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 | ||||
| Released | September 19, 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 1976–1998 | |||
| Genre | Pop, new wave | |||
| Length | 67:53 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Mike Chapman Richard Gottehrer Craig Leon | |||
| Blondie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
.jpg) UK edition | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone |  [2] |
Overview
editFollowing 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
editCD
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dreaming" | Deborah Harry, Chris Stein | Eat to the Beat 1979 | 3:06 |
| 2. | "Call Me" | Giorgio Moroder, Harry | American Gigolo (soundtrack) 1980 | 3:32 |
| 3. | "One Way or Another" | Harry, Nigel Harrison | Parallel Lines 1978 | 3:33 |
| 4. | "Heart of Glass" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix) | Harry, Stein | Parallel Lines | 4:33 |
| 5. | "The Tide Is High" | John Holt, Tyrone Evans, Howard Barrett | Autoamerican 1980 | 4:41 |
| 6. | "X Offender" | Harry, Gary Valentine | Blondie 1976 | 3:14 |
| 7. | "Hanging on the Telephone" | Jack Lee | Parallel Lines | 2:21 |
| 8. | "Rip Her to Shreds" | Harry, Stein | Blondie | 3:22 |
| 9. | "Rapture" (The Best of Blondie Special Edit) | Harry, Stein | Autoamerican | 5:36 |
| 10. | "Atomic" | Harry, Jimmy Destri | Eat to the Beat | 4:39 |
| 11. | "Picture This" | Harry, Stein, Destri | Parallel Lines | 2:54 |
| 12. | "In the Flesh" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix) | Harry, Stein | Blondie | 2:29 |
| 13. | "Denis" | Neil Levenson | Plastic Letters 1978 | 2:16 |
| 14. | "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" | Valentine | Plastic Letters | 2:42 |
| 15. | "Union City Blue" | Harry, Harrison | Eat to the Beat | 3:18 |
| 16. | "The Hardest Part" | Harry, Stein | Eat to the Beat | 3:37 |
| 17. | "Island of Lost Souls" | Harry, Stein | The Hunter 1982 | 4:41 |
| 18. | "Sunday Girl" (The Best of Blondie Special Mix) | Stein | Parallel Lines | 3:03 |
| 19. | "Maria" (radio edit) | Destri | No Exit 1999 | 4:10 |
DVD
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In the Flesh" | Harry, Stein | Blondie | |
| 2. | "X Offender" | Harry, Valentine | Blondie | |
| 3. | "Denis" | Levenson | Plastic Letters | |
| 4. | "Detroit 422" | Destri, Stein | Plastic Letters | |
| 5. | "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" | Valentine | Plastic Letters | |
| 6. | "Picture This" | Harry, Stein, Destri | Parallel Lines | |
| 7. | "Hanging on the Telephone" | Lee | Parallel Lines | |
| 8. | "Heart of Glass" | Harry, Stein | Parallel Lines | |
| 9. | "Dreaming" | Harry, Stein | Eat to the Beat | |
| 10. | "Union City Blue" | Harry, Harrison | Eat to the Beat | |
| 11. | "Atomic" | Harry, Destri | Eat to the Beat | |
| 12. | "The Tide Is High" | Holt, Evans, Barrett | Autoamerican | |
| 13. | "Rapture" | Harry, Stein | Autoamerican | |
| 14. | "The Hardest Part" | Harry, Stein | Eat to the Beat | |
| 15. | "Island of Lost Souls" | Harry, Stein | The Hunter | |
| 16. | "Maria" | Destri | No Exit | |
| 17. | "Good Boys" | Harry, Griffin, May | Curse of Blondie |
Charts
editCD
edit| 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 |
DVD
edit| Year | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Sweden | 3 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | 2× Platinum | 600,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ "Blondie | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (9 August 2005). "Ask Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Blondie – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ "Blondie | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ "British album certifications – Blondie – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 13, 2022.