Song of the Day: 'Moonlight Drive' by Blondie

 

My first reaction to the announcement of the long-delayed and pricey Blondie box set (nearly 500 smackers) was that it was about 15 years too late for me to have much interest, But then I saw the marketing plan and I have to give them credit for making it available in enough formats that I may just have to bite. While I can't bring myself to buy the band's first six albums for the, what, fifth time? -- let alone replace vinyl I finally had to leave in a Dumpster at my apartment building in Dupont Circle 25 years ago -- I was surprised to see that despite many bootlegs and reissues containing rare tracks in the past, there's still three discs worth of stuff I have mostly never heard -- including today's SOTD. Once a staple of the band's early live shows, this previously unreleased studio version of "Moonlight Drive" cleverly reduces it to just the second half of the classic Doors song. 

Also of note are demos of "Live It Up" and "Angels on the Balcony" from when Giorgio Moroder was briefly at the helm of "Autoamerican." After teaming up to produce the No. 1 song of 1980 ("Call Me"), this seemed like a no-brainer ... until the European producer left to focus on muse Donna Summer's latest. (Translation: He couldn't stand the band's incessant drama so bolted.)

The best part is that if the box set ends up on streaming platforms, I won't have to do anything besides pay $9.99/month for YouTube Music. And if it doesn't, my AZ childhood best friend and I have entered into a pact where we'll split the cost and I'll rip the three discs and then mail them to him, because I have no room in my life for CDs and he's still a huge collector -- so against the odds we both come away satisfied.