Blondie: Debbie Harry (vocals); Chris Stein, Frank Infante (guitar); Jimmy Destri (keyboards); Nigel Harrison (bass); Clem Burke (drums).

Producers: Mike Chapman, Richard Gottehrer, Giorgio Moroder.

Recorded between 1977 & 1981.

An excellent 1981 singles compilation, BEST OF BLONDIE is possibly the best introduction to this legendary New York new wave powerhouse. Fans of the band have long complained that the collection contains none of the band's album tracks, which were usually funnier, weirder and more experimental than their singles, but Blondie were first and foremost a singles band.

From their glorious first single "X Offender" (unfortunately not included here), Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and company instinctively understood both the medium of the seven-inch single and the glories of Top 40 radio, and their releases were smart, catchy, tough, sexy pop-rock of the highest caliber. From edgy classics like "Rip Her To Shreds" and "One Way or Another," through sunny pop pastiches like "Sunday Girl" and "Dreaming," to the genre experiments "Heart of Glass," "The Tide Is High," and "Rapture," these 12 songs are as good as singles got during this era.