Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Blondie - "Atomic"

Atomic - Eat to the Beat

(Debuted May 17, 1980, Peaked #39, 9 Weeks on the Chart)

One of the things that made Blondie unique was the way they were able to jump between different styles from single to single. They could do disco ("Heart of Glass") to straight rock ("One Way or Another") to synthesized New Wave ("Call Me") to reggae-lite ("The Tide is High") to rap ("Rapture") and still stay true to their sound. For "Atomic," they used a sound inspired by Spaghetti Western movies.

The song was written by group members Jimmy Destri and Debbie Harry. Destri was originally looking to do something similar to "Heart of Glass" and then decided to go in a very different direction. "Atomic" just barely reached into the U.S. Top 40, but it went right to #1 in the U.K. for two weeks.

I've never tried to figure out what the lyrics mean, though. Perhaps that's for the best.



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