Blondie - Autoamerican
#451
by Daniel Irwin
November 1980
Blondie Autoamerican
Genre: New Wave
Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Daniel’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Allen’s Highlights:
Europa
Here’s Looking At You
The Tide is High
Rapture
I never went to see a show at CBGB when I lived in New York City from 1988-1991. I admit that I was not adventurous enough to venture that far east of Broadway. Guess it didn’t hold much intrigue for me since there was no chance of the recently-disbanded Talking Heads making an appearance.
Blondie used to perform there, too, but I had pretty much written them off as that band that did “Call Me”, a song which (back in to 80’s) I would find either entertaining or annoying.
Until I listened to “Autoamerican”, I thought I didn’t know any of their other songs from their catalog. How wrong I was. With 40 years of hindsight, I was surprised to not only recognize more than one track, but to also enjoy this album way more than I anticipated. Enough to listen through it a few times before this review.
I kept to the original 12 tracks as originally released, by the way.
“Europa”: The orchestral intro reminds me of Queen, until the electronic instruments trickle in and the confident voice of Debbie Harry. I can’t figure out what she’s talking about, though. Trying to be Laurie Anderson? (stop snarking, Dan!)
“Live It Up”: My first moment of “I know this one”. It has the Disco conventions of four-on-the-floor beat and synth high notes, but there’s something else there. Maybe I’m just fascinated by Debbie’s vocal quality (and her backing vocals).
“Here’s Looking At You”: A change of genre into Swing Jazz style of the 40’s? It makes me smile listening to it, and I’m starting to get understand what everyone saw back at CBGB.
“The Tide Is High”: One of 2 cover songs on the album. 50’s slow dance melody but to a Latin/Reggae flavor? Pretty cool that Blondie is changing it up every track.
“Angels On The Balcony”: Sweet early 80’s New Wave. I’m really enjoying the fact that I can hear the guitar clearly, the percussion without being drenched with reverb. Now I have a crush on Debbie Harry’s voice.
“Go Through It”: Nothing to say about this one. Kind of forgot it once it was over.
“Do The Dark”: Disco time! Again, Debbie mood changes are very entertaining.
“Rapture”: Very recognizable. Best bass guitar line on the album so far. Wistful, lilting vocals. I’m not sure about the bells, but it’s part of the song’s fabric. Whoa! Old school hip-hop, Debbie? I’m imagining that she’d a huge amount fun of to fun to hang with at a bar, if she didn’t your head off when you approached.
“Faces”: back to 40’s-style slow dancing. Love it… could be a James Bond anthem.
I’m an asshole; I haven’t given nearly as much credit to the rest of the band. Chris Stein and Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante, and Nigel Harrison are responsible for playing the bulk of the instrumentations. Ray Brown on “Faces and Tom Scott on “Rapture”. Ollie Brown, Emil Richards, and Alex Acuna pitching in on Percussion.
“Walk Like Me”: Surfer style guitar work. Punk with surf music.
“Follow Me”: 2nd Cover song on the album. A quote from an interview of Debbie:
“It was a push towards a story about American life to a certain extent. The last song (“Follow Me”), the Lerner and Loewe song, is from Camelot. At the time, I was thinking about JFK, because they called his administration Camelot.” (https://americansongwriter.com/blondie-autoamerican-anniversary-feature-debbie-harry-chris-stein-clem-burke/)
… I cheated by listening to the extended version of “Call Me”. It wasn’t on this album’s original release, but is the first of three add-ons on iTunes or Spotify.
I will buy this album. Maybe on vinyl if I buy another turntable.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1VuNXmZV6eIfUwglRlM9Ya?si=AbifRITYTBiYzr7HyK3Ixw
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