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Plastic Letters

Blondie - Plastic Letters Audio CD

A fair review of the Blondie "Plastic Letters" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Blondie reviews here, or go back to the Blondie tabs.

Band: Blondie
Title: Plastic Letters
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-09-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Fan Mail 2: Denis 3: Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) 4: Youth Nabbed As Sniper 5: Contact In Red Square 6: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear 7: I'm On E 8: I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No 9: Love At The Pier 10: No Imagination 11: Kidnapper 12: Detroit 442 13: Cautious Lip 14: Once I Had A Love (The Disco Song 1975) 15: Scenery 16: Poets Problem 17: Detroit 442 (live)

Still my favorite Blondie album. An underrated classic.
This is still and always will be my favorite Blondie album. If you have never heard Blondie's Plastic Letters before then you are in for a treat. I can still remember listening to it for the first time in 1977 and I loved it. I used to play it over and over again. Hearing it today is just as fresh as it was then. This album is their pre polished sound that was the real Blondie. It is a true example of their pop punk style. I saw them in concert in 1978 when they did Parallel Lines with the hit disco song Heart of Glass and Debbie Harry announced that they were not a disco band but a punk band. I guess that song made them popular but to me the real rawness of Blondie is in the songs on Plastic Letters. Every song is a classic. Give it a listen for the first time or rediscover it if you have'nt heard it in awhile. This is without a doubt one of my top ten albums of all time.

Blondie is the best. This CD is a must have classic!
What can I say - Blondie is great and this early CD is very raw and exciting.

FOR AMBER.....
Prostitution is legal here. As a health inspector in urban Australia it was my job during the early 90's to inspect the various registered brothels. In Melbourne's eastern suburbs I had to report on a newly established brothel called the "The Steak House. " Simply put this cramped two bedroom house was decked out with the usual tacky Chinese paper lanterns, dimmed lights and Karma Sutra pictures on the walls. All this plus burning incense in a typical shallow attempt to create an intimate atmosphere.
The place was clean and up to code in all the necessary checks i ran threw, i. e condom disposal and clean bed sheets ect. It was midday and only two girls were working, both sitting quietly reading in each bedroom. The girl in the bedroom closest to the entrance was singing the words to Def Leopard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" while the other girl actually had a small boom box and was playing Plastic Letters by Blondie. We briefly chatted about music and eventually I invited her to go see Debbie Harry play at a local night club in the upcoming weeks. Amber was her name and she was a huge Blondie fan, and was probably looking forward to this gig more than anything else at this particular time.
On the evening before the gig, Amber was responsible for a car accident which may have contributed to a series of other major car crashes at a busy intersection. She ran a red light and multiple cars collided as a result. Four people were taken to hospital and two people died. However the cops only charged Amber with running a red light incurring a $200 fine. They called her every filthy name under the sun, but due to the laws, had to treat the other crashes as separate accidents and not connected to Amber's driving error.
She phoned me from the local cop station and after went straight to the gig, where i met up with her. During the support bands she informed me of the details of the crashers. She was physically ok, but feeling horribly guilty, particularly due to the deaths which occurred. To calm her nerves she told me she had taken several Valium. I noticed she was throwing back alcoholic drinks like their was no tomorrow. During the gig itself i virtually had to hold her up as she insisted on standing near the front of the stage.
In the taxi ride home she lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital where she died from a combination of drugs causing her heart to slow then stop. I have forgotten the technical term the doctor used.
Due to the fact i only knew Amber for a few weeks and was not a family member I was not allowed to be by her side when she passed. The authorities could not locate a next of kin. Even after searching her apartment and exploring personal documents. I could offer no assistance, but decided to place an add in a Melbourne newspaper in the hope of locating a relative. I had no success. Plastic Letters is a good cd of early Blondie material, but is a cd I can not easily listen too for obvious reasons. R. I. P Amber Liechtenstein.

Blondie's Quirky But Fabulous Second Album
amazon. Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R36JMMBUUWTKDL .

Hands down, one of the best pop-punk records of all time
I first heard the whole record (CD) when I was in college in '91. This is easily my favorite Blondie album. It quickly grew on me (as did many of the old Blondie records; Ramones, Iggy, X, Misfits, etc. ).

It's very raw and pop as well. The feedback-tinged scream at the end of "Cautious Lip" is up there with the psyched-out Iggy in the middle of "TV Eye. " (side note: Blondie opened for Iggy on the "The Idiot" tour; Debbie has worked with him a few times since and covered his songs; the song "Detroit 442" is about Iggy - "feel hot to go like Jimmy-O. ")

If I'm in a down mood, I can put on this record (or one of the first few Ramones records) to really bring me up. This record represents the band's aggressive side and some of their psychedelic influences ("flight 45," "Cautious Lip" and see "Fade Away and Radiate" a year later for more).

I always thought that Clem Burke's wild drum fills during the 2nd half of "Youth Nabbed As Sniper" were later used on the #1 hit "Call Me. " The layered vocals at parts of the album sound great, almost "psychotic-epic. " Also, Chris Stein was one of the first guitar players to use an 'EBow' on this record; I think he usually used/uses a thumb pick.

Jimmy Destri's songs are heavily represented hear, and they really stand out. Rumor is that Blondie will do a record in 2008; I sure hope that Jimmy will contribute songs, even if he doesn't tour with them.

The CD was re-relased in 2001 (9/11 incidentally) with bare bones bonuses and short liner notes by Richard Gottehrer. I would love to see a more deserving release (see X's and the Ramones re-relases; even those could be better) with band interviews, the original cover (Debbie in a Stardust motel pillow case wrapped in red gaffer's tape, finally released as a couple of posters, one of which is the cover of the 2006 release "Blondie Greatest Hits"). And of course, the songs that were not included on the album, alt. takes, etc.

Like the Stooges "Funhouse," I think this album will some day see its shining moment. Mostly every song on here, really does it for me. Heck, I even think the cover (well the cover that wound up being relased, the band on the cop car) is one of the best of all-time.

You can see a complete list of all Blondie discography, or go back to the Blondie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.