Atomic (3:48)

“Atomic” was the third single from the 1979 album Eat to the Beat by Blondie. It was written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri and the track was produced by Mike Chapman.

The song was produced as a mixture of new wave and disco which had proved to be so successful in their #1 hit from earlier in 1979, Heart of Glass. The guitar riff is directly influenced by the one in the Neil Diamond song Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon.

The 1980 single version of “Atomic” was in fact a remix. The original 4:35 version as featured on Eat to the Beat and also on the first greatest hits album The Best of Blondie in 1981 opens with an intro inspired by nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice” and includes an instrumental break with a bass guitar solo. The 7” version mixed by Mike Chapman omits the “Three Blind Mice” intro and replaces the instrumental break with a repeat of the verse.

The song reached number 1 in the UK for two weeks in February 1980 and number 39 in the US. The B-side was “Die Young, Stay Pretty”, also from the album Eat to the Beat, which was Blondie’s first attempt at reggae, a style they would perform again in ”The Tide Is High”. The UK 12” single contained a live version of Bowie’s Heroes featuring Robert Fripp on guitar recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon just a month before. The track was included on 1993’s rarities compilation Blonde and Beyond.