Blondie - Autoamerican

Title: Autoamerican Artist: Blondie Release Date: 11/1980 Re-Released On: 2/26/2008 Label: Chrysalis, EMI Music Distribution, Car, Toshiba EMI Duration: 46:39 UPCs: 400000005256, 4988006848245, 5099952100826, 632426832929, 724383079421, 738476832923, 094632129024, 094632129048, 4988006771390, 724353359553, 498800684824 Genre: Rock Styles: Disco, Punk, New Wave, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Club/Dance, Punk/New Wave, New York Punk, American Punk, Dance-Rock Moods: Brash, Confident, Ironic, Sexual, Sexy, Stylish, Swaggering, Wry, Acerbic, Boisterous, Cynical/Sarcastic, Detached, Gutsy, Lively, Refined/Mannered, Rousing, Snide, Summery, Warm, Wistful, Sweet, Aggressive, Amiable/Good-Natured, Confrontational, Energetic, Exuberant, Fiery, Fun, Gentle, Intense, Light, Playful, Soft, Street-Smart, Urgent, Visceral, Witty, Happy, Party/Celebratory, Rollicking, Campy, Carefree, Hypnotic, Literate, Quirky, Sensual, Theatrical Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 6 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Europa
2. Live It Up
3. Here's Looking at You
4. The Tide Is High
5. Angels on the Balcony
6. Go Through It
7. Do the Dark
8. Rapture
9. Faces
10. T-Birds
11. Walk Like Me
12. Follow Me
13. Rapture [Special Disco Mix][*]
14. Live It Up [Special Disco Mix][*]

Year Type Label Catalog # 2008 CD Car 210082 2007 CD Toshiba EMI 53872 1999 CD EMI Music Distribution 300527 1998 CD EMI Music Distribution 30794 1980 CD Chrysalis 21290

Autoamerican [Bonus Tracks]

The basic Blondie sextet was augmented, or replaced, by numerous session musicians (including lots of uncredited horn and string players) for the group's fifth album, Autoamerican, on which they continued to expand their stylistic range, with greater success, at least on certain tracks, than they had on Eat to the Beat. A cover of Jamaican group the Paragons' "The Tide Is High," released in advance of the album, became a gold-selling number one single, as did the rap pastiche "Rapture," but, despite their presence, the album stalled in the lower half of the Top Ten and spent fewer weeks in the charts than either of its predecessors. One reason for that, admittedly, was that Chrysalis Records pulled promotion of the disc in favor of pushing lead singer Debbie Harry's debut solo album, KooKoo, not even bothering to release a third single after scoring two chart-topping hits. But then, it's hard to imagine what that third single could have been on an album that leads off with a pretentious string-filled instrumental ("Europa"), and also finds Harry crooning ersatz '20s pop on "Here's Looking at You" and tackling Broadway show music in a cover of "Follow Me" from Camelot. Though more characteristic, the rest of the tracks are weak compositions indifferently executed. Thus Autoamerican was memorable only for its hits, which would be better heard when placed on a hits compilation. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Alex Acuña Percussion B Girls Vocals Bill Bass Art Direction Bob Emmer Direction Chris Stein Guitar, Design, Tympani [Timpani] Clem Burke Drums Debbie Harry Design, Vocals Doug Schwartz Assistant Engineer Duke Reid Design Emil Richards Percussion Frank Infante Guitar, Bass Gary Boatner Assistant Engineer Howard Kaylan Vocals Jimmie Haskell String Arrangements, Horn Arrangements Jimmy Destri Keyboards Laura Davis Design Lenise Bent Engineer Lerner & Loewe Design Mark Volman Vocals Nigel Harrison Bass, Design Ollie Brown Percussion Ollie E. Brown Percussion Program A Cover Design Ray Brown Bass Scott Lesser Percussion Shep Gordon Direction Steve Goldstein Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer Tom Scott Saxophone Wah Wah Watson Guitar