Autoamerican

Autoamerican
Studio album by Blondie
Released November 1980
Recorded 1980, United Western Studios, Hollywood
Genre New wave
Length 46:39
50:49 (cassette)
Label Chrysalis
Producer Mike Chapman
Blondie chronology
Eat to the Beat
(1979)		 Autoamerican
(1980)		 The Hunter
(1982)
Singles from Autoamerican
  1. "The Tide Is High"
    Released: October 1980
  2. "Rapture"
    Released: January 12, 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB−[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004)[4]

Autoamerican is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached #3[5] in the UK charts, #7 in the US, and #8 in Australia.

Overview

The album was a radical departure for the band, with opening track "Europa" setting the pace. The track is a dramatic instrumental overture featuring orchestral arrangements and ending with vocalist Debbie Harry declaiming a passage about automobile culture over an electronic soundtrack. Besides rock and pop tracks, the band explored a wide range of other musical genres: "Here's Looking at You" and "Faces" show jazz and blues influences, the reggae hit "The Tide Is High" was a cover of The Paragons' 1967 Jamaican ska hit, whereas "Rapture" combined funk, rock, jazz, and even saw them embracing the then emerging genre of rap. The closing track, "Follow Me", was a cover of a torch song from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1960 Broadway musical Camelot.

Producer Mike Chapman insisted the band record in Los Angeles. Guitarist Chris Stein lamented: "Every day we get up, stagger into the blinding sun, [and] drive past a huge Moon-mobile from some ancient sci-fi movie."[6] Drummer Clem Burke welcomed the change: "Autoamerican was fun. We got to spend two months in California. I'm always up for a free ride."[7] However, the band insisted on the cover artwork shot being from their hometown, posing on a roof at New York's Broadway and Eighth. The image was taken from a commissioned painting by artist Martin Hoffman (1935-2013).[8]

The band released two singles from this album, "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture". "The Tide Is High" hit number 1 in several countries, including the US and the UK. "Rapture" became the first rap song ever to reach number 1 on the singles chart in the US (it also reached number 5 in the UK).

Autoamerican was digitally remastered and reissued with two bonus tracks by Chrysalis Records in the UK in 1994 which included extended the 12" Special Disco Mix versions of "Rapture" and its B-side "Live It Up", from 1981. The album was again remastered and re-released by EMI-Capitol in 2001, again featuring the extended version of "Rapture" along with the extended version of their number 1 hit "Call Me" (from the film soundtrack to American Gigolo), and also "Suzy & Jeffrey" which was originally the B-side to "The Tide Is High" single.

Track listing

Side One
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Europa"  Chris Stein 3:31
2. "Live It Up"  Stein 4:09
3. "Here's Looking at You"  Debbie Harry, Stein 2:58
4. "The Tide Is High" (Cover of The Paragons)John Holt, Howard Barrett, Tyrone Evans 4:39
5. "Angels on the Balcony"  Laura Davis, Jimmy Destri 3:47
6. "Go Through It"  Harry, Stein 2:40
Side Two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
7. "Do the Dark"  Destri 3:51
8. "Rapture"  Harry, Stein 6:30
9. "Faces"  Harry 3:51
10. "T-Birds"  Nigel Harrison, Harry 3:56
11. "Walk Like Me"  Destri 3:44
12. "Follow Me"  Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe 3:01
Bonus tracks on cassette edition
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
7. "Susie and Jeffrey" (B-side to "The Tide Is High" single)Harry, Harrison 4:10
Bonus tracks 1994 CD reissue
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Rapture (Special Disco Mix)"  Harry, Stein 9:59
14. "Live It Up (Special Disco Mix)"  Stein 8:13
Bonus tracks 2001 CD reissue
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Call Me (Original Long Version)" (From the original motion picture soundtrack American Gigolo)Giorgio Moroder, Harry 8:06
14. "Suzy & Jeffrey" (B-side to "The Tide Is High" single)Harry, Harrison 4:10
15. "Rapture (Special Disco Mix)"  Harry, Stein 9:59

Personnel

Additional personnel

Production

Chart peaks

Chart (1980–81) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 8
Austrian Albums Chart[9] 18
Canadian Albums Chart[10][11] 4
Dutch Albums Chart[12] 16
Gegman Albums Chart[13] 42
New Zealand Albums Chart[14] 6
Norwergian Albums Chart[15] 12
Swedish Albums Chart[16] 11
UK Albums Chart[17] 3
US Billboard 200[18] 7
US Top R&B Albums[18] 25

Year-end charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Canadian RPM 1981 Top 100 Albums[19] 23

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[20] 3× Platinum 300,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[22] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Autoamerican - Blondie". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG:Blondie". RobertChristgau.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  3. ↑ Carson, Tom (1985-02-20). "Autoamerican". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Blondie: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  5. ↑ "Chartstats Blondie Autoamerican". Chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  6. ↑ Heller, Bill (April 11, 2010). "NYC’s greatest hits". New York Post. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Porter, Dick; Needs, Kris (2012). Blondie: Parallel Lives. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1780381298. unpaginated.
  8. ↑ Martin Hoffman: Martin Hoffman dies - Orlando Sentinel Archived January 16, 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Blondie – Autoamerican". austriancharts.at (in German). IFPI Austria. Archived from the original on 2014-02-24. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "100 Albums". RPM (Library and Archives Canada) 14 (10). 14 February 1981. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "100 Albums". RPM (Library and Archives Canada) 34 (18). 11 April 1981. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Blondie – Autoamerican". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "German Charts > Blondie > Autoamerican" (in German). charts.de PhonoNet. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Blondie – Autoamerican". charts.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Blondie – Autoamerican". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Blondie – Autoamerican". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Blondie – UK Chart Positions". officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Autoamerican – Blondie : Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "Canadian 1981 Top 100 Albums". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  20. ↑ "Gold and Platinum Search". musiccanada.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  21. ↑ "BPI – Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-09-21. Note: User needs to enter "Blondie" in the "Keywords" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Search" button. Select "More >>" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
  22. ↑ "Searchable Database". riaa.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
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