The latest Blondie rarity to emerge from the upcoming boxed set Against the Odds 1974-1982 is the breezy “Mr. Sightseer,” a 1978 home recording seeing the light of day for the first time.
The track was put to tape on a TEAC TCA-43 four-track reel-to-reel in the home of Blondie’s Chris Stein and Debbie Harry, the latter of whom admits, “The lyric is not good at all. The song’s not too bad. It’s just a little simplistic. It didn’t ever get really developed or finished.”
“Mr. Sightseer” follows last month’s release of the previously unissued “I Love You Honey, Give Me a Beer,” which eventually morphed into “Go Through It” from the band’s 1980 album Autoamerican.
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Due Aug. 26 from UMe and acclaimed reissue label The Numero Group, Against the Odds 1974-1982 contains 36 previously unreleased recordings amid its 124-song track list. Blondie’s first six studio albums are also included, having been remastered from the original analog session tapes. Much of the unreleased material was rescued from Stein’s barn in Woodstock, N.Y., where it sat for two decades.
Blondie will begin a brief summer tour with The Damned tomorrow (Aug. 10) in Huntington, N.Y. Stein and frontwoman Debbie Harry will participate in four on-stage discussions in the U.K. in November, starting Nov. 1 in London. Stein will also release a new book of his photography in October.
Blondie drummer Clem Burke recently spoke to SPIN about his memories of recording with Iggy Pop in the 1970s. Read that story here.
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