Blondie album reissued with extras

Blondie breakthrough album reissued with extras

By Gary Graff

DETROIT (Billboard) - A super-sized reissue of Blondie's breakthrough album "Parallel Lines" to coincide with its 30th anniversary was not the band's idea, singer Debbie Harry says.

"It's really sort of traditional EMI behavior," she told Billboard.com with a laugh. "None of us really were counting the hours and the days or whatever."

The reissue will come out on June 24; Blondie will be on the road by then with a tour that begins June 5 in Baltimore.

The group -- which still includes founding members guitarist Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke -- plans to play the album in its entirety.

"Parallel Lines," Blondie's third album, peaked at No. 6 during a 103-week run on the Billboard 200. The single "Heart of Glass," which Harry says she and guitarist Chris Stein wrote several years earlier, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "One Way or Another" made it to No. 24.

The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, but Harry was most pleased about its impact in the States.

"We'd had hits all over the world -- in Europe, in the U.K., in Australia," she says. "But having a hit at home after three years of being on the road was really, really important to us."

The reissue includes the 7-inch single version of "Heart of Glass," the French version of "Sunday Girl" and some remixes, as well as a DVD with promo videos and TV performances.

Reuters/Billboard