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The Curse of Blondie

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The Curse of Blondie
Studio album by
Blondie
ReleasedOctober 13, 2003
Recorded2003
GenreNew wave, post-punk revival
Length65:19
LabelSanctuary Records (United States)
Epic Records (United Kingdom)
ProducerSteve Thompson
(except "Good Boys", produced by Jeff Bova)
Blondie chronology
No Exit
(1999) 		The Curse of Blondie
(2003) 		Panic of Girls
(2011)
Singles from The Curse of Blondie
  1. "Good Boys"
    Released: October 6, 2003
Alternative cover
UK slipcase cover

The Curse of Blondie is the eighth studio album from the American rock band Blondie. It was released in October 2003, and peaked at #36 in the UK.

Background and recording

[edit]

Towards the end of 2002, Beyond Music abruptly closed down following a dispute,[1] and Blondie signed with Sony Music. The Curse of Blondie had the working title Phasm 8, which was also the name of the tour they were doing before the release. Craig Leon, who had also produced their previous hit album No Exit, started work on the album, but it was four years in the making as the only demo tapes of the album had disappeared from luggage at a UK airport, and so had to be re-recorded.[citation needed] Leon ultimately did not produce the album, which was largely helmed by Steve Thompson with Jeff Bova producing one track, "Good Boys".

The album incorporates a rock-inspired arrangement style more reminiscent of Blondie's earliest recordings. Rhythms played include mostly rock ("Golden Rod, "Rules for Living", "End to End", "Hello Joe", "Last One in the World", "Diamond Bridge") and then dance-pop ("Good Boys", "Undone", "The Tingler"). Other incursions are Japanese traditional music ("Magic (Asadoya Yunta)"), reggae ("Background Melody (The Only One)"), jazz ("Desire Brings Me Back", "Songs of Love (For Richard)") and rap ("Shakedown"). The track "Hello Joe" is an homage to Joey Ramone, and includes a reference to "Blitzkrieg Bop" ("hey ho, ¡hola Joe!" instead of "hey ho, let's go!").

Release

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The album was released with various bonus tracks in some territories, while the US edition included the music video for the single "Good Boys". The album was also re-released in 2004 in US on DualDisc format.[2] The CD side contained the normal album, while the DVD side included:

  1. Entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo
  2. "Good Boys" music video
  3. Photo gallery
  4. ROM content

The album was also released in Indonesia as a Cassette Tape.

The only single from the album was "Good Boys", which peaked at #12 in the UK[3] and was a dance hit in the USA. Promo singles of "Undone" were sent to radio, but no official release was made.[4]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic63/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Blender[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[9]
The Guardian[10]
PopMatters5/10[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Slant Magazine[13]
Stylus MagazineB+[14]
Uncut[15]

The Curse of Blondie gained mixed reviews, some critics called it a good or very good album, while others said it was a downfall for the band.[16] Critics highlighted the band's songwriting and soundcrafting ("a pop masterclass", Uncut), as well as the maturity in which they experiment with different genres as "they never pretend they’re something they’re not, such as young" (Blender). Following its release in 2003, Blondie embarked into a two-year long international world tour, playing more than 160 gigs in Europe, Asia, the three Americas and Oceania. TV performances included The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Good Day Live, Top of the Pops, and specials "Women Rock!" and "VH1 Divas Live". Blondie also performed at Live by Request and subsequently released a CD/DVD of the performance.

