Wednesday, September 19, 2012

"The Hardest Part" by Blondie

Song#:  0033
Date:  02/02/1980
Debut:  88
Peak:  84
Weeks:  3
Genre:  Pop, New Wave



Pop Bits:  In an odd twist, the American band Blondie was more popular in the UK than here, where they were considered an "underground" band. They already had two Top 10 hits and two successful albums in the UK before the US caught on with "Heart of Glass." They ended up with more chart singles in the UK than the US. This song was the second single from their "Eat the Beat" album following up the #27 "Dreaming."

ReduxReview:  This is a good funky stomper, but I'm not so sure it was the best choice for a single (well, obviously it wasn't since it peaked at #84). In the UK, the second single was "Union City Blue," which peaked at #13. Either way it didn't really matter as they both were about to be quickly eclipsed by Blondie's biggest hit. In the meantime, this one sounds pretty good to me.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Chrysalis Records commissioned promo videos for every single track on the "Eat the Beat" album. They wanted it to be the first full video album.

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3 comments:

  1. Wow - I remember wearing out this album! I always liked "Union City Blue" or "Shayla" better than this one ("The Hardest Part").

    The next album "Autoamerican" is one of my favs of all time. The last song "Follow Me" (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) was so cool to put on a punk/pop album! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPPBsQg3_m0

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    1. "Autoamerican" was a crazy fun album! I look forward to those chart songs.

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