Greatest Hits (Blondie album)

Greatest Hits is a compilation album of recordings by the band Blondie released by EMI/Capitol Records in 2002.

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedSeptember 19, 2002
Recorded1976–1998
GenrePop, new wave
Length67:53
LabelCapitol
ProducerMike Chapman
Richard Gottehrer
Craig Leon
Blondie chronology
Live
(1999)
Greatest Hits
(2002)
The Curse of Blondie
(2003)
Alternative cover
UK edition
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]

Overview

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Following the re-issue of the six original studio albums in 2001, this was the first Blondie "Best of" compilation to be digitally remastered, the first Blondie "Best of" to be officially sanctioned by the band for over 20 years, and also the first to include their comeback hit "Maria", a UK #1 in February 1999.

Compiled by Capitol's Kevin Flaherty and London-based music journalist Steve Pafford, who also wrote the album sleeve notes, Greatest Hits features all of the tracks from the band's very first hits compilation, 1981's The Best of Blondie, including all four long-deleted 'special mixes' by producer Mike Chapman. Author Pafford was in the early stages of working with Debbie Harry on a lavish illustrated coffee table book entitled BlondieStyle (the sequel to his acclaimed BowieStyle, published by Omnibus Press), though as of 2010 the project is still on hold.

The album charted at #38 on the UK's Top 75 Album Chart and charted for 31 weeks.[3] In New Zealand the album reached #15 and charted for 8 weeks.

As of August 9, 2005 it has sold 85,000 copies in United States.[4]

The album was accompanied by a DVD release, Greatest Video Hits, which included the original 1981 Best of Blondie video album. However, the songs "Call Me" and "Sunday Girl" were not listed on the cover. The 2002 version added the videos for "The Hardest Part" (1979), "Island of Lost Souls" (1982) and the uncensored version of "Maria" (1999).

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)AlbumLength
1."Dreaming"Deborah Harry, Chris SteinEat to the Beat 19793:06
2."Call Me"Giorgio Moroder, HarryAmerican Gigolo (soundtrack) 19803:32
3."One Way or Another"Harry, Nigel HarrisonParallel Lines 19783:33
4."Heart of Glass" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix)Harry, SteinParallel Lines4:33
5."The Tide Is High"John Holt, Tyrone Evans, Howard BarrettAutoamerican 19804:41
6."X Offender"Harry, Gary ValentineBlondie 19763:14
7."Hanging on the Telephone"Jack LeeParallel Lines2:21
8."Rip Her to Shreds"Harry, SteinBlondie3:22
9."Rapture" (The Best of Blondie Special Edit)Harry, SteinAutoamerican5:36
10."Atomic"Harry, Jimmy DestriEat to the Beat4:39
11."Picture This"Harry, Stein, DestriParallel Lines2:54
12."In the Flesh" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix)Harry, SteinBlondie2:29
13."Denis"Neil LevensonPlastic Letters 19782:16
14."(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear"ValentinePlastic Letters2:42
15."Union City Blue"Harry, HarrisonEat to the Beat3:18
16."The Hardest Part"Harry, SteinEat to the Beat3:37
17."Island of Lost Souls"Harry, SteinThe Hunter 19824:41
18."Sunday Girl" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix)SteinParallel Lines3:03
19."Maria" (radio edit)DestriNo Exit 19994:10
The Best of Blondie
No.TitleWriter(s)AlbumLength
1."In the Flesh"Harry, SteinBlondie 
2."X Offender"Harry, ValentineBlondie 
3."Denis"LevensonPlastic Letters 
4."Detroit 422"Destri, SteinPlastic Letters 
5."(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear"ValentinePlastic Letters 
6."Picture This"Harry, Stein, DestriParallel Lines 
7."Hanging on the Telephone"LeeParallel Lines 
8."Heart of Glass"Harry, SteinParallel Lines 
9."Dreaming"Harry, SteinEat to the Beat 
10."Union City Blue"Harry, HarrisonEat to the Beat 
11."Atomic"Harry, DestriEat to the Beat 
12."The Tide Is High"Holt, Evans, BarrettAutoamerican 
13."Rapture"Harry, SteinAutoamerican 
14."The Hardest Part"Harry, SteinEat to the Beat 
15."Island of Lost Souls"Harry, SteinThe Hunter 
16."Maria"DestriNo Exit 
17."Good Boys"Harry, Griffin, MayCurse of Blondie 

Charts

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Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 73
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[6] 15
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[7] 81
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 38
Year Country Position
2017 Sweden 3

Certifications

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Certifications for Greatest Hits
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] 2× Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Rolling Stone review
  3. ^ "Blondie | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  4. ^ Caulfield, Keith (9 August 2005). "Ask Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  5. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  6. ^ "Charts.nz – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  8. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  9. ^ "Blondie | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  10. ^ "British album certifications – Blondie – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 13, 2022.