OH, YOUR POLL IS BEAUTIFUL - ILM Artist Poll #83 - BLONDIE - RESULTS THREAD

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Only 18 ballots, 11 of which included albums, so let's start there:

fuck, how did i miss this?

http://i.imgur.com/1wjTMXr.jpg
05. Autoamerican (November 1980)
10 votes | 0 #1 votes | 284 points

Love the sequencing of this album, opening with "Europa" and closing with "Follow Me."

but not the songs, I trust.

Those two songs, or all of them? Because I really do unabashedly love the whole record.

oh wow -- that's amazing. I know no one who does!

Why I love ILM, by the way.

http://i.imgur.com/Ljhpn9Z.jpg
04. Plastic Letters (February 1978)
9 votes | 1 #1 vote | 295 points

I worked at an unhip chain record store in 1981, the year of Billy Squier, Foreigner 4 and Loverboy's Get Lucky, so it was a welcome antidote. I had been into Blondie since their first album; the Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat had that punky pop buzz I was looking for, but I was also getting into Bucks Fizz and Teena Marie, and Autoamerican seemed to me like some strange mashup of both. Other weird records I played a lot that year, fwiw: Ellen Foley's Spirit of St. Louis, and Manhattan Transfer's Mecca for Moderns. xp

http://i.imgur.com/y2KnXGA.jpg
03. Blondie (December 1976)
10 votes | 1 #1 vote | 320 points

My #1 vote!

I'm at work and super busy but glad to see this thing get started

Interesting to see Plastic Letters placing ahead of Autoamerica with one less vote. I did leave it off.

My #1 vote!

― smug dinner-jazz atrocity (Dan Peterson)

I had the first album at number one as well. Should that be two number votes Nate?

That #1 vote is from you, KP. Yours is the only ballot I received with Blondie as a number one album.

Dan, did you get an email from me thanking you for voting?

No, I didn't.

Oh bloody hell, I left one "l" out of your last name. No need to retabulate, I'm not that much of a poll dude anyway. I'll follow along vicariously.

Common mistake, people have been doing that my whole life.

http://i.imgur.com/CSry6LS.jpg
02. Parallel Lines (September 1978)
10 votes | 8 #1 votes | 389 points

NUMBER TWO????

my fault for not voting

on the albums poll, i mean

I've never really looked closely at the Autoamerican cover. What's up with the dude third from the right (I can't tell who it is in that tiny image)

http://i.imgur.com/D2K3KaH.jpg
01. Eat to the Beat (October 1979)
11 votes | 1 #1 vote | 394 points

lol 8 number one votes beaten out by 11 number 2 votes

So wrong

already regretting not voting in this one lol

Autoamerican cover. What's up with the dude third from the right

That's apparently Clem Burke, by the pudding bowl haircut. What's the question?

Why is he carrying a multicolored pole w a bandage on his head

Ah, third from left. Yeah, I dunno...

Oh yeah left sorry

Ha, okay... I wasn't expecting Eat to the Beat to top the albums poll... shit!

Yay! Eat to the Beat one of my first favorite albums -- when I was 4-5 years old <3
dreaming is free

^^ my #1 or #2 (if i'd voted). i'd love to hear the isolated drum track some day

same!!

can't believe i missed this. my dream(ing) poll! however, eat to the beat being no. 1 makes everything ok in the world.

not an isolated drum track, but pretty fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgh9bEUZUyM

skip to about 30 seconds for the goods

Kick off the songs quickly before bed.

http://i.imgur.com/NrCsET1.jpg

40. Look Good in Blue [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 47 points]
Blondie, Dec 1976

http://i.imgur.com/VJslhlE.jpg

39. Live It Up [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 50 points]
Autoamerican, Nov 1980

i made a collaborated playlist, please update during the countdown as i won't be able to until night.

Spotify: ILM Blondie

great job, so far, Nate. absolutely love the title.

Autoamerican is also one of the first albums i ever owned. it came out in Nov 1980? and i think i got it that Christmas.

Clem Burke is a monster.

so i'm very curious, who left Parallel Lines off their ballot? was it intentional or a mistake? their only perfect album.

happy to see Eat To The Beat at #1 even though I think I caved at the last minute. IMO the "lows" aren't quite as "low" as Parallel Lines.

I was the LP poll rigger, Bee OK (I did a top 1, rather than a top 5). Astonished that it worked tbh :)

lol, well that makes sense. thanks for playing along.

