![]() ![]() Hanging On The Telephone is such a prefect opener, and as I said when I used it for the same purpose in my Blondie ICA (#197, November 2018), it provides a nod to the band’s roots in terms of its sound, energy and tempo. I’ve said before how much I love every second of the album Parallel Lines. It wasn’t always like that, and indeed in a few weeks or months time, I’ll most likely be telling myself that Heart of Glass is the one to top them all. The first, and least successful, of the singles has proven itself to be the most enduring as far as I’m now concerned. The thing is, there are eight other tracks spread across its 40 minutes, some of which now, from the passing of time, seem a bit one-dimensional and border on the dull, which is why it found itself slipping down the rundown, albeit it has cosied into a place in the Top 20. In particular, its four smash singles are of a quality that is hard to beat. Having said that, no matter how long it had been since I last heard it, I still knew every word and piece of instrumentation off by heart. It was always there, and it would get a spin every few years, but it was far from being on regular rotation. It’s an album that I didn’t play much for a long time, from say 1990 onwards. On quite a few occasions, Parallel Lines kept everyone content….it really is the sort of record that nobody can complain about. Most of time, it would be newly released singles and albums that would be put on the main turntable in the communal area, but it wasn’t always easy to find something that went down well with everyone living in the flat, especially the second one whereso many minds had different tastes. Music and VHS tapes were the epicentre of life in both homes. It wasn’t the biggest of houses, and I shared a room with two young brothers and while I didn’t always have the space to myself to play my records (most of which were 45s), there was a stereo system in the living room that I’d take ownership of on those occasions when neither my mum and dad were at home.Ĭome 1983 and through to 1985, I lived in a couple of student flats – the first one being owned by the University (three sharing) and the other by a private landlord (six sharing the bills plus at least two/three others at all times). ![]() Parallel Lines was played a lot in the house I grew up in. Oh, and being a mid-teen heterosexual also meant that Blondie‘s lead singer was the stuff of dreams, dry, wet or otherwise. (I can’t say dancing in a discotheque, as I was still of an age where school or church halls would have to suffice). It really is that moment in history when those of us who loved listening to new wave music but would be just as happy and comfortable dancing to disco music found a perfect match. There’s a huge amount to love about Parallel Lines. Here’s one that was sitting in the Top 10 when I began pulling this series together, but has slipped a little bit as I re-played a number of albums in their entirety for the first time in years.
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