#1 Alert!
Gold Record Alert!
Song#: 0480 Date: 01/31/1981
Debut: 61
Peak: 1 (2 weeks)
Weeks: 20
Genre: Rock, New Wave, Rap, Disco
Pop Bits: Blondie followed up their island-ish #1 hit "The Tide Is High" with this original piece that also shot to the top. The song wears several different styles all meshed together in a disco-ish beat. But what made the song so memorable and influential was its rap section. Although a couple of rap songs had already been on the chart, this was the first song to reach #1 that featured rap. During Deborah Harry's rap section, she calls out Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, who were two rap artists that helped define the genre. It was an attention getter and it became Blondie's last Top 10 appearance.
ReduxReview: Back in the day I just did not get this song at all. In fact, I found it kind of creepy. But now I think it is kind of a cool jam and I recognize the significance of the song hitting #1 with a rap passage. I think they really tossed everything including the kitchen sink into this song and luckily it worked.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: Over their chart career, Blondie got four songs into the Top 10. It just happens that all of them went to #1. They have no other regular non-#1 Top 10's. The closest any of their other singles got to the Top 10 was the #24 "One Way Or Another."
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