Images off to a great start. Looking forward to the rest of the rollout.

Dreaming was the first song I ever heard in concert. They opened with this at Edinburgh Odeon on January 1st, 1980 and blew my 11 year old self’s mind. I had never experienced such excitement or euphoria before in my life and can remember those 3 minutes more clearly than countless live moments I’ve been part of since; pure, unadulterated joy, way better than any drug anyone could ever invent and a pretty good way to start the 1980s. I still get a hint of that feeling every time I hear “Dreaming”. Debbie wore the same outfit she wore the night before in Glasgow when they said goodbye to the 1970s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_sDYyHub8A

I didn't vote in this, but Presence Dear would have been my 1.

Thanks loads for the poll. I wish I had contributed. Had I submitted a ballot, this would have been it. I maybe prefer “Pretty Baby” or “Victor” over say “I’m On E” but wanted to spread the love across the first four albums all of which I adore in their own way. Blondie will forever be my no. 1 if only because they were my first musical love affair and kickstarted a passion for music I hadn’t realised I had lurking in me.

5) Autoamerican
4) Blondie
3) Plastic Letters
2) Parallel Lines
1) Eat To The Beat

20) I'm on E
19) Rifle Range
18) Rapture
17) Denis
16) X Offender
15) Living In The Real World
14) The Hardest Part
13) Fade Away and Radiate
12) Rip Her to Shreds
11) Slow Motion
10) Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)
9) Union City Blue
8) Heart of Glass
7) (I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear
6) Picture This
5) Hanging on the Telephone
4) Atomic
3) Dreaming
2) 11.59
1) Shayla

How were they live at their peak?

I don't even wanna know :)

it was my first concert so i had nothing to compare it with but i'd still put it in my all time top 5 several thousand concerts later. they were on fire.

stirmonster thanks so much for that memory, great stuff and I posted that "Dreaming" link on FB

:-)

The best outcome possible!

this was so much fun nate woolls, thanks for taking over this poll. wish it was a bit more festive and had more time during the day to post.

Spotify is not updated, let me fit that...

*fix

Great result. That top 10 shows what a wonderful band they were. Every song is a classic.

Fade Away & Radiate was my number one. It has probably my favourite guitar solo of all time.

Thanks for running this Nate!

Spotily: ILM Blondie

i was also able to add "Under the Gun."

Great poll Nate, kept moving things around but my number one was never in doubt

Hanging on the Telephone
Just Go Away
Pretty Baby
11:59
Atomic
Dreaming
Heart of Glass
Fade Away and Radiate
Shayla
Sunday Girl
I Didn't Have the Nerve to Say No
Rip Her to Shreds
Union City Blue
Picture This
Eat To The Beat
Bermuda Triangle Blues
Accidents Never Happen
In The Sun
Slow Motion
Contact in Red Square

Sunday Girl
11:59
Dreaming
In the Flesh
Pretty Baby
Picture This
The Tide is High
One Way or Another
Fade Away and Radiate
Heart of Glass
The Hardest Part
Atomic
Shayla
Just Go Away
Rip Her to Shreds
X Offender
(I’m Always Touched By You) Presence Dear
Union City Blues
T-Birds
Call Me

Albums:

Parallel Lines
Eat to the Beat
Blondie
Autoamerican

Dreaming
Heart of Glass
Under the Gun
Atomic
Union City Blue
Maria
Rapture
The Tide Is High
(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear
Denis
Rip Her to Shreds
Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)
Hanging on the Telephone
X Offender
In the Sun
In the Flesh
Double Take
Fan Mail
The Dream's Lost on Me
Sunday Girl

I'm sorry I missed this but my picks wouldn't have changed the results too much. I would have had the same top two, but maybe in reverse order (it's practically a coin flip). Six out of the top ten would have made my top ten.

Thanks for the poll Nate!

are we going to get full results?

Yes, give me a few minutes..

