AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Blondie

Artist:Blondie
Song:Call Me
Album:Greatest Hits





Blondie was the most commercially successful band of the punk and new wave movement of the late 70s. They had four number one hits including Call Me in 1980. Lead singer Deborah Harry was born July 1, 1945 in Miami and grew up in Hawthorne, NJ. she moved to New York City to become a singer and worked as a waitress, go go dancer and Playboy bunny. She was a backup singer for The Wind and the Willows. They recorded one album for Capitol in 1967. In 1974 she joined The Stilettos and met guitarist Chris Stein. They began a relationship and started working together after The Stilettos split up. At first they were called Angel and the Snakes and settled on Blondie because that's what truck drivers yelled at Harry when she was walking down the street. Other band members were Jimmy Destri on keyboards, Gary Valentine on bass and Clem Burke on drums. They signed with Private Stock Records and released their debut album Blondie in 1976. But Private Stock was having financial problems. So they bought back their contract and signed with Chrysalis Records. At this point Blondie was a cult band and most of the buzz was about Deborah Harry's sex appeal. But they became a mainstream success with the 1978 album Parallel Lines and their first number one hit Heart Of Glass. Their were some complaints from fans that the song was too disco but Clem Burke said that was deliberate and credits Kraftwerk as a big influence. Call Me was Blondie's second number one hit. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1980 film American Gigolo. Film music composer Georgio Moroder wanted Stevie Nicks to write a song for the film. But she was unavailable. He gave an instrumental he had written to Harry and asked her to write lyrics. She says Call Me is about driving on the California coast. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 and was a worldwide hit. Blondie's two other number one hits were The Tide Is High and Rapture. You can get them all on this budget comp. The band took a break and Harry released a solo album. They split up in 1982 when Stein was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease pemphigus. Harry continued her solo career in 1986. Burke and Destri became session musicians. Blondie first reformed in 1997 and they continue to tour today. They released a CD in 2011. Blondie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 by Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson. So they were very influential. Here's the video for Call Me by Blondie.