Blondie - Eat to the Beat (1979) Part 1

Episode 98: Blondie - Eat to the Beat (1979) Part 1

The year 2020 is here, and Brian and Sarah are finally finished with their long holiday break. For their first album discussion this year, they decide to do something new. For the first time in almost 100 episodes, they're talking about an album from the 1970s! Their selection is Blondie's fourth album, Eat to the Beat, released in October 1979.

Part 1 - Album History

Since our hosts have never discussed Blondie before, they decide to bring everyone up to speed by explaining who's in the band at this time and the recent history prior to this album's recording and release. Then they get into the making of Eat to the Beat, the album's release and chart history, reviews from a variety of sources (including a university newspaper!), and the album art. There's one additional aspect of this album which merits discussion-- the video album that accompanies it, which was the first one ever made!

Part 2 - Personal History

The personal history section of the episode is a little unusual this time. Although both Sarah and Brian have been familiar with Blondie's music for many years, neither host has a personal history with Eat to the Beat from the time when it was released. However, they do both have a personal history anecdote related to the band from about twenty years later, and they share that story here.

Part 3 - Track by Track

Finally, it's time to start talking about the songs on Side One of Eat to the Beat. The album contains four singles, not all of which were released to the same countries, and three of those singles are the first three songs on the album. So there's plenty to discuss as far as release history, chart positions, music, vocals, lyrics, and of course, the videos as well. The conversation includes the topics of alcohol, tea, armed robbery, love affairs, Chinese-born fashion designers, double entendres, Andy Warhol, and aliens from outer space. By the time they get to the fourth song on Side One, Brian and Sarah are past the two-hour mark, so they decide they'd better wrap up the episode after the fourth song, and leave the rest for next time.

Dreaming
The Hardest Part
Union City Blue
Shayla

See the videos discussed here:
Dreaming
The Hardest Part
Union City Blue
Shayla

Part 1 of the Post-Punk Monk's 3-part review of Eat to the Beat can be found here: https://postpunkmonk.com/2016/08/23/record-review-blondie-eat-to-the-beat-part-1/

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