Ok, you've seen the top albums and they were the only albums to get any votes. However the total points from the track ballots applied to the albums looks like this:

http://i.imgur.com/isvQ4Ap.jpg

And the full rundown:

01. Dreaming [16 votes | 2 #1 votes | 517 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
02. Heart of Glass [16 votes | 3 #1 votes | 414 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
03. Atomic [14 votes | 3 #1 votes | 391 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
04. Union City Blue [15 votes | 2 #1 votes | 386 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
05. Hanging on the Telephone [14 votes | 1 #1 vote | 336 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
06. Picture This [14 votes | 0 #1 votes | 332 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
07. Fade Away and Radiate [12 votes | 1 #1 vote | 305 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
08. 11:59 [11 votes | 1 #1 vote | 292 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
09. (I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear [12 votes | 1 #1 vote | 280 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
10. Rapture [11 votes | 0 #1 votes | 258 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
11. X Offender [12 votes | 1 #1 vote | 256 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
12. Sunday Girl [11 votes | 1 #1 vote | 252 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
13. Just Go Away [12 votes | 0 #1 votes | 241 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
14. Shayla [9 votes | 0 #1 votes | 221 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
15. Will Anything Happen? [8 votes | 0 #1 votes | 207 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
16. One Way or Another [8 votes | 0 #1 votes | 189 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
17. Pretty Baby [7 votes | 1 #1 vote | 178 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
18. Rip Her to Shreds [9 votes | 0 #1 votes | 168 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
19. In the Flesh [8 votes | 0 #1 votes | 166 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
20. Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) [7 votes | 0 #1 votes | 159 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
21. Slow Motion [7 votes | 0 #1 votes | 155 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
22. Denis [6 votes | 0 #1 votes | 144 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
23. Call Me [6 votes | 0 #1 votes | 138 points] American Gigolo (soundtrack), Apr 1980
24. Fan Mail [6 votes | 1 #1 vote | 137 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
25. Accidents Never Happen [7 votes | 0 #1 votes | 135 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
26. The Tide Is High [6 votes | 0 #1 votes | 125 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
27. In the Sun [6 votes | 0 #1 votes | 124 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
28. Angels on the Balcony [5 votes | 0 #1 votes | 113 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
29. I Didn't Have the Nerve to Say No [7 votes | 0 #1 votes | 112 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
30. The Hardest Part [6 votes | 0 #1 votes | 100 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
31. Maria [4 votes | 0 #1 votes | 89 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
32. Eat to the Beat [5 votes | 0 #1 votes | 75 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
33. Victor [4 votes | 0 #1 votes | 69 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
34. Living in the Real World [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 68 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
35. Contact in Red Square [4 votes | 0 #1 votes | 64 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
36. I'm Gonna Love You Too [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 60 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
37. Detroit 442 [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 54 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
38. Under the Gun [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 54 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
39. Live It Up [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 50 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
40. Look Good in Blue [3 votes | 0 #1 votes | 47 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
41. I Know but I Don't Know [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 46 points] Parallel Lines, Sep 1978
42. Man Overboard [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 40 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
43. Kung Fu Girls [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 35 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
44. Die Young Stay Pretty [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 30 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
45. The Attack of the Giant Ants [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 30 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
46. Rifle Range [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 28 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
47. T-Birds [2 votes | 0 #1 votes | 27 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
48. Susie and Jeffrey [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 26 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
49. I'm on E [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 26 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
50. Youth Nabbed as Sniper [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 22 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
51. Go Through It [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 21 points] Autoamerican, Nov 1980
52. Nothing Is Real but the Girl [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 18 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
53. Cautious Lip [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 18 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
54. No Imagination [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 17 points] Plastic Letters, Feb 1978
55. Out in the Streets [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 17 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
56. Sound-A-Sleep [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 15 points] Eat to the Beat, Oct 1979
57. Double Take [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 15 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
58. Good Boys [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 14 points] The Curse of Blondie, Oct 2003
59. Scenery [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 14 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
60. The Dream's Lost on Me [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 13 points] No Exit, Feb 1999
61. Rush Rush [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 13 points] Scarface (soundtrack), Dec 1983
62. A Shark in Jets Clothing [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 13 points] Blondie, Dec 1976
63. Screaming Skin [1 votes | 0 #1 votes | 12 points] No Exit, Feb 1999

Nothing too surprising to me about the results until we get to #20 where "Bermuda Triangle Blues" finishes ahead of "Call Me." Just wondering if anyone's heard the other Giorgio Moroder variations of "Call Me" (e.g. "Palm Springs Drive") from the American Gigolo soundtrack - you can hear how the song was probably worked out, and also how the tune works well at a slower tempo.

My ranks are beautiful!

Your Top 3 is exactly the same as mine, Alfred. I don't think Autoamerican is completely awful - it has its moments, and I like that the band tried to do something different even if it didn't all hit the mark.

Union City Blue is blue-tiful.

For once, there's nothing on that list that I disagree with. Everything in the "good to great" section is just the purest fucking gold.

