Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. I have just taken out the recycling. As Flight of the Conchords teaches us, taking out the recycling is not sexy, but is still very important.
On to an album that is both sexy and important.
Disc 1777 is…Autoamerican
Artist: Blondie
Year of Release: 1980
What’s up with the Cover? Debbie Harry leans back against a low rooftop wall, all legs and rock and roll attitude. You may also be notionally aware of the New York skyline and other members of the band strung along the same wall. You may find yourself unaware of anything other than Debbie Harry.
How I Came To Know It: I had this record on vinyl as a kid, as a hand-me-down from my brother, so I already knew I liked it. Buying it on CD was an easy choice, made so many years ago the occasion is lost in the mists of time.
While I mostly play the CD version, I can confirm that on the vinyl version Debbie’s attitude is that much cooler, and her legs even longer.
How It Stacks Up: I have three Blondie records, and I had assumed “Autoamerican” would finish in third place. Not so, dear reader, it leapfrogs over “Plastic Letters” to land in second place. As this is my final Blondie review (for now) here’s the full accounting:
- Parallel Lines: 5 stars (reviewed
at Disc 958)
- Autoamerican: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
- Plastic Letters: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 692)
Even though I’ve owned this record since I was a kid, I have rarely put it on, and over the years it has settled in my mind as one of Blondie’s weaker records. If, after a few high balls I have ever pontificated to you about how this record is only OK, please now accept my apology. Settle in and enjoy like I – wrongly – once told you not to.
Take your time though, because “Autoamerican” is a slow burn. It’s like getting into the hot tub near the water jet; the bubbles are gonna be a lot to deal with but once you settle in alongside and find a sweet spot, you’re in for a relaxed and invigorating soak.
The opening track, “Europa” is the unwelcome bubble experience. It comes on like a movie score that has you thinking things are cool and majestic, like you’re pulling up in your Rolls to an old English mansion for a ghost story. Except, this ambient mood bit should end in that scenario after 60 seconds. Instead it moodily floats around for three and a half minutes. Reader, I was bored and a little restless.
The next song, “Live It Up” is a disco dance song, but its that one that nobody knows, where you excuse yourself from your partner and go in search of a breather and a Long Island Iced Tea. Following up on this is a barroom bit of burlesque with “Here’s Looking At You”. It is fine, but at this point I realized what was happening. Blondie was rich and famous, and they had realized they could afford to pretty much indulge whatever musical whim. But would they use their newfound power for good or ill?
The question is answered with “The Tide Is High”, and just like that the hot tub magic kicks in. There is just as much crazy experimentation going on, but now you realize the brilliance of it all. The sun is going down and you feel the warmth of a late summer day, beaming through this little bit of pop perfection. You realize Debbie Harry has just been trying on a lot of different vocal styles and has finally arrived – by design - at this wonderful moment. Sure she’s singing to you about moving on, but the song is so relaxed you’re happy to just let the song saunter off down the beach. The afterthought’s what matters.
From here, the album begins to unfurl in all its glory. “Angels on the Balcony” changes tone again into a ghostly bit of reverie, here are the spectres of parties past, or maybe parties present – it all blends together.
The record rolls through this and other various sounds, returning multiple times in new ways. Later in the record we get more ghostly angelic singing with “T-Birds”, only this time the vision is a blonde in a sports car. “Do the Dark” brings back “Live It Up” only better and “Faces” returns our barroom sound of “Here’s Looking At You” but once again, better.
Like I said, it’s a slow burn.
I would be remiss not to note this record’s other hit, “Rapture” is pure disco joy. A song for dancing close with a partner, but not so close you can’t sway your hips to the beat or invite a handheld turn or two.
Unlike my vinyl original, my CD copy is a remaster, featuring three bonus tracks. Usually I don’t like bonus tracks polluting the original playtime of an album, but the remastered copy of “Autoamerican” is the exception that proves the rule. There are three bonus tracks, all welcome.
The first is the original extended version of “Call Me”. “Call Me” is one of Blondie’s greatest songs, but if you don’t go in for their Greatest Hits (I don’t) you will only find it on the American Gigolo soundtrack. Here, I get a free copy of the eight minute “original long version”. I loved all eight minutes.
Also featured is the B-Side to “The Tide Is High”, “Suzy & Jeffrey”, a fifties crooner featuring love and car wrecks in the great tradition of “Last Kiss” and the Shangri-Las’ “Give Us Your Blessing” (if you don’t know the latter tune, check it out).
The third bonus track is a 10-minute extended disco dance version of “Rapture”. At 10 minutes, and with all those extra whistle blows and hand claps, does it end up being too much? Reader, it does not.
Cognitive dissonance is a powerful force, and no doubt the reason that even after all these years of exposure to “Autoamerican” I’ve never previously embraced its brilliance. Consider me cured.
Best tracks: The Tide Is High, Angels on the Balcony, Go Through It, Rapture, T-Birds, and from the bonus tracks: Call Me (original long version) and Suzy & Jeffrey
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