Blondie (album)
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This début album from Blondie was originally released in 1976 on Private Stock Records, also released was the first single "X-Offender" (origionally entitled "Sex Offender" but radio stations would not play the song with such a controversial title), but after disapointing sales, and poor publicity, they were consequently dropped. Chrysalis Records then signed the band and re-released the album in 1977, along with single "Rip Her to Shreds", a completly bitchy song about someone who thinks she's all that, but with Debbie Harry using lyrics like "Aww you know her/would you look at her hair/Yeah you know her/check out those shoes/She looks like she stepped out of the middle of somebody's blues." It soon becomes appearent, that this woman is not what she thinks she is. "X-Offender" was used as one of the B-sides to this single, a supurb song that starts with a suductive Debbie Harry speaking vocals to a beat remenisent of a song by one of the girl groups of the 60's. The other B-side was pleasing romantic ballard "In the Flesh" their first hit in Australia, also sounding very 60's, with backing vocals by fabulous songwriter Ellie Greenwich. Overall, its a corker of a first album, it has some really rather good stand out tracks. Along with the singles, there is also feverishly punk rock "Kung-Fu Girls" and the West Side Story sounding "A Shark in Jet's Clothing". Other tracks on this album are "Little Girl Lies", "Look Good in Blue", "In the Sun", "Man Overboard", "Rifle Range" (Which was also the B-side to "Heart of Glass" in 1979) and "Attack of the Giant Ants". This album first introduced the world to Debbie Harry (Vocals), Chris Stein (Guitar), Clem Burke (Drums), Jimmy Destri (Keyboards) and Gary Valentine (Bass, soon to be replaced by Nigel Harrison), and, although it was not a massive commercial success, it paved the way for what was about to come.