Blondie

The group grew out of New York’s 1970s club world, with Harry and guitarist Chris Stein central to its formation. The early records have the impatience and economy of that setting, but the pop instinct was never hidden. A short song could be abrasive, funny and immediately memorable at the same time.

Parallel Lines in 1978 brought those qualities into exceptionally clear focus. “Hanging on the Telephone” makes a quick, urgent entrance, while “Heart of Glass” gives the rhythm a much more spacious dance-floor setting. The distance between them is part of the album’s strength. The voice remains a point of recognition while the band alter the machinery underneath it.

Eat to the Beat followed in 1979 with “Dreaming” and “Atomic”, keeping both the guitar energy and the interest in a larger rhythmic space. Autoamerican in 1980 widened the picture again through “The Tide Is High” and “Rapture”. These changes are easier to hear as curiosity within a working band than as a sequence of costumes.

The albums around the familiar singles deserve the same attention as the hits. Blondie’s range can seem obvious in retrospect, which makes it easy to miss the care inside an individual arrangement. Listen for the bass movement, the sharpness of a drum entrance and the way Harry can leave a line slightly cool while the music heats up. The restraint makes the moments of release feel all the more effective.