#140

140. Heart of Glass - Blondie

Stats:

• #1 for 1 Week in 1979 (April - May)
• Replaced: Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
• Replaced by: Reunited - Peaches & Herb
• Sample Headline from its Reign: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.
• #2 Hits It Prevented from Reaching #1: None
• Top 200 #1 Hits 1955-2000 Rank: #9

Someone who knows recently argued to me that Heart of Glass was Blondie's sellout disco track and consequently the track off Parallel Lines that they didn't care for at all.  I took some issue with that for the reason that I felt that Heart of Glass shifted the pop music window towards new wave away from disco because of that song.  So, if indeed, there was a song that marked the turn from the disco "70s" to synth based "80s" it was this one.  Debbie's vocals are like a cool breeze on a summer morning, with the band's admittedly disco-y backing track alternately compelling you to dance and showing off its ability to compel you to dance.  Pop Muzik and My Sharona are the other two number ones that shifted 79 towards 80, but neither of them so wholly embodies the bridge between Donna Summer and the Human League as Heart of Glass.

Coming up: #139 - "There's no comfort in the truth, pain is all you'll find"  

Comments

[Ken]

Sorry--Blondie shouldn't get two in the top 200!

[Lexington Green]

I heard this song recently at a loud, dark, hipster bar where I really did not belong. It was such a surprise, and it was almost a shock, it sounded so good, it reminded me of what a classic it really is.

It is neat to see what a klutzy dancer Debbie was. All angularity, no groove, no hips, no wiggle, no smooth, no curve, no nothin'. Funny. Reminds me of what Patti Smith said about how Edie Sedgwick danced.

[el polacko]

i remember my disco friends hating the song because it was too punk and my punk friends hating it because it was a 'sell-out' to disco. when you are pissing everybody off you know you are doing something right.