Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Song of the Day: 'I'm on E' by Blondie


When forced to decide, I always cite "Plastic Letters" as my favorite Blondie album. Sure, "Parallel Lines" is probably the best, and "Autoamerican" is in a league of its own. But there's something about the sophomore release -- more mature than the debut but still gritty and experimental -- that has always stayed with me. So it really tickled me to see Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine cited it as one of the 10 Albums That Changed My Life in Goldmine magazine. My brother Bill had bought the first five Blondie albums while he was in college and "Fan Mail," "I'm on E" and "Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)" -- plus the singles "Denis" and "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence Dear" -- quickly became some of my favorite songs by Debbie and the boys. Cute to read that Kathy more or less bought it contemporaneously -- and that she picked it out first at the record store because she preferred the cover to the eponymous debut. Unlike me, however, I never dated one of the band members!

2 comments:

uptonking said...

So glad you're a Blondie fan. Have always loved them, since their first album on Private Stock (which I also consider one of their best). Thanks for this.

Blobby said...

I sing this song almost every time I have to get gas. Yeah, usually it's in my head, but not always.