Despite the relative success of the "Good Boys" single, the album performed poorly, peaking at #36 in the UK and #160 in the United States. As of August 9, 2005 it has sold 34,000 copies in United States.[17]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Shakedown"
Chris Stein5:05
2."Good Boys"
Griffin4:18
3."Undone"Harry
  • Craig Bartock
  • John Vitale
4:28
4."Golden Rod"HarryLeigh Foxx5:23
5."Rules for Living"Jimmy DestriDestri5:12
6."Background Melody (The Only One)"
  • Destri
  • Harry
  • Destri
  • Harry
3:54
7."Magic (Asadoya Yunta)"
  • Harry
  • Ashby
Traditional Okinawan folk song4:05
8."End to End"
  • Harry
  • Ashby
Stein3:59
9."Hello Joe"
  • Harry
  • Ashby
Stein4:06
10."The Tingler"HarryStein3:52
11."Last One in the World"DestriDestri4:31
12."Diamond Bridge"HarryDestri4:07
13."Desire Brings Me Back"Carla OllaGretchen Langheld5:31
14."Songs of Love"LangheldLangheld6:43
European edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
15."Good Boys" (Giorgio Moroder single mix)
  • Griffin
  • Harry
Griffin4:06
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."The Tide Is High" (live at Summer Sonic 03)
4:35
16."Rapture" (live at Summer Sonic 03)
  • Harry
  • Stein
7:16

Personnel

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Production and design

  • Steve Thompson – producer (except "Good Boys"), mixing (except "Magic (Asadoya Yunta)")
  • Jeff Bova – producer ("Good Boys")
  • Kevin Griffin – additional production ("Good Boys")
  • Allen Kovac – executive producer
  • Craig Leon – producer (basic tracks, except "Good Boys", "Undone" and "Background Melody (The Only One)")
  • James Michael – additional production (basic tracks, except "Good Boys", "Undone" and "Background Melody (The Only One)")
  • Randy Nicklaus – additional production (basic tracks, except "Good Boys", "Undone" and "Background Melody (The Only One)")
  • Jinsoo Kim – mixing ("Magic (Asadoya Yunta)")
  • Christina Ingram – mixing ("Magic (Asadoya Yunta)")
  • John Goodmanson – engineer, mixing
  • Paul Logus – engineer
  • Danni Bernini – engineer
  • Roy Hendrickson – engineer
  • Tom Weir – engineer
  • Ross Petersen – assistant engineer
  • Sean Spuehler – programming
  • Howie Beno – programming
  • James Mazlen – programming
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Giorgio Moroder – additional production and remix ("Good Boys" (Giorgio Moroder Single Mix))
  • Tommy Schobel – programming ("Good Boys (Giorgio Moroder Single Mix)")
  • Patrick Shevelin – programming ("Good Boys (Giorgio Moroder Single Mix)")
  • Steve Shepherd – remix engineer ("Good Boys (Giorgio Moroder Single Mix)")
  • Robert Roth – art direction, photography
  • Kitty Boots – stylist
  • Marla Belt – make-up

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2003–04) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 83
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 113
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 84
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] 37
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 36
US Billboard 200[23] 160

References

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  1. ^ Newman, Melinda (January 18, 2003). "Industry Vet Kovac Forms New Management Firm". Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0006-2510.
  2. ^ "THE CURSE OF BLONDIE [album]". deborah-harry.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  3. ^ "Blondie – UK Chart Positions". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  4. ^ "UNDONE [single]". deborah-harry.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  5. ^ "The Curse Of Blondie by Blondie". metacritic.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  6. ^ Damas, Jason. The Curse of Blondie at AllMusic
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Blondie - The Curse of Blondie". Blender. Archived from the original on 17 April 2004. Retrieved 6 April 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Blondie". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  9. ^ The songwriting has their old ebullience and craftiness. [9 Apr 2004, p.86]
  10. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (2 October 2003). "Blondie, The Curse of Blondie". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Blondie: The Curse of Blondie". popmatters.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  12. ^ "The Curse Of Blondie". rollingstone.com. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  13. ^ Slant Magazine review
  14. ^ "Stylus Magazine review". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
  15. ^ "Blondie - The Curse Of Blondie". Uncut. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
  16. ^ "Shakedown: Blondie's "The Curse of Blondie" Turns 10". wordpress.com. August 8, 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  17. ^ Caulfield, Keith (9 August 2005). "Ask Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  18. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 710" (PDF). The ARIA Report (710): 2. September 29, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-22. Retrieved February 22, 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Lescharts.com – Blondie – The Curse of Blondie". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  20. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Blondie – The Curse of Blondie" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  21. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  23. ^ "Blondie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
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