Monday Music "Atomic" by Blondie

I know, this is another Tuesday rendition of "Monday Music", well it does happen.  I had a busy weekend, I went through my Vigil ordeal for the "Order of the Arrow" where we stayed up all night and contemplated life, the Universe...and everything and the answer is 42 from "Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy".  Well in my case, I tended a fire, it was cold btw and read "Red Storm Rising" on my tablet.  Yes I have read the book many times and yes I will read it again.  But I digress, I went through my Vigil ceremony and was given my "Indian" name which is Machelemuwi Topalowilenno or "Honorable Warrior".

 I was truly humbled by the honor and the name.
    I was recovering from the looong weekend so I couldn't get a Monday Music up on Monday like I wanted.

      I heard this song playing on my Sirius/XM on the way to work and I decided to use it.   I remember Blondie hitting the music scene real hard in the late 70's and early 80's, then they kinda vanished for a long time, but as I understand it, they are back and touring again.  This song is a staple on my computer game "Grand Theft Auto, Vice City".  Blondie is better known for "Rapture" the first "rap" song to go to #1 in 1980 and "Call me".
   
"Atomic" is a hit song by the American new wave band Blondie, written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri and produced by Mike Chapman. It was released as the third single from the band's Platinum-selling 1979 album Eat to the Beat

Atomic was composed by Jimmy Destri and Debbie Harry, who (in the book "1000 UK #1 Hits" by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh) stated "He was trying to do something like "Heart of Glass", and then somehow or another we gave it the spaghetti western treatment. Before that it was just lying there like a lox. The lyrics, well, a lot of the time I would write while the band were just playing the song and trying to figure it out. I would just be scatting along with them and I would just start going, 'Ooooooh, your hair is beautiful.'"The word atomic in the song carries no fixed meaning and functions as a signifier of power and futurism.The bridge to, and the break in the melody before "Atomic" is spoken, is heavily influenced by the bridge in the song "I'm on my way" by Dean Parish.
The song was produced as a mixture of new wave, rock and disco which had proven to be so successful in their No.1 hit from earlier in 1979, "Heart of Glass". It is written in E natural minor ("Call Me" is written in E♭ natural minor).

European edition of the "Atomic" single with the famous picture of Debbie Harry wearing her "Andy Warhol's BAD" T-shirt, in 1981 used for the free fold-out poster that came with the hits compilation The Best of Blondie

The 1980 single version of "Atomic" was a remix. The original 4:35 version as featured on the albums Eat to the Beat and 1981's The Best of Blondie opens with an intro inspired by the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice" and includes an instrumental break with a bass guitar solo. The 7" version mixed by Mike Chapman omits the "Three Blind Mice" intro and replaces the instrumental break with a repeat of the verse.

The music video depicts the band performing on stage at what looks like a post-apocalyptic nightclub in which Debbie Harry is wearing a garbage bag as a punkish futuristic costume. The audience at the club are also dressed in suitably futuristic costumes, and footage of a horseman and an atomic explosion are also intercut. Model Gia Carangi (a strong supporter of the band) made a guest appearance in the music video and can be seen in various shots

The song became the band's third number one in the UK Singles Chart, where it held the top spot for two weeks. It reached the Top 40 in the US in Spring 1980.
The B-side was "Die Young, Stay Pretty", also from the album Eat to the Beat, a reggae-influenced track, a style the band would perform again in their global chart-topper "The Tide Is High". The UK 12" single contained a live cover version of Bowie's "Heroes" featuring Robert Fripp on guitar recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon just a month before. The track was included on 1993's rarities compilation Blonde and Beyond.
"Atomic" was remixed and re-released in the UK in September 1994 where it peaked at #19 on the UK Top 40 singles chart.The subsequent April 1995 US release reached #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Charts. The 1994 remix was included on the compilations The Platinum Collection, Beautiful - The Remix Album and Remixed Remade Remodeled - The Remix Project. The track was remixed again four years later for the UK compilation Atomic - The Very Best of Blondie and the '98 Xenomania mix was later included on the first Queer as Folk soundtrack album.