Aug 17, 2026 · 19 min · 8 segments
A song so transgressively powerful it made way for a whole new kind of rock and roll, and a cover that makes something old new again in the best possible way. Heart of Glass, originally by Blondie…
And also 1979 is the third single from that album.
Debbie Harry has said that this and Rapture were the songs she was proudest of having written.
And this song was in the works for a long time.
They started tinkering with it in 1975.
The band called it the disco song at the time because they didn't have it sorted out, but there was definitely a lot of disco in it.
And by the time they recorded this version of it in 78, it had moved in a more pop direction.
It had not moved away entirely from the disco.
You can absolutely hear that, but it was poppier.
And so just thinking about that evolution as they were growing as a band, I think it's really interesting to hear that.
And the notion that they recorded such a disco-y song to me is fascinating because Blondie is one of those bands that's hard to categorize because of this, because of Rapture, because of some very new wavy things about them.
But they were also a very punk credibility band and had some real punk rock and roll roots to them and lots and lots of rock and roll credibility, mountains of it.
Which is fascinating because in 1978, this was kind of the peak of the rock versus disco divide.
And so a band that was so firmly loved by and accepted by and part of the rock and roll camp to do such a disco-y song was not done.
But they...
I didn't have an issue with that.
That same year, before this was released, they were doing a benefit that they were performing at, played Donna Summer's I Feel Love, which is very much a disco song.
Uh, and, and that was kind of the moment that I think, I don't know that it allowed this song to come forward, but, but musically for that audience, cause they're playing to a music crowd.
It was a music benefit.
They, uh, it kind of broke the dam to allow other bands that were in the rock camp to experiment with the disco sound.
And also 1979 is the third single from that album.
Debbie Harry has said that this and Rapture were the songs she was proudest of having written.
And this song was in the works for a long time.
They started tinkering with it in 1975.
The band called it the disco song at the time because they didn't have it sorted out, but there was definitely a lot of disco in it.
And by the time they recorded this version of it in 78, it had moved in a more pop direction.
It had not moved away entirely from the disco.
You can absolutely hear that, but it was poppier.
And so just thinking about that evolution as they were growing as a band, I think it's really interesting to hear that.
And the notion that they recorded such a disco-y song to me is fascinating because Blondie is one of those bands that's hard to categorize because of this, because of Rapture, because of some very new wavy things about them.
But they were also a very punk credibility band and had some real punk rock and roll roots to them and lots and lots of rock and roll credibility, mountains of it.
Which is fascinating because in 1978, this was kind of the peak of the rock versus disco divide.
And so a band that was so firmly loved by and accepted by and part of the rock and roll camp to do such a disco-y song was not done.
But they...
I didn't have an issue with that.
That same year, before this was released, they were doing a benefit that they were performing at, played Donna Summer's I Feel Love, which is very much a disco song.
Uh, and, and that was kind of the moment that I think, I don't know that it allowed this song to come forward, but, but musically for that audience, cause they're playing to a music crowd.
It was a music benefit.
They, uh, it kind of broke the dam to allow other bands that were in the rock camp to experiment with the disco sound.
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