Blondie: Parallel Lines - 1978
"The Blondies were tough in the studio, real tough. None of them liked each other, except Chris and Debbie, and there was so much animosity. They were really, really juvenile in their approach to life - a classic New York underground rock band - and they didn't give a fuck about anything. They just wanted to have fun and didn't want to work too hard getting it" - Mike Chapman
Released in September 1978, only seven months after Plastic Letters, this was the album that everyone remembers Blondie for.
Straight to the songs then....It was of one those albums that contained multiple hit singles - the new wave power pop of Picture This, with its blatantly sexy cover, the punkier kick-ass, in-your-face rock of Hanging On The Telephone (a cover of a song by the Nerves), the irresistible disco groove of Heart Of Glass and the melodic radio-friendly singalong pop of Sunday Girl. Added to that, everyone seemed to know One Way Or Another too, or at least they do now.
Incidentally, Hanging On The Telephone was a cover of a 1976 song from a short-lived Californian punk band called The Nerves. I have to freely admit that I had gone all these years completely unaware of this original version of the song. Blondie's cover is virtually note for note, even down to the telephone ring at the beginning, although The Nerves' version has an appealing Duane Eddy-style guitar backing and some convincing punky sneering vocals. Actually, you know what - I may just prefer it. It has a rockabilly-punk appeal compared to Blondie's power pop anthem. Blondie had the image, though, and the song always seemed tailor-made for them.
The other tracks contain some gems too, 11.59 and Pretty Baby are very appealing upbeat power pop numbers, while, conversely, the cool, slightly spooky Fade Away And Radiate had a post-punk mystery about it, full of imagery about cathode rays and sci-fi. This song was one of the album's underrated numbers and it showed that Blondie weren't simply new wave preeners but had a taste for the bleak demi-monde too. Robert Fripp plays guitar on it too, giving it a link to the bleak soundscapes of David Bowie's "Heroes". Maybe surprisingly, as it isn't an instantly catchy number, neither was it a hit single, I would always put it in any "best of Blondie" playlist. In many ways, though, it exemplified Debbie and Blondie's detached, mysterious über cool.
The lively Buddy Holly cover I'm Gonna Love You Too is another “get up, join in” number. Even the lesser-known tracks like the brooding I Know But I Don't Know, Will Anything Happen and the understated but tuneful closer, Just Go Away are impressive. There is not really a duff track on the album, is there?
The whole album is perfectly created and suited the power pop-new wave trend perfectly. Indeed, it is probably the quintessential power pop album. The band never sounded better on this one, either. Clem Burke’s drums, Jimmy Destri’s keyboard, Chris Stein’s guitar. The blend was perfect for what they were looking to achieve at the time. Later output would reveal limitations, but certainly not here.
Apparently, producer Mike Chapman said they had less ability as musicians than any band he had ever worked with and he had to work really hard to get Burke, Destri and Stein to sound remotely competent. He obviously managed it. Bass guitarist Nigel Harrison and guitarist Frank Infante were said by Chapman to be the best of the band’s musicians. The opinions Chapman expressed were possibly a pointer as to why Blondie were generally considered a pretty poor live band. Amazingly, the album was recorded in only six weeks. Also, what is surprising is that the band all hated each other - apart from lovers Stein and Debbie Harry. Personally, maybe I have just heard it too many times, but I prefer dipping into Plastic Letters or Eat To The Beat these days. That is just a personal listening choice, however. It can't be denied that this was by far Blondie's finest album.
Included as bonus tracks on the expanded release of the album are a frantic, extended bluesy groove of a live cover of T. Rex's Get It On; a grungy, dense live version of I Know But I Don't Know and a suitably energetic live cut of Hanging On The Telephone.
