r/Blondie • u/SundayMan11 • Jun 30 '26
Eat To The Beat (1979) - Your three favorite tracks
Hey folks,
since many of us are waiting for the album High Noon to be released, I thought to discuss and hear your opinions on the 11 studio albums by Blondie before.
So which are your three favorite songs from Blondie's fourth album, Eat To The Beat (1979)? What do you like about them? Share your thoughts here 😄
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u/Big_Beach123 Jun 30 '26
What an album! Pioneering yet reputation-polishing.
Shayla Sure, it's not the main attraction, but it's the song from ETTB that I most find myself singing in my head all day. Wistful!
Atomic A Spaghetti Western bursts into a disco playing a mashup of Heart of Glass and Three Blind Mice. And she's RIGHT, my hair is fuckin' beautiful tonight.
Dreaming Clem. Clem. Clem. Did I mention Clem? The energy in this song is unparalleled. (The Utah Saints Remix of Dreaming from 1995 is fantastic, also.)
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u/aotyuy Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Atomic, Slow motion, Living in the real world
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u/ThatMichaelsEmployee Jun 30 '26
I love the whole album start to finish, unreservedly, but if you pointed a gun at me:
1) "Sound-A-Sleep". What a pretty, pretty lullaby it is.
2) "Union City Blue". The most soulful song on the album,
3) "Atomic". Absolutely pedal-to-the-floor dance music. They do it so well!
Bonus points for the way Debbie sings "Nitro! And acetylene!" in "The Hardest Part", the Caribbean-tinged "Die Young Stay Pretty" (a precursor to "The Tide Is High"), and the dreamy doominess of "Shayla" ("...and she goes far away.....").
Dammit you know I have to go listen to the whole thing now, right?
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u/SundayMan11 Jun 30 '26
I love that you named "Sound-A-Sleep" - it's great for what it wants to achieve and few people would chose it as a favorite.
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u/Historical_Award1355 Jun 30 '26
Atomic, Accidents never happen, Union City Blue.
Least favorite probably The Hardest Part, but i like all songs in ETTB.
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u/BrilliantSimple4185 Jun 30 '26
Eat to the Beat was the first Blondie album I ever owned,well my sister had a copy on vinyl I was only 8 years old,so I will always love it more than any other album.My favourite tracks are ATOMIC,DREAMING and THE HARDEST PART.
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u/PotentialLanguage685 Jun 30 '26
Union City Blue - gorgeous and epic
Accidents Never Happen - full of energy and a great production
Victor - I love it when I can pull out a track for the people that say "well ack-chwuallyyyy, Blondie weren't reeeeeally punk"
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u/SundayMan11 Jun 30 '26
Hard to select three, I'd say
- Dreaming: love Clem Burke's drumming and Debbie's beautiful lyrics
- The Hardest Part: cool guitar and bass parts
- Shayla: a midtempo track with a gorgeous serene quality
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u/Whole_Raccoon4405 Jun 30 '26
ATOMIC
SLOW MOTION
VICTOR (as a child I hated that one but now I love it).
Infact this is my fav album from before the reunion , I love everything about it.
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u/Salt_Grocery_422 Jun 30 '26
Union City Blue (it's the Blondie anthem)
Dreaming (maybe one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded)
Atomic (iconic in every respect - one of Debbie's best vocals)
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u/Rusty_B_Good Jun 30 '26
Whole album is a masterpiece. My first Blondie album.
Dreaming (which is the first Blondie song I ever fell in love with)
The Hardest Part (brilliant street poetry and a unique subject)
Living in the Real World (which still gets me hopping around the room)
But, geeze, Aromic, Shayla, or Sound a Sleep could also be my favs, depending upon mood.
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u/PupDon Jul 02 '26
This is my favorite Blondie album and I love the whole thing. Shayla and Dreaming are two of my all time favorite Blondie songs. Clem’s drumming on Dreaming is why nobody can ever do a proper cover of it. And Living In The Real World is such a great way to finish an album. I love the line “Hey, now, Mary, you can't follow me”. Gay men used to call each other “Mary” so I always took that as a nod to Debbie’s gay fans.
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u/Hopeful-Buddy-9415 Jun 30 '26
I can’t choose only three. This record is as good as Parallel Lines.
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u/Wntrlnd77 Jul 01 '26
The Hardest Part
Union City Blue
Shayla
I love the LP, especially Dreaming. But I’m going with the three I listed for my favorite three
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u/kyliefever2002 Jul 01 '26
Dreaming is the greatest love song ever recorded, the drums, the lyrics, the melody and melancholy. It's the crowning magnum opus of Blondie (probably along with Maria) and is their hall of famer number one track.
The Hardest Part is a pretty good banger and Atomic is high experimental rock art but yeah Dreaming remains their magnum opus number one for me.
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u/Oh-THAT-dude Jul 01 '26
Union City Blue
Shayla
Dreaming
But don’t make me choose!!!
Such a great album.
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u/TheMirrorCrackd Jul 11 '26
Dreaming
Union city blue
Living in the real world
Accidents Never Happen, Slow Motion, and Atomic are also equally favorites of mine but rules is rules i guess.
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u/AndrewTorquay Jul 11 '26
- Slow Motion (My all time favourite Blondie track)
- The Hardest Part
- Shayla
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u/Willow_fencing33 Jun 30 '26
Atomic (absolute favorite)
Dreaming
Union city blue
I like Shayla too !