Musical Monday - Atomic by Blondie

#1 on the Billboard Hot 100: Never.

#1 on the Cash Box Top 100: Never.
#1 on the U.K. Chart: March 1, 1980 through March 8, 1980.

Atomic was the first Blondie song to reach number one in the 1980s, but it certainly wasn't the last. Blondie started its existence as a punk band, which is probably why they were always more popular in the U.K. than in the U.S., but by the time the 1980s rolled around the band's sound had morphed into the weird amalgamation of new wave and disco that you can hear in Atomic.

This song is very much a Blondie song, with an added ethereal-sounding element to it coupled with a Johnny Rivers style Secret Agent Man riff and lyrics that are almost meaningless. The video has a faux futuristic theme to it, with Blondie performing in an outfit that looks to be at least partially made from a garbage bag. Nothing about this song or this video actually makes much sense, but that's more or less what I expect from Blondie, as the band always seemed to have something of an anarchistic streak running through their music, albeit an anarchistic streak that came with a danceable beat.

Previous Musical Monday: Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen

Subsequent Musical Monday: Longer by Dan Fogelberg

Previous #1 on the U.K. Chart: Coward of the County by Kenny Rogers

Subsequent #1 on the U.K. Chart: Together We Are Beautiful by Fern Kinney

List of #1 Singles from the Billboard Hot 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles from the Cash Box Top 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles on the U.K. Chart for 1980-1989

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