Autoamerican

Infobox Album |
Name = Autoamerican
Type = Album
Artist = Blondie


Released = 29 November, 1980
Recorded = 1980, United Western Studios, Hollywood
Genre = New Wave
Length = 46:39
50:49 (cassette)
Label = Chrysalis Records
Producer = Mike Chapman
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:uy59kect7q7m link]
* Robert Christgau (B-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Blondie link]
Last album = "Eat to the Beat"
(1979)
This album = "Autoamerican"
(1980)
Next album = "The Best of Blondie"
(1981)

"Autoamerican" is the fifth studio album by the US new wave band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached no.3 in the UK charts, and no.7 in the US.

The album proved to be a radical departure for the band, with opening track "Europa" setting the pace. The track was a dramatic instrumental overture featuring orchestral arrangements and ending with vocalist Debbie Harry reciting a poem about the importance of the car in American society. Besides rock and pop tracks, the band explored a wide range of other musical genres; "Here's Looking At You" and "Faces" show jazz and blues influences, the reggae hit "The Tide Is High" was a cover of The Paragons 1965 Jamaican ska hit, whereas "Rapture" combined funk, rock, jazz, and even saw them embracing the then budding genre rap. The closing track, "Follow Me", was a cover of a torch song from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Loewe's 1960 Broadway musical "Camelot", based on the King Arthur legend.

The band released two singles from this album, "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture". "The Tide Is High" hit number one in several countries, including the U.S. and the UK. "Rapture" became the first rap song not only to be released from the band but also the first ever to reach number one on the singles chart in the U.S. (it also reached no.5 in the UK). The first edition of the US pressing of the album had a sticker on the cover stating "Including "The Tide Is High", "Rapture" and "T-Birds", suggesting that the track was planned as the third single release.

"Autoamerican" was digitally remastered and reissued with two bonus tracks by Chrysalis Records in the UK in 1994 which included extended "special disco mix" versions of "Rapture" and "Live It Up". The album was again remastered and re-released by EMI-Capitol in 2001, again featuring the extended version of "Rapture" along with the extended version of their no.1 hit "Call Me" (from the film soundtrack to American Gigolo), and also "Suzy & Jeffrey" which was originally the B-side to "The Tide Is High" single.

Track listing

Programme A:
# "Europa" (Chris Stein) – 3:31
# "Live It Up" (Stein) – 4:09
# "Here's Looking at You" (Debbie Harry, Stein) – 2:58
# "The Tide Is High" (Howard Barrett, Tyrone Evans, John Holt) – 4:39
# "Angels on the Balcony" (Laura Davis, Jimmy Destri) – 3:47
# "Go Through It" (Harry, Stein) – 2:40
# "Suzy & Jeffrey" a.k.a. "Susie & Jeffrey" (Harrison, Harry) – 4:10 (cassette only)

Programme B:
# "Do the Dark" (Destri) – 3:51
# "Rapture" (Harry, Stein) – 6:30
# "Faces" (Harry) – 3:51
# "T-Birds" (Nigel Harrison, Harry) – 3:56
# "Walk Like Me" (Jimmy Destri) – 3:44
# "Follow Me" (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 3:01

Bonus Tracks (1994 UK CD reissue)

13. "Rapture" (Special Disco Mix) (Harry, Stein) – 9:59
14. "Live It Up" (Special Disco Mix) (Stein) – 8:13

Bonus Tracks (2001 CD reissue)

13. "Call Me" (Original Long Version) (Harry, Giorgio Moroder) – 8:06
14. "Suzy & Jeffrey" (Harrison, Harry) – 4:10
15. "Rapture" (Special Disco Mix) (Harry, Stein) – 9:59

Personnel

* Deborah Harry - vocals
* Chris Stein - guitar, bass guitar, vibraphone
* Jimmy Destri - piano, organ, synthesizer, background vocals
* Frank Infante - bass, background vocals
* Clem Burke - drums, background vocals
* Howard Kaylan - vocals on "T-Birds"
* Mark Volman - vocals on "T-Birds"
* Jimmie Haskill - string & horns arrangement
* Wa Wa Watson - guitar on "Live It Up"
* Tom Scott - saxophone on "Rapture" & "Faces"
* Steve Goldstein - piano, synthesizer
* Ray Brown - bass on "Faces"
* Scott Lesser - percussion on "Live It Up"
* Ollie Brown - percussion on "The Tide is High"
* Emil Richards - percussion on "The Tide is High"
* Alex Acuna - percussion on "The Tide is High"
* B-Girls - background vocals on "Live It Up"

Production

* Mike Chapman - record producer
* Recorded at United Western Studio, Hollywood, California in December 1980. Originally released on Chrysalis (1290).
* Kevin Flaherty - 2001 reissue producer

Chart Peaks

*UK: 3
*USA: 7
*Australia: 8
*Sweden: 11
*Austria: 18
*Germany: 42

References

# [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:pvmtk6hxrkrf All Music Guide]