Thursday, April 07, 2016

Simply the Best


Love this ad that popped up on the Blondie Facebook group. It's strange how some greatest hits/best-of albums by our favorite artists somehow don't work, either because of licensing issues that exclude certain requisite hits, too many new or old songs, or sometimes just bad sequencing. "The Best of Blondie" -- released in the immediate aftermath of Debbie Harry's underperforming 1981 solo debut, "Koo Koo" (with which it was cross promoted) -- had none of those problems. With four No. 1 singles, a handful of smaller hits and a few songs that were smashes overseas -- including a special French verse on "Sunday Girl," of which we Americans had been shamefully deprived! -- "The Best of Blondie" ranks up there with "The Immaculate Collection" (Madonna), "The Best of Aretha Franklin" and Squeeze's "Singles -- 45's and Under" as one of the best "best ofs" of all time. What's your favorite?


As seen on my bedroom wall


11 comments:

Joseph said...

Devo, The Cars, Cheap Trick, Bananarama, Elton John, The Cure, Patsy Cline, The Ramones.

Wesley said...

Bauhaus 1979–1983.

Auntie Dasch said...

SQUEEZE ! History Never Repeats – The Best of Split Enz; B.P.M. The Very Best of the Beat; ABBA Gold (somebody has to cop to this, I will); and The Partridge Family's Greatest Hits (shuddup)

Taffy said...

I'll go with history - the first greatest hits I ever bought...ChangesOneBowie and the Beatles 1962-1966 (the red one) and the Beatles 1967-1970 (the blue one)

Rob H said...

"The Singles, 1969-1973"; "Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits"; Four Tops' GH (silver cover); "Very Best of Dionne Warwick" (Rhino); Gene Pitney, "Greatest Hits of All Time"; and about three dozen others.

Chantal said...

Best of James Taylor

Mark Allen said...

Siouxsie & the Banshees: ONCE UPON A TIME: THE SINGLES, The Jam: SNAP! (original long version), Devo: HARDCORE DEVO VOL. 1 & 2, John Denver: GREATEST HITS VOL. 1, The Plastics: WELCOME BACK, Black Flag: THE FIRST FOUR YEARS, Throbbing Gristle: ENTERTAINMENT THROUGH PAIN: THROBBING GRISTLE'S GREATEST HITS, A Certain Ratio: THE OLD AND THE NEW, The Dead C: VAIN, ERUDITE & STUPID: SELECTED WORKS 1987-2005, Destroy All Monsters: 1974-1976, Durutti Column: VALUABLE PASSAGES ..."best of" albums rarely make solidly good albums but I think in these cases they do.

Paul H said...

Buzzcocks Singles Going Steady

Kenny Chavis said...

Stevie Nicks's "Enchanted" (if box sets count). Carly Simon's "Anthology." Both Donna Summer and Olivia Newton-John's "Gold" And the Smiths have had quite a few compilations, but their 90s Best Of, Vol 1 and Vol 2 are my faves.

Sweet Jane said...

Abba, Gold. Gang of Four, That's Entertainment (technically not a best-of, but every song is a classic) Clash on Broadway

Robb said...

12 Deadly Cyns ( and then some) - Cyndi Lauper, The Whole Story- Kate Bush