New Wave Trash

I have an early childhood memory of hearing Blondie’s smash hit “The Tide Is High” on the radio- everywhere- and so I was surprised when years later as a teenager (during the course of my punk research) I discovered many writers referring to Blondie as one of the first punk bands (along with their New York contemporaries Ramones and Talking Heads). I guess back then people didn’t really have a name for what '70s bands like Ramones and Talking Heads were doing and so music critics labeled these influential CBGB groups- including Blondie- punk or new wave (now called punk pioneers).

Over the years, Blondie songs began creeping into my music collection- usually one song at a time. They always had catchy singles but I never really dug any of Blondie’s studio albums. If I were going to recommend one Blondie album then it would be The Best of Blondie. Blondie's music is known for being fun, trashy, and eclectic with one foot in ‘60s garage rock and the other in ‘70s disco. For me, it is Blondie's carefree attitude, sense of humor, New Yawk accents, and refusal to be labeled that make them unpredictable and kind of punk. (Oh, and having a former Playboy bunny as their lead singer probably didn't hurt Blondie’s record sales.) Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

01. Blondie – “Maria” (1999)

02. Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone” (1978)

03. Blondie – “Suzy & Jeffrey” (1980)

04. Blondie – “Dreaming” (1979)

05. Blondie – “Sunday Girl (Remix)” (1981)

06. Blondie – “In the Flesh (Remix)” (1981)

07. Blondie – “Call Me” (1980)

08. Blondie – “(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear” (1978)

09. Blondie – “Union City Blue” (1979)

10. Blondie – “Rip Her to Shreds” (1977) 

Listen to the playlist on Spotify... 

... or check out the playlist on YouTube

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