Against the Odds, Blondie's Box Sets Finally Coming This Summer

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From SecondDisc.com-
The wait is over: Blondie's career-spanning box set will finally be released this summer. Actually, make that box sets.

Against the Odds 1974-1982 has been in development for years; The Numero Group says in their product description that the catalogue number was assigned in 2016. Several Record Store Day releases tied to the project have been released, but few concrete details about the set - until now. The New York new wavers, who crossed into the pop charts on a wave of disco and post-punk with hits like "Heart of Glass," "Call Me," "Atomic," "Rapture," "The Tide is High" and others, will go deep with Against the Odds, billed as "the first ever authorized and in-depth archive in their history" - 126 tracks, 36 of them never before released, all remastered from the original tapes, with 180-gram vinyl lacquered at Abbey Road in London.

The biggest edition - a black or "Platinum Blonde" vinyl box, limited to 500 copies encompassing 10 LPs, a 10" EP, a 7" single and two books - will feature the six albums the band issued for Private Stock and Chrysalis between 1976 and 1982, plus a host of bonus material. The vinyl set boasts four LPs with as-yet unannounced track lists of B-sides, demos and rarities; their names are Plaza Sound, Parallel Beats, Coca Cola and Home Tapes. The 10", Out in the Streets, features additional outtakes from the group's pre-history, including a rehearsal tape from 1974 and demos cut with producer Alan Betrock a year later; on the 7" single, there's an unissued cover of The Doors' "Moonlight Drive" backed with an "at-home sketch" called "Mr. Sightseer." The first of two books feature a new set of liner notes by Erin Osmon, commentary and essays from members current (singer Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clem Burke) and former (keyboardists Jimmy Destri, guitarists/bassists Frank Infante, Nigel Harrison, and Gary Valentine) as well as producers Mike Chapman and Richard Gottehrer, all across 144 pages; the second cover's the band's discography in visual form: picture sleeves, labels, and formats aplenty on 120 pages.
Now, from there, you've got a few choices of formats. An 8CD set includes the six original albums and two bonus discs (Home Tapes and Out in the Streets); note that despite the absence of two of the bonus discs from the deluxe set - and a product description from Amazon touting "the very best of the out-takes & rarties from the Super Deluxe Collectors' Edition," Numero notes that all 124 tracks appear here (along with a 128-page hardcover book). Now, if you just want the bonus tracks (52 in total), you've got that opportunity as well, thanks to a 4LP set with 128-page hardcover book (featuring the same four bonus LPs as the deluxe set) or a 3CD set with 164-page booklet.

While we're unable to pinpoint the track list, we'd suggest buyers get in quick due to the limited nature of the sets. They're all on Amazon and they're all due August 26. It's all a gas, and it seems like the real thing!

Against the Odds 1974-1982 (Numero 070, 2022)

10LP/10"/7" Super Deluxe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Blondie (released as Private Stock PS 2023, 1976)

Plastic Letters (released as Chrysalis CHR 1166, 1978)

Parallel Lines (released as Chrysalis CHR 1192, 1978)

Eat to the Beat (released as Chrysalis CHE 1225, 1979)

Autoamerican (released as Chrysalis CHE 1290, 1980)

The Hunter (released as Chrysalis CHR 1384, 1982)

Plaza Sound

Parallel Beats

Coca Cola


Home Tapes

Out in the Streets

Moonlight Drive b/w Mr. Sightseer
 
I saw pricing on uDiscover. The big box is something like $460. Just nuts......

LP 1: Blondie
A1. X Offender
A2. Little Girl Lies
A3. In The Flesh
A4. Look Good In Blue
A5. In The Sun
A6. A Shark In Jets Clothing
B1. Man Overboard
B2. Rip Her To Shreds
B3. Rifle Range
B4. Kung Fu Girl
B5. The Attack Of The Giant Ants

LP 2: Plastic Letters
A1. Fan Mail
A2. Denis
A3. Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)
A4. Youth Nabbed As Sniper
A5. Contact In Red Square
A6. (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear
A7. I'm On E
B1. I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No
B2. Love At The Pier
B3. No Imagination
B4. Kidnapper
B5. Detroit 442
B6. Cautious Lip

