Blondie has debuted a 1978 home recording of a previously unreleased song called “Mr. Sightseer” as the latest advance track from the band’s expansive forthcoming box set, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982, which is due out August 26.
The song was recorded on a four-track reel-to-reel machine in the bedroom of singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. It will be featured on the B-side of a 7-inch vinyl single that boasts Blondie’s recently rediscovered rendition of The Doors‘ “Moonlight Drive,” which previously was made available as an advance track.
Reflecting on “Mr. Sightseer,” Harry says, “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.”
As previously reported, Against the Odds focuses on the influential New Wave band’s original heyday and is fully authorized by the group.
The retrospective, which can be preordered now, will be available in multiple formats and configurations, including an eight-CD set and a Super Deluxe Collectors’ Edition that features 10 12-inch vinyl LPs, a 10-inch LP and the aforementioned vinyl single.
The vinyl box set features 124 tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased. The collection contains remastered versions of Blondie’s first six studio albums — 1976’s Blondie, 1977’s Plastic Letters, 1978’s Parallel Lines, 1979’s Eat to the Beat, 1980’s Autoamerican and 1982’s The Hunter — and four LPs of outtakes, demos, remixes, alternate versions, home recordings and other rarities.
The box set also includes extensive liner notes and track-by-track commentary from current and former Blondie members.
Blondie: Against the Odds will also be available as a four-LP package, a three-CD set and digitally.
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