On This Day, Nov. 15, 1980: Blondie’s ‘The Tide Is High’ hit #1 in the UK

On This Day, Nov. 15, 1980 …

Blondie landed their fifth U.K. #1 single with “The Tide Is High,” from their fifth studio album, Autoamerican. It would be another18 years before Blondie topped the U.K. chart again, landing at #1 in 1999 with the track “Maria.”

“The Tide Is High” was a cover of a 1967 song originally performed by the Jamaican group The Paragons, with the tune’s songwriter, John Holt, singing lead on the track.

Blondie’s version of “The Tide Is High” also went on to hit #1 in the U.S., becoming their third #1 single. It also topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand.

And Blondie is still making music. Their last studio album, Pollinator, was released in 2017 and in October, Blondie’s Chris Stein revealed on Instagram that a new album is coming next year.