LP 3: Parallel Lines
A1. Hanging On The Telephone
A2. One Way Or Another
A3. Picture This
A4. 4. Fade Away And Radiate
A5. Pretty Baby
A6. 6. I Know But I Don't Know
B1. 11:59
B2. Will Anything Happen
B3. Sunday Girl
B4. Heart Of Glass
B5. I'm Gonna Love You Too
B6. Just Go Away

LP 4: Eat To The Beat
A1. Dreaming
A2. The Hardest Part
A3. Union City Blue
A4. Shayla
A5. Eat To The Beat
A6. Accidents Never Happen
B1. Die Young Stay Pretty
B2. Slow Motion
B3. Atomic
B4. Sound-A-Sleep
B5. Victor
B6. Living In The Real World

LP 5: Autoamerican
A1. Europa
A2. Live It Up
A3. Here's Looking At You
A4. The Tide Is High
A5. Angels On The Balcony
A6. Go Through It
B1. Do The Dark
B2. Rapture
B3. Faces
B4. T-Birds
B5. Walk Like Me
B6. Follow Me

LP 6: The Hunter
A1. Orchid Club
A2. Island Of Lost Souls
A3. Dragonfly
A4. For Your Eyes Only
A5. The Beast
B1. War Child
B2. Little Caesar
B3. Danceway
B4. (Can I) Find The Right Words (To Say)
B5. English Boys
B6. The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

7" 45 rpm
A1. Moonlight Drive
B1. Mr. Sightseer

10" LP: Out-takes & rarities ('Out In The Streets')
A1. Out In The Streets (1974 Session)
A2. The Disco Song (1974 Session)
A3. Sexy Ida (1974 Session)
B1. Platinum Blonde (Betrock Demo)
B2. The Thin Line (Betrock Demo)
B3. Puerto Rico (Betrock Demo)
B4. Once I Had A Love (1975) (Betrock Demo)
B5. Out In The Streets (1975) (Betrock Demo)

LP 7: Out-takes & rarities ('Plaza Sound')
A1. X Offender (Intro)
A2. X Offender (Private Stock Single)
A3. In The Sun (Private Stock Single)
A4. Little Girl Lies (Private Stock Mix)
A5. In The Flesh (Extended Intro)
A6. A Shark In Jets Clothing (Take 2)
A7. Kung Fu Girls (Take 8)
A8. Scenery
B1. Denis (Terry Ellis Mix)
B2. Bermuda Triangle Blues - Flight 45 (Take 1)
B3. I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No (Take 1)
B4. I'm On E (Take 2)
B5. Kidnapper (Take 2)
B6. Detroit 442 (Take 2)
B7. Poets Problem

LP 8: Out-takes & rarities ('Parallel Beats')
A1. Once I Had A Love (Mike Chapman Demo)
A2. Sunday Girl (French Version)
A3. I'll Never Break Away From This Heart Of Mine (Pretty Baby)
A4. Hanging On The Telephone (Mike Chapman Demo)
A5. Will Anything Happen (Instrumental)
A6. Underground Girl
B1. Call Me
B2. Spaghetti Song (Atomic Part 2)
B3. Die Young Stay Pretty (Take 1)
B4. Union City Blue (Instrumental)
B5. Llámame

LP 9: Out-takes & rarities ('Coca Cola')
A1. I Love You Honey, Give Me A Beer (Go Through It)
A2. Live It Up (Giorgio Moroder Demo)
A3. Angels on the Balcony (Giorgio Moroder Demo)
A4. Tide Is High (Demo)
A5. Susie & Jeffrey
B1. Rapture (Disco Version)
B2. Autoamerican Ad
B3. Yuletide Throwdown

LP 10: Out-takes & rarities ('Home Tapes')
A1. Nameless (Home Tape)
A2. Sunday Girl (Home Tape)
A3. Theme From Topkapi (Home Tape)
A4. The Hardest Part (Home Tape)
A5. Ring of Fire (Home Tape)
B1. War Child (Chris Stein Mix)
B2. Call Me (Chris Stein Mix)
B3. Heart of Glass (Chris Stein Mix)
 
17 bones per CD is a bit steep for the content, but tossing on the wish list for when it hits ~$80 then it becomes palatable.
Thanks for the heads up.
 
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