Blondie Announce Against The Odds 1974-1982 Boxset; Stream Moonlight Drive Cover

Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 gathers the band’s first six albums including “Blondie”, “Plastic Letters”, “Parallel Lines”, “Eat To The Beat”, “Autoamerican”, and “The Hunter” plus four additional LPs of session outtakes, b-sides, and demos, a 10” with the 1975 Alan Betrock demo recording, a previously unissued 1974 rehearsal tape, and a 45 rpm single featuring their rumored-to-exist cover of the Doors’ “Moonlight Drive” and the at-home sketch of “Mr. Sightseer” — 124 studio tracks in all. Erin Osmon’s liner notes tell the group’s story in exacting detail, with session commentary from Debbie, Chris, Clem, Gary, Jimmy, Frank & Nigel plus essays from producers Richard Gotterhrer and Mike Chapman all housed in a glorious foil-wrapped, 144-page, hard cover book. A second 120-page volume gives a discographical overview of the period via hundreds of picture sleeves, 45 labels, international sleeve variants, flexi-discs, cassettes, and even 8-tracks. This behemoth of a box set weighs 17 pounds and is hands down one of the nicest physical releases we’ve ever seen.

The box also includes:

• An 8-CD box featuring replicas of all six studio albums and an additional two discs of extras (124 songs total) plus a 128-page hardcover book and slipcase

• A 4-LP edition with all 52 bonus tracks nestled against a 128-page hard cover book and tucked inside a foil-wrapped slipcase

• A 3-CD edition with all 52 bonus tracks and a 164-page hard cover mini-book housed in a sturdy slipcase. 

All 124 tracks have been remastered from the original analogue tapes, the vinyl lacquered at Abbey Road and pressed on high quality 180g virgin wax. Each one is a stunning work craftsmanship that Team Blondie has agonized endlessly over these six long years. What the seven band members set to tape over those first eight years remains timeless. 

“It really is a treat to see how far we have come when I listen to these early attempts to capture our ideas on relatively primitive equipment. Fortunately the essence of being in a band in the early 70’s held some of the anti-social, counter culture energies of the groups that were the influencers of the 60’s. I am excited about this special collection. When I listen to these old tracks, it puts me there like I am a time traveler. As bad as it was sometimes, it was also equally as good. No regrets. More music.”  —Debbie Harry

“I am hopeful that this project will provide a glimpse into the ‘process’ and some of the journey that the songs took from idea to final form. Some of this stuff is like early sketches; the old tape machines like primitive notebooks. The trickiest thing for me was always about getting the melodies out of my head into reality and the changes that would happen along the way. I think ten years earlier Blondie might have been a full on psychedelic band.”  
—Chris Stein

“It is amazing that after all this time, and against the odds, our Blondie archival box set will finally be released. It’s been a long time coming and we are all very happy & excited with the final results.” 
—Clem Burke

You can pre-order Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 HERE