BLONDIE TO RELEASE 40th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE-DISC PACKAGE ON MAY 13, 2014
BLONDIE 4(0) EVER TO INCLUDE GREATEST HITS ALBUM PLUS A BRAND NEW COLLECTION OF SONGS
Pre-Order Available Now
New York, NY – April 22, 2014 – 2014 marks Blondie’s 40th Anniversary as a band. In celebration of this amazing milestone, the bandwill release a special double-disc package entitled Blondie 4(0) Ever on May 13, 2014 via NOBLE ID / ESMG. It will include an incredible collection of new songs entitled Ghosts of Download, and an album entitled Deluxe Redux: Greatest Hits, featuring brand new studio recordings of the band’s biggest songs. The iconic Andy Warhol “Debbie Harry” portrait is the cover art for the greatest hits album. For an early listen, PRESS HERE to hear brand new song “Sugar On The Side” and PRESS HERE for “One Way Or Another.”
The album is available now to pre-order on iTunes, Amazon and Best Buy. Fans who pre-order the physical package through Amazon or Best Buy can choose amongst the Standard, Deluxe or Vinyl LP options. The Standard package (Amazon, Best Buy) is the 2-CD set. The Deluxe package(Amazon, Best Buy) includes the 2-CD set, a DVD of Blondie’s 1977 CBGB performance, a replica vintage poster and 5 postcards of Chris Stein photos. The Vinyl LP package includes both albums on vinyl plus a DVD of Blondie’s 1977 CBGB performance.
Fans who pre-order the digital album via iTunes and Amazon will receive three additional Ghosts of Download bonus tracks with the album. The iTunes pre-order also exclusively comes with an instant free download of the new song “I Want To Drag You Around.”
Undeniably one of the most trailblazing and influential bands of our time, Blondie – pioneering frontwoman/songwriter Debbie Harry, guitarist/conceptual mastermind Chris Stein and powerhouse drummer Clem Burke, along with newer band mates Leigh Foxx (who has been with the band since ’97), guitarist Tommy Kessler and keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen – kicked off their 40th year in NYC’s Times Square for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. They followed this up with an electrifying performance on Super Bowl Boulevard ahead of Super Bowl XLVIII and buzzed-about performances at SXSW. Most recently Debbie Harry surprised Coachella crowds when she appeared during Arcade Fire‘s set to duet with Régine Chassagne on Blondie’s 1979 hit “Heart of Glass” and Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).” Rolling Stone said: “Harry was totally badass, her glam charisma and luscious vocals a high point…” The performance set the blogosphere ablaze and was unanimously said to be one of the top moments from the festival. With a world tour in the works, there is no doubt that 2014 will continue to be a whirlwind anniversary celebration for Blondie.
The ever-prolific band began working on new material right after the release of 2011’s critically acclaimed LP Panic of Girls. The result is their 10th studio album and most collaborative to date, Ghosts of Download, which promises to offer some of the most infectious and memorable songs of Blondie’s catalogue. Produced by Jeff Saltzman, it’s an exhilarating mix of dance-floor-ready sounds, with more than a little pop radio flavor stirred into it and a few surprises along the way. “A Rose By Any Name,” is a cool electronic pulse of a duet for Harry and Beth Ditto of the Gossip. “Drag You Around” and “Backroom,” a sly tale of after-hours vampire group-groping, boast reggae grooves, while a cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s infamous eighties anthem, “Relax,” is turned into a slow, echo-chambered secular prayer before morphing into a more familiar thumping acid-house beat. Other album guests include downtown New York City club fixture Miss Guy (on “Rave”), Columbian Cumbia/hip hop/R&B group Systema Solar (“Sugar on the Side”) and Oakland–based Panamanian rappers Los Rakas (“I Screwed up”).
Among the tracks on the Deluxe Redux: Greatest Hits disc are the groundbreaking rock-disco hybrid “Heart of Glass,” the equally influential hip-hop fantasia “Rapture,” the stalker-love song “One Way Or Another” and the lilting calypso “The Tide Is High.” It’s a thrilling journey back to when Blondie pushed punk onto the dance floor and introduced a wider audience to hip-hop sounds, all the while building a catalog of enduring hits along the way.
For the last four decades, Blondie has become and still remains a true national treasure; one whose influence both shaped and continues to inform the worlds of music, fashion and art. From an irreverent Lower East Side punk outfit to bona fide international ambassadors of New York cool, Blondie will forever be synonymous with that punk spirit that lives somewhere in all of us. Their chart-topping success, fearless spirit and rare longevity led to an induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and more than 40 million albums sold worldwide to date. As we look back at the band’s storied career, it makes Blondie’s current vibrancy that much more stunning as they enter their 40th year.
Blondie 4(0) Ever Tracklisting:
Greatest Hits Album
1. Heart of Glass
2. Dreaming
3. Tide Is High
4. Maria
5. Sunday Girl
6. Hanging on the Telephone
7. Rapture
8. One Way or Another
9. Call Me
10. Atomic
11. Rip Her to Shreds
Ghosts of Download
1. Sugar on the Side
2. Rave
3. A Rose By Any Name
4. I Want To Drag You Around
5. Winter
6. I Screwed Up
7. Relax
8. Take Me In The Night
9. Make A Way
10. Mile High
11. Euphoria
12. Take It Back
13. Backroom
Blondie Upcoming Live Dates/Appearances:
U.S. Dates:
05/24/14 Atlantic City, NJ @ Tropicana Casino & Resort
05/25/14 Bethlehem, PA @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center
05/28/14 New York, NY @ 92Y (Debbie Harry & Chris Stein in Conversation with Anthony DeCurtis)
10/03/14 Valley Center, CA @ Harrah’s Rincon
International Dates:
06/10/14 Stockholm, Sweden @ Cirkus
06/12/14 Bergen, Norway @ Bergenfest Festival
06/14/14 Esbjerg, Denmark @ Esbjerg Rock Festival
06/18/14 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
06/19/14 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg @ Rockhal
06/21/14 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/23/14 Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
06/24/14 Hamburg, Germany @ Große Freiheit
06/25/14 Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk
06/27/14 Pilton, England @ Glastonbury Festival
06/29/14 Sheffield, England @ O2 Academy Sheffield
07/01/14 London, England @ Virgin
07/03/14 Barcelona, Spain @ Pedralbes Gardens
07/04/14 Herouville St-Clair, Normandy @ Chateau De Beauregard
07/07/14 Argelès-sur-Mer, France @ Les Deferlantes
07/10/14 Ottawa, Ontario @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/11/14 Quebec City, Quebec @ Festival d’Ete International de Quebec
07/18/14 Pemberton, British Columbia @ Pemberton Music Festival
08/16/14 Chelmsford, England @ V Festival
08/17/14 Stafford, England @ V Festival
08/22/14 Paris, France @ Roc En Seine
08/31/14 Namur, Belgium @ La Fête des Solidarités
www.blondie.net / @BlondieOfficial / www.facebook.com/Blondie
