Parallel Lines

by Blondie

Overview

Blondie turned to Britain-based pop producer Mike Chapman for their third album, on which they abandoned any pretensions to new wave legitimacy (just in time, given the decline of the style) and emerged as a mainstream, contemporary pop/rock band. But it wasn't just Chapman's influence that made Parallel Lines Blondie's best album; it was also the band's own songwriting, including Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, and Jimmy Destri's "Picture This"; Harry and Stein's disco-styled "Heart of Glass"; and Harry and new bass player Nigel Harrison's "One Way or Another"; plus two contributions from non-band member Jack Lee, "Will Anything Happen?" and "Hanging on the Telephone." Together, they were enough to give Blondie a number one on both sides of the Atlantic with "Heart of Glass" and three more U.K. hits, but what impresses is the album's depth and consistency -- album tracks like "Fade Away and Radiate" and "Just Go Away" are as impressive as the songs pulled for singles. Still, Chapman's contribution is not to be discounted; a producer with a track record full of punchy British pop hits with his former partner Nicky Chinn for Suzi Quatro, Mud, the Sweet, and Smokie, he brought his sense of precise arranging and playing to a band that previously had been quite sloppy in execution, and he did it without sacrificing the group's spirit, particularly Harry's snotty yet sophisticated vocal style. The result is state-of-the-art pop/rock circa 1978, with Harry's tough-girl glamour setting the pattern that would be exploited over the next decade by a host of successors, led by Madonna. (The 2001 reissue adds four bonus tracks, among them a live rendition of T. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" and a previously unreleased preliminary version of "Heart of Glass" called "Once I Had a Love (AKA The Disco Song)." ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2001
Label:	Capitol
UPC:	0724353359928

Tracks

1. Hanging on the Telephone
2. One Way or Another
3. Picture This
4. Fade Away and Radiate
5. Pretty Baby
6. I Know But I Don't Know
7. 11:59
8. Will Anything Happen?
9. Sunday Girl
10. Heart of Glass
11. I'm Gonna Love You Too
12. Just Go Away
13. Once I Had a Love (AKA the Disco Song)
14. Bang a Gong (Get It on)
15. I Know But I Don't Know
16. Hanging on the Telephone

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Blondie   Primary Artist
Chris Stein   E-Bow,Guitar,Guitar (12 String)
Debbie Harry   Vocals
Robert Fripp   Guitar
Jimmy Destri   Keyboards
Nigel Harrison   Bass
Clem Burke   Drums
Frank Infante   Guitar,Vocals
Mike Chapman   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Kevin Flaherty   Producer,Reissue Compiler,Reissue Producer
Chris Stein   Composer
Edo   Photography
Debbie Harry   Composer
Robert Fisher   Design,Reissue Design
Peter Coleman   Engineer,Assistant Engineer,Production Assistant
Niki Sullivan   Composer
Jimmy Destri   Composer
Nigel Harrison   Composer
Norman Petty   Composer
Bryan Kelley   Producer,Reissue Producer
Marc Bolan   Composer
Kevin Bartley   Mastering,Reissue Mastering
Frank Infante   Composer
Steve Hall   Mastering
Neil Zlozower   Photography,Reissue Photography
Jerry Rodriguez   Lettering
Darren Wong   Art Direction
Ramey Communications   Design,Art Direction
Greg Russell   Assistant Engineer
Peter C. Leeds   Management
Michelle Azzopardi   Reissue Coordination
Armando Gallo   Photography,Reissue Photography
Mick Shiner   Remix Engineer
Jack Lee   Composer
Frank Duarte   Illustrations
Niki Martin Sullivan   Composer
Joe Mauldin   Composer
Mike Chapman   Producer,Liner Notes,Reissue Liner Notes
Kenny Nemes   Project Manager,Reissue Coordination
The Black Dog   Remix Engineer