I must have been distracted at the end of the original rollout. Just found my ballot email to confirm my suspicion that "UCB" was my #1. High-five to all its boosters, then and now.

I'm seeing Blondie this summer, I can't wait!

Along with Elvis Castello who I'm not a huge fan of but should be fun.

OK, that's a band that sing "FineTime" in the style of Elvis Costello?

I love how the intro to 'Atomic' is essentially 'Three Blind Mice' ...

and the guitar riff is almost the same as the one from The Beatles' 'And I Love Her'

on my way to see Blondie tonight along with Elvis Costello should be a fun night!

August 4, 2019
at FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA

Setlist

1. One Way or Another
2. Hanging on the Telephone
3. Fun
4. Call Me
5. Sunday Girl
6. Too Much
7. Rapture
8. Old Town Road (Lil Nas X cover)
9. Wipe Off My Sweat
10. Fade Away and Radiate
11. The Tide Is High
12. Orchid Club
13. Atomic
14. Heart of Glass (with I Feel Love by Donna Summer)

Encore:
15. From Russia With Love (Matt Monro cover)
16. Dreaming

i had a blast last night watching Blondie. i was even more impressed when i read today that Debbie Harry is now 74 years old. i had never seen Blondie before and they had great energy and the crowd was into it. i didn't recognize some of the songs but overall they played almost everything i would want them to play. i was going to bump an Elvis Costello thread but will write about it here. he is a very talented person but the show was boring as hell. i'm not really a fan but know most of what he played last night. there was just no energy or enthusiasm and just ended up being boring to watch. i don't think i would have had a different opinion if i was a mega fan, it was just a flat night for him i think.

KUNG FU GIRLS WAS ROBBED

Think I regret missing this poll more than any other. Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) popped up on random the other day – hadn't heard it in so long and god, is there another song with an intro that makes me swoon like this one? I don't think so. Also discovered Orchid Club recently, which is just phenomenally exciting.

As is The Hardest Part. So much great stuff beyond the singles. Made a quick playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2VM30vv3svgKZksMMV5CZB?si=6086b7d774a74f7a

NITRO
AND ACETYLENE

"The Hardest Part" was a single - I own the 45! (It went to #84 in Billboard, #72 in Cashbox).

Lotsa good stuff on that playlist. For me "Fade Away and Radiate" is the one that most sounds like it should've been an a-side (it was a b). Too many singles from that album I guess.

"Poet's Problem" was a revelation to me when I first heard it on a 12" b-side. It's from the Plastic Letters period but wasn't on the original vinyl release. Also could've been an a-side.

Ah, right - missed that The Hardest Part was a single in the US. My idea of what a single was is very much governed by the Best of Blondie I grew up with! Wasn't a UK single, which seems crazy. Neither was One Way or Another, though as you say, bit spoiled for choice with Parallel Lines.

In the US "I'm Gonna Love You Too" was a single that should NOT have been one (amazingly released as the first single from Parallel Lines).

God yeah, it’s fine but bottom 3 on the album for me.

Sorry I joined far too late to get in on this. My love for this band, and for Debbie, knows no bounds. Parallel Lines came out when I was 13 years old, and it changed my life.

This was a beautiful poll, pun intended. One thing this poll taught me was I needed to see them live. I fulfilled that dream and was able to catch them live before everything shut down.

I want to see them at the Opry this year. It'll be worth the trip.

guys this is embarrassing but I never really knew this band beyond the big singles and I just went down a very very deep rabbit hole (thank you YouTube) and... i don't really know what to say, I'm stunned.

What keeps jumping out at me is that Debbie Harry LOOKS like she doesn't know how to sing. I don't just mean her beauty, though maybe it's that too, or the glamorous way she styles herself or something.. but it's more the funny awkward way she twists her mouth around, like she's chewing the words up before they come out, and maybe her herky jerky way of dancing. There's an eternal gawkiness to her that kind of humanizes the beauty, makes her seem vulnerable. And you just can't quite believe that voice is going to come out but it really does.

And the lyrics are usually a kind of perfectly pitched meeting of particular detail and swooping emotion, leaving big expanses open for interpretation - what rock is best at, lyrically, when it's really good imo. And of course the band, I won't go into that because everybody knows, I mean everybody knows all this stuff apparently except for me!

^^ my #1 or #2 (if i'd voted). i'd love to hear the isolated drum track some day

― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Wednesday, July 12, 2017

at last!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Jyu45Anxs