedly, the album probably sold more copies immediately after Parallel Lines than it did before.
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Old 27-10-2015, 19:23
Thomas007
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Sunday girl doesn't get much of a mention, I really like that.

Call me is my favourite though.
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Old 27-10-2015, 19:52
Torch81
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Overrated - IMO, none! But my least favourite single is probably The Tide Is High. But, I do love the bit(s) in the video where Joey Ramone makes a brief appearance and particularly where Debbie mops up water from the floor but then immediately wrings the cloth out back where she just got it from. I thought back then as now, "no, that's not how you clean up a spillage Debbie!".

Underrated - Slow Motion (should have been a single). Ditto Pretty Baby. Nothing Is Real But The Girl, (for me a better song than Maria). And most definitely Union City Blue. It's always made little sense to me that UCB spent 10 weeks on the chart but only got as high as number 13 while the two singles that followed it, Atomic and Call Me (both excellent songs) each made number 1 but each only spent 9 weeks on the chart.

Also seriously underrated is Debbie's solo single Two Times Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HVNsrfw76o
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Old 27-10-2015, 20:35
0...0
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I missed out on Blondie but I bloody love Rapture, what a tune.

Hat tip for Golden Rod and Atomic too.

If we're including solo Debbie I recently discovered the fantastic Nile Rodgers produced Backfired which is funny, sassy and funky. Definitely under rated.
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Old 27-10-2015, 20:39
barbeler
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Brite Side is another solo effort worth a peek, although I can't work out why she seems to be several years older in the official video than in the live one that follows.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FVVJlPzoNU

This one seemed to coincide with some kind of a traumatic brain injury affecting her dress sense and from which she has never really recovered. From the Des O'Connor Show would you believe?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_dQ4eMs-c
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Old 27-10-2015, 21:18
Torch81
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Brite Side is another solo effort worth a peek, although I can't work out why she seems to be several years older in the official video than in the live one that follows.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FVVJlPzoNU

This one seemed to coincide with some kind of a traumatic brain injury affecting her dress sense and from which she has never really recovered. From the Des O'Connor Show would you believe?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_dQ4eMs-c
Must be the hair and lighting in the video? It is puzzling how she 'lost direction' fashion sense wise. She was SO stylish for so long, then it did become a case of "WTF?".

Brite Side is a great song. UK peak position No. 59 Ridiculous, deserved much better than that. I've never seen that Des show performance, wow, (and dress sense aside), she still looks stunning though and at 44!

Staying Debbie solo(ish) for a minute, (and apologies, I've inadvertently taken this thread a bit OT), but here's another one worth a mention which chart wise was an under achiever and IMO underrated song with Iggy..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjejqJVUYOU
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Old 27-10-2015, 23:15
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Brite Side and Did You Evah are fantastic. I think I have the latter on the Red White and Blue compilation somewhere.
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Old 28-10-2015, 00:33
barbeler
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here's another one worth a mention which chart wise was an under achiever and IMO underrated song with Iggy..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjejqJVUYOU
I love that song and the video. Thanks for reminding me, as I'll have to download that from You Tube and add it to my collection.
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Old 28-10-2015, 07:40
mushymanrob
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I suppose it depends how old you are. I can remember the sheer electric shock to the groin of seeing Debbie Harry in the videos for those songs, which changed the lives of countless thousands of lads (and probably a few lasses) from the moment they were released. It also depends which country you live in: the truly outstanding Plastic Letters (from which both those singles came) had hardly any airplay at all in the US, but was very well received here. Admittedly, the album probably sold more copies immediately after Parallel Lines than it did before.
i was 21 in 1978, tbh i cant remember the vids for 'hangin' and 'touched' , i do remember seeing her perform 'denis' , heart of glass, and the rest.
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Old 28-10-2015, 09:41
kirbyreed
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i can't think of any underrated ones but i can't stand rapture, which everyone else seems to like.
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Old 28-10-2015, 09:54
barbeler
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i was 21 in 1978, tbh i cant remember the vids for 'hangin' and 'touched' , i do remember seeing her perform 'denis' , heart of glass, and the rest.
Same here, but the vision of her backlit hair during Picture This will stay with me for ever. I remember my dad seeing her perform Denis on TOTP and remarking that she wasn't a very good singer - which is when I first decided that he must be a sad old twot. I will admit that it wasn't until later that I appreciated that she was actually a really exceptional singer.
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Old 29-10-2015, 07:05
confuddled
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i can't think of any underrated ones but i can't stand rapture, which everyone else seems to like.
nope...i can't abide it either. generally like their stuff though.
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Old 29-10-2015, 07:28
soulboy77
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I just hated the Island of Lost Soul single. It was at that point I realised that Blondie had lost it.
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Old 29-10-2015, 07:45
Coogear
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I think this band is underrated. Because most of people in my circle didn't know this band. The overrated song is heart of glass
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Old 29-10-2015, 09:44
barbeler
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I just hated the Island of Lost Soul single. It was at that point I realised that Blondie had lost it.
That was a dreadful single and they really had lost it by then – both the band and their backing musicians on that song were all off their faces on heroin. In my opinion, Nile Rogers has been behind the worst albums from both Bowie and Blondie.
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Old 31-10-2015, 09:04
the chauffeur
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I just hated the Island of Lost Soul single. It was at that point I realised that Blondie had lost it.
I never hated that song, but they had lost some of their sparkle at that point ..
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Old 31-10-2015, 09:56
abarthman
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My dad had Blondie's Eat to the Beat cassette in his car and Victor was far and away my favourite track. I always asked him to turn up the volume when it came on.

That song probably helped influence my love of the darker, harder-edged post-punk/goth music that I listened to throughout my teens and early twenties.
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Old 31-10-2015, 10:57
barbeler
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My dad had Blondie's Eat to the Beat cassette in his car and Victor was far and away my favourite track. I always asked him to turn up the volume when it came on.

That song probably helped influence my love of the darker, harder-edged post-punk/goth music that I listened to throughout my teens and early twenties.
Now that is a great example of an under-rated song! Definitely original, edgy and radio-unfriendly.
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