Eat to the Beat

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"Die Young, Stay Pretty" redirects here. For the Short Stack song, see This is Bat Country.
Eat to the Beat
Blondie - Eat to the Beat.jpg
Studio album by Blondie
Released October 1979
Recorded May–June 1979
at The Power Station, Electric Lady Studio and Media Sound, New York, NY
Genre New wave
Length 43:01
Label Chrysalis
Producer Mike Chapman
Blondie chronology
Parallel Lines
(1978)Parallel Lines1978		 Eat to the Beat
(1979)		 Autoamerican
(1980)Autoamerican1980
Singles from Eat to the Beat
  1. "Dreaming"
    Released: September 1979
  2. "Union City Blue"
    Released: November 1979 (UK & Europe)
    1995 (US)
  3. "The Hardest Part"
    Released: January 1980 (US & Canada)
  4. "Atomic"
    Released: February 1980 (UK)
    April 1980 (US)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3.5/5 stars[2]
Robert Christgau A−[3]
Rolling Stone (favorable)[4]
Smash Hits (favorable)[5]

Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Blondie. It was certified Platinum in the United States, where it spent a year on the Billboard album chart. Although it peaked at No.17, it was one of Billboard's top 10 albums of 1980.[6] It also reached No.1 on the United Kingdom album chart in October 1979[7] and was certified Platinum by the BPI.

History

The album includes a diverse range of styles as pop, punk, reggae, and funk as well as a lullaby. Three singles were released in the UK from this album ("Dreaming", "Union City Blue" and "Atomic"). "The Hardest Part" was released as the second single from the album in the US instead of "Union City Blue". According to the liner notes of the 1994 compilation The Platinum Collection, the song "Slow Motion" was originally planned to be the fourth single release from the album, and producer Mike Chapman even made a remix of the track, but following the unexpected success of "Call Me", the theme song to movie American Gigolo, these plans were shelved and the single mix of "Slow Motion" remains unreleased. An alternate mix of the track entitled The Stripped Down Motown Mix did however turn up on one of the many remix singles issued by Chrysalis/EMI in the mid 1990s.

Blondie's first video album was produced in conjunction with this record, featuring a music video for each of the album's twelve songs. It was the first such project in rock music.[8] Most of the songs were filmed in and around New York, the exception was the "Union City Blue" music video, which was filmed at Union Dry Dock, Weehawken, New Jersey. Each video was directed by David Mallet and produced by Paul Flattery. The video was initially available as a promotional VHS in 1979 and subsequently released on videocassette and videodisk in October 1980.[9]

Eat to the Beat was digitally remastered and reissued by EMI in 1994, and EMI-Capitol in 2001, with four bonus tracks and candid sleeve notes by Mike Chapman:

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"They wanted to try anything. And I was right there with them. We also had a title for the album at a very early point, so we had a concept of sorts: Eat to the Beat. I tried to have Debbie explain exactly what it meant to her, but in her normal fashion she simply confused me and I was forced to give it my own interpretation. . . . [Drugs] found their way to the studio and presented us with yet another obstacle. The more drugs, the more fights. It was becoming a real mess. . . . The music was good but the group was showing signs of wear and tear. The meetings, the drugs, the partying and the arguments had beaten us all up, and it was hard to have a positive attitude when the project was finally finished. . . . Was this the record that the public was waiting for, or was it just the waste of seven sick minds? I had never experienced this kind of emotional rollercoaster before, and I have never forgotten the sounds, smells and tastes that came with it. I guess that was what they meant: Eat to the Beat."[10]

The 2001 remaster was again reissued in 2007 (June 26 in the U.S.; July 2 in the U.K.) without the four bonus tracks. Included instead was a DVD of the long-since deleted Eat to the Beat video album, marking the first time it had been made available on the DVD format.

Track listing

Side One
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Dreaming"   Debbie Harry, Chris Stein 3:08
2. "The Hardest Part"   Harry, Stein 3:43
3. "Union City Blue"   Harry, Nigel Harrison 3:22
4. "Shayla"   Stein 3:58
5. "Eat to the Beat"   Harry, Harrison 2:40
6. "Accidents Never Happen"   Jimmy Destri 4:15
Side Two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
7. "Die Young Stay Pretty"   Harry, Stein 3:34
8. "Slow Motion"   Laura Davis, Destri 3:29
9. "Atomic"   Harry, Destri 4:40
10. "Sound-A-Sleep"   Harry, Stein 4:18
11. "Victor"   Harry, Frank Infante 3:19
12. "Living in the Real World"   Destri 2:54

Video album

  1. "Eat to the Beat"
  2. "The Hardest Part"
  3. "Union City Blue"
  4. "Slow Motion"
  5. "Shayla"
  6. "Die Young, Stay Pretty"
  7. "Accidents Never Happen"
  8. "Atomic"
  9. "Living in the Real World"
  10. "Sound-A-Sleep"
  11. "Victor"
  12. "Dreaming"

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Mike Chapman – background vocals on "Die Young, Stay Pretty" and "Victor"
  • Donna Destri – background vocals on "Living in the Real World"
  • Robert Fripp – guitar on "Heroes" bonus live track
  • Ellie Greenwich – background vocals on "Dreaming" and "Atomic"
  • Lorna Luft – background vocals on "Accidents Never Happen" and "Slow Motion"
  • Randy Singer (Hennes) – harmonica on "Eat to the Beat"
Production

Chart positions

Chart successions

Order of precedence
Preceded by UK Albums Chart number one album
13 October 1979		 Succeeded by
Reggatta de Blanc by The Police

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[22] 2× Platinum 200,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Platinum 300,000
United States (RIAA)[24] Platinum 1,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

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  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide
  3. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  4. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Talent in Action Year End Charts" Billboard December 20, 1980: TIA-12
  7. ↑ UK Official Charts Company
  8. ↑ Once More (Into The Bleach): Blondie Returns For Its Fifteenth Round
  9. ↑ McCullaugh, Jim. "SelectaVision Catalog Adds 'Eat To Beat'" Billboard October 11, 1980: 10
  10. ↑ discogs.com/Blondie-Eat-To-The-Beat/release/927584
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Note: User needs to enter "Blondie" in the "Keywords" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Search" button. Select "More >>" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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