Maps of Music

No Exit (1999)

Where the lyrics of No Exit take you, and where it was really made.

Maria, the single that preceded the album, gave Blondie their sixth UK number one, exactly 20 years after their first.

Key places

Electric Lady Studios, New York (1999)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Discogs credits Electric Lady Studios as a place where the album was recorded. The map point uses the studio's listed building coordinates in New York City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Chung King, New York (1999)

Recording site Chung King Studios — Discogs credits the Chung King House Of Metal room as a recording location. The map point uses the Chung King Studios listing in New York City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

CD2 live recordings, London (1998)

Live show Lyceum Theatre — The notes say tracks on CD2 were recorded live in London on 22 November 1998 with the BBC mobile unit. Lyceum Theatre is a recording venue candidate, but the source does not name the venue. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• No Exit: seventh studio album by American rock band Blondie
• Released in February 1999 by Beyond Music (the English Wikipedia gives 15 February, other language editions give 23 February)
• The band's first album in 17 years
• Features the UK number-one single Maria
• Dabbles in pop, ska, country, jazz and hip-hop, as was customary for a Blondie album
• Includes a cover of the Shangri-Las' 1965 song Out in the Streets
• Under the Gun is a tribute to Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club, a longtime friend who died in 1996

Background

• Mike Chapman produced some early demos; final production fell to Craig Leon
• Chapman had produced all but the first two of Blondie's previous albums
• The No Exit Tour was launched as a comeback promotional tour before the release
• The tour ran 13 months and visited Europe, North America and Oceania
• Several editions with bonus tracks were issued in different countries, mainly live versions from the No Exit Tour
• Reissued in 2001 along with all of Blondie's other studio albums

Recording

• Discogs credits Craig Leon as producer and recording engineer
• Recording locations credited: Electric Lady Studios and Chung King House Of Metal
• Mixing credited to Abbey Road Studios and Encore Studios
• Mastering credited to Future Disc
• Tracks on CD2 were recorded live in London on 22 November 1998 with the BBC Live Music Mobile

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in New York City in 1974 by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein.
• Originally billed as Angel and the Snake, then Blondie and the Banzai Babies, shortened to Blondie by October 1974.
• The name came from truck drivers who catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry.
• Became regular performers at Max's Kansas City and CBGB, part of the mid-1970s new wave scene.
• Debut album Blondie (1976) was not a commercial success; the band signed with Chrysalis Records in 1977.

Members

• Core members: Debbie Harry (vocals), Chris Stein (guitar), Clem Burke (drums), Jimmy Destri (keyboards).
• Other former members included Gary Valentine, Frank Infante, Nigel Harrison, and Fred Smith.
• Clem Burke died of cancer on April 6, 2025.

Career

• Breakthrough came in Australia and the UK with Plastic Letters (1978) and the hit single "Denis".
• Parallel Lines (1978) became their most successful album, selling about 20 million copies worldwide; "Heart of Glass" topped the UK and US charts.
• Further hits included "Call Me", "The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", the first rap-featuring song to reach US number one.
• The band disbanded in 1982 after The Hunter, reformed in 1997, and had their sixth UK number one with "Maria" in 1999.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006; has sold over 40 million records worldwide.
• Pollinator (2017) peaked at number four in the UK; a new album, High Noon, is scheduled for February 26, 2027.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Preceded by the single Maria, Blondie's sixth UK number one
• Second single Nothing Is Real but the Girl peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart
• Title track No Exit released as a limited-edition third single in Europe
• Fusion of classical, hip-hop and rock, with raps by Mobb Deep, Coolio, U-God and Inspectah Deck
• Screaming Skin released as a promo single in the US in late 1999

Reappraisal

• Not available on streaming platforms or digital music stores for several years
• Added to all streaming platforms on 16 November 2023, together with The Curse of Blondie (2003)

Records

• No Exit reached number three on the UK Albums Chart, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
• As of March 2006, the album had sold two million copies worldwide.
• Maria, the lead single, made the band the first American band with chart-topping UK singles in three decades
• Several editions and bonus tracks were released across countries

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title came from a Sartre play; in a 2004 interview Chris Stein said there is no madness in individuals, it is all in groups.
• Blondie first recorded Out in the Streets in 1975 while trying to get a record deal; that demo first appeared on EMI's 1994 anthology The Platinum Collection.
• Maria made Blondie the first American band with chart-topping UK singles in three different decades.
• The album was unavailable on streaming platforms for years, and was added to them on 16 November 2023.
• Tracks on CD2 are live recordings from London, made on 22 November 1998 with the BBC Live Music Mobile.
• The album was reissued in 2001 with the band's other studio albums, with the 2001 remaster also carrying the 1975 demo of Out in the Streets.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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