Blondie – Rapture (UK 12″)
Posted by DjPaulT on 13th October 2011
BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981
“Rapture” is a single by the American new wave band Blondie. It was released in January 1981 and was the second and final song to be released from the band’s 1980 album Autoamerican, the first being “The Tide Is High”, which had topped the chart in the US and UK. “Rapture” went on to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart number 4 in Australia, and number five in the UK singles chart.
“Rapture” is a combination of new wave, pop, disco, jazz, and rap music, with the rap section forming an extended coda. While it was not the first single involving rap to be successful, it was the first to top the charts. The Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight”, a straightforward rap track based on the backing track of Chic’s “Good Times”, reached #36 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart and was certified Gold. Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks” was released in 1980, and became the second rap single to be certified Gold. The lyrics of “Rapture” included references to hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.
The versions appearing on the U.S. and UK 7″ and 12″ singles were quite different. The US 7″ single, also issued with a different cover picture, used the regular Autoamerican album version, the US 12″ single a version with an additional verse partly in French, making it just 40 seconds longer. For the UK and international single releases, producer Mike Chapman remixed the track completely. The Special Disco Mix has a different intro and it was also given a longer instrumental break with new percussion overdubbed, making it ten minutes long. The UK 7″ version (4:59) was an edit of this Special Disco Mix, and a slightly different edit (5:33) appeared on the band’s first ‘greatest hits’ compilation The Best of Blondie in 1981. The track “Live It Up” was also extended and remixed for the B-side of the international 12″ single, the 8 minute version was included on the deleted 1994 UK CD edition of Autoamerican but was re-issued as part of EMI’s lavish 14 disc Singles Box in 2004.
The picture of Debbie Harry used for the UK/international editions of the original 7″ and 12″ “Rapture” singles was later used for the cover of 1995 compilation Beautiful – The Remix Album.
SIDE A:
Rapture (Special Disco Mix) 10:01
Written By – C. Stein/D. Harry
Written-By – D. Harry*
SIDE B:
Live It Up (Special Disco Mix) 8:14
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Rapture | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #1 |
| 1981 | Rapture | U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | #33 |
| 1981 | Rapture | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | #1 |
| 1981 | Rapture | U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | #35 |
| 1981 | Rapture | U.S. Cashbox Top 100 Singles | #7 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Chrysalis – CHS 12 2485
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: New Wave, Disco
Credits: Producer – Mike Chapman
Written-By – C. Stein*
NOTES:
UK issue, “Made in France.”
Taken from ‘the latest album’, Autoamerican (CDL 1290)
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 16bit 44kHz using Adobe batch processing
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi PNG format, resized to JPEG format for posting.
PW: burningtheground
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Tags: 12", 1981, Blondie, Live It Up, Mike Chapman, Rapture, Special Disco Mix
Posted in Blondie | 6 Comments »