#146 Blondie, 'Parallel Lines' (1978)

Previously #140

On this record, Blondie finally come into their own. Their third record topped the charts in the UK and hit #6 in the US. On this record, production duties were taken over by the Australian-born, LA-based producer, Mike Chapman. Bringing a completely different approach to previous producer, Richard Gottehrer, Chapman managed to harness a different, more hard sound for Blondie. He definitely brought out the ferocity in Debbie Harry, who was initially cautious over working with him; Blondie was New York, Chapman was LA. After she played him an early cut of ‘Heart Of Glass,’ Chapman was impressed which put Harry at ease. Chapman found the band very difficult to work with, stating that they were the worst band he had worked with in terms of musical ability. He would spend time improving each member separately to get the songs just right. At one point, the band became so frustrated with his perfectionism that bassist, Nigel Harrison threw a synthesizer at him.

The album kicks off with the Pop-Punk song, ‘Hanging On The Telephone;’ a song dripping with Harry’s attitude, which leads into the similarly cheeky ‘One Way Or Another.’ Harry had morphed into one of the coolest frontwomen in music. The pinnacle of the record, however is ‘Heart Of Glass,’ the band’s first #1 single, a song which strays from the New Wave/Punk sound into Disco territory. The band received backlash from the fans for selling out with a Disco song, but the band brushed it off in pure Blondie style. The album is the perfect mix of Pop, Punk, New Wave, Rock ‘n Roll, and of course, Disco. The band continued to work with Mike Chapman for the next 3 records.

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