CoronaVinyl Day 97 (CBGB): Eat to the Beat by Blondie

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is CBGB.  If you are unfamiliar with music history, CBGB was one of (if not) the most important live music venues in punk, art rock, and new wave history.  Located in the Bowery in New York, it opened in 1973, standing for Country, Blue Grass, and Blues.  However, it soon became the epicenter for the nascent punk rock movement, as The Ramones got their start there.  Throughout the mid to late '70s, in addition to The Ramones, bands like Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, The Patti Smith Group, The Dictators, The Misfits, The Cramps, The Heartbreakers (Johnny Thunders's group, not Tom Petty's group), Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts regularly played there, among many others.  CBGB was also the venue where the first British punk band ever played in America, as The Damned played there in April 1977.  It was also a proving ground for other up-and-coming punk and new wave acts from outside the U.S., as The Police played some of their first American gigs there, as did Elvis Costello.  In the '80s, CBGB moved towards hardcore punk.  

Sadly, after a rent dispute in the mid 2000s, CBGB's landlord refused to renew the venue's lease, and CBGB closed in October 2006, with Patti Smith playing the last show.  Since 2008, it has been a John Varvatos store, but it serves as an homage to its past, with the rock and roll stickers and playbills papering the walls, and the graffiti from the infamous toilets preserved.

While I have a bunch of music from the artists listed above and many others who played at CBGB on other media, I don't have a lot of vinyl from these bands.  Thankfully, I have one of Blondie's great albums, 1979's Eat to the Beat.  Their fourth studio album, Eat to the Beat built off the success of 1978's Parallel Lines (which featured two of their most popular and enduring songs, "Heart of Glass" and "One Way or Another").

The band was never afraid to stray from its punk and new wave roots to explore other genres of music (see "Heart of Glass," 1980's "The Tide Is High," and 1981's "Rapture"), and Eat to the Beat is no exception.  While most of the songs are squarely within the new wave genre, there is also pop, art rock, reggae, and even a lullaby.  But it's the new wave songs that make this album great.  The band was hitting on all cylinders on tracks like "Dreaming," "Union City Blue," the title track, "Accidents Never Happen," "Atomic," "Victor," and "Living in the Real World."  Even more impressive is that most of the tracks were recorded live in the studio.  Blondie also made a video album for the album, with a video for each track -- the first time a rock band did something like that. 

While the album only peaked at #17 on the Billboard album chart, it ended up as the #8 album on the Billboard end-of-the-year chart for 1980.  It was also a big success internationally, hitting #1 on the UK album chart and reaching the Top 10 on the album charts in Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.  The album also produced two Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, "Dreaming" (#27) and "Atomic" (#39).  In addition, "Atomic" became the group's fourth #1 on the UK pop chart, and "Dreaming" and "Union City Blue" were also big hits in the UK, reaching #2 and #13, respectively.

The making of Eat to the Beat was full of drugs and in-fighting, and the band would make two more albums, 1980's Autoamerican and 1982's The Hunter, before breaking up until 1999.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Dreaming"
This isn't necessarily the first song that comes to mind when you think of Blondie, but maybe it should be.  It's a new wave pop gem, and it's pretty much a direct line to The Go Go's.  What particularly stands out is Clem Burke's drumming.  There are delicious fills all over the place.  Like most of the album, this was recorded live in the studio, and Burke explained that he was just bashing away, almost purposely overplaying, and he didn't expect the producer to use this take because he thought it was a run-through.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Living in the Real World"
The last track on the album is a frenetic new wave rocker.  Debbie Harry kills her vocals, essentially providing the blueprint for every new wave frontwoman who followed.  There's also a short but sweet guitar solo with about a minute left in the song.