Parallel Lines

{{Quote box

|quote = "Musically, Blondie were hopelessly horrible when we first began rehearsing for Parallel Lines, and in terms of my attitude they didn't know what had hit them. I basically went in there like Adolf Hitler and said, 'You are going to make a great record, and that means you're going to start playing better.'"

|align = right

|width = 25em

|source = —Mike Chapman, in an interview for Sound on Sound, recalling Blondie's initial musical inexperience

}}

Blondie's second studio album, Plastic Letters (1977), was their last album produced by Richard Gottehrer, whose sound had formed the basis of Blondie's new wave and punk output. During a tour of the west coast of the US in support of Plastic Letters, Blondie encountered Australian producer Mike Chapman in California. Peter Leeds, Blondie's manager, conspired with Chrysalis Records to encourage Chapman to work with Blondie on new music. Drummer Clem Burke recalls feeling enthusiastic about the proposition, believing Chapman could create innovative and eclectic records. However, lead vocalist Debbie Harry was far less enthusiastic about Chapman's involvement as she knew him only by reputation; according to Chapman, her animosity towards him was because "they were New York. [He] was L.A.". Harry's cautiousness abated after she played Chapman early cuts of "Heart of Glass" and "Sunday Girl" and he was impressed.{{cite book|last1=Porter|first1=Dick|last2=Needs|first2=Kris|author-link2=Kris Needs|title=Blondie: Parallel Lives|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=1st|year=2012|isbn=9781780381299}}

In June 1978 the band entered the Record Plant in New York to record their third album, and first with Chapman. However, Chapman found the band difficult to work with, remembering them as the worst band he ever worked with in terms of musical ability, although praising Frank Infante as "an amazing guitarist". Sessions with Chris Stein were hampered by his being stoned during recording, and Chapman encouraged him to write songs rather than play guitar. Similarly, according to Chapman, Jimmy Destri would prove himself to be far better at songwriting than as a keyboardist, and Clem Burke had poor timing playing drums. As a result, Chapman spent time improving the band, especially Stein with whom Chapman spent hours rerecording his parts to ensure they were right. Bassist Nigel Harrison became so frustrated with Chapman's drive for perfection that he threw a synthesizer at him during recording. Chapman recalls the atmosphere at the Record Plant in an interview for Sound on Sound:

{{blockquote|The Blondies were tough in the studio, real tough. None of them liked each other, except Chris and Debbie, and there was so much animosity. They were really, really juvenile in their approach to life—a classic New York underground rock band—and they didn't give a fuck about anything. They just wanted to have fun and didn't want to work too hard getting it.}}

Chapman took an unorthodox approach when recording with Harry whom he describes as "a great singer and a great vocal stylist, with a beautifully identifiable voice. However ... also very moody". Chapman was far more cautious of demanding much from Harry as he saw her as a highly emotional person who would vest these emotions in the songs they made. He remembers Harry disappearing into the bathroom in tears for several hours at a time during recording.{{cite magazine|last=Buskin|first=Richard|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/classictracks_0608.htm|title=Blondie 'Hanging on the Telephone'|magazine=Sound on Sound|location=Cambridge|date=June 2008|access-date=July 1, 2014}} During a day of recording, Harry sang two lead parts and some harmonies, less work than she did previously with Gottehrer. This was due to Chapman encouraging her to be cautious about the way she sang, particularly to recognise phrasing, timing and attitude.

Blondie recorded Parallel Lines in six weeks, despite being given six months by Terry Ellis, co-founder of Chrysalis Records, to do so. For the drums, a traditional set-up was used and Chapman fitted Neumann microphones to the toms, snare and hi-hat, as well as several above the site. When recording, Chapman would start with the bass track, which was difficult to record at the time, by way of "pencil erasing". Chapman explained in an interview for Sound on Sound, "that meant using a pencil to hold the tape away from the head and erasing up to the kick drum. If a bass part was ahead of the kick, you could erase it so that it sounded like it was on top of the kick. That's very easy to do these days, but back then it was quite a procedure just to get the bottom end sounding nice and tight." A combination DI/amp method was used to record Harrison's bass and Destri's synthesizer. Shure SM57 and AKG 414 microphones were used to capture Infante's Les Paul guitar. King Crimson leader Robert Fripp makes a guest appearance on guitar on "Fade Away and Radiate".

After the basic track was complete, Chapman would record lead and backing vocals with Harry. However, this process was hampered by many songs not being written in time for the vocals to be recorded. "Sunday Girl", "Picture This" and "One Way Or Another" were all unfinished during the rehearsal sessions. When recording vocal parts, Chapman remembers asking Harry if she was ready to sing, only for her to reply "Yeah, just a minute" as she was still writing lyrics down. Chapman notes that many "classic" songs from the album were created this way.

During the last session at the Record Plant, the band were asleep on the floor only to be awakened at six o'clock in the morning by Mike Chapman and his engineer Peter Coleman leaving for Los Angeles with the tape tracks. Despite Blondie's belief that Parallel Lines would resonate with a wider audience, Chrysalis Records was not as enthusiastic; label executives told them to start again, only to be dissuaded by Chapman's assurance that its singles would prove popular.

According to music journalist Robert Christgau, Parallel Lines was a pop rock album in which Blondie achieved their "synthesis of the Dixie Cups and the Electric Prunes". Its style of "state-of-the-art pop/rock circa 1978", as AllMusic's William Ruhlmann described it, showed Blondie deviating from new wave and emerging as "a pure pop band". Ken Tucker believed the band had eschewed the "brooding artiness" of their previous albums for more hooks and pop-oriented songs.{{cite magazine|last=Tucker|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Tucker|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/parallel-lines-19821103|title=Parallel Lines|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=November 3, 1982|access-date=July 9, 2012}} Chapman later said, "I didn't make a punk album or a New Wave album with Blondie. I made a pop album."{{sfn|Bangs|1980|p=62}} The album's eleven pop songs have refined melodics, and its sole disco song, "Heart of Glass", features jittery keyboards, rustling cymbals by drummer Clem Burke, and a circular rhythm.{{cite magazine|last=Berger|first=Arion|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blondie/albums/album/178491/review/6068366/parallel_lines|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=June 8, 2000|access-date=July 25, 2016|page=129|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401183001/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blondie/albums/album/178491/review/6068366/parallel_lines|archive-date=April 1, 2007|url-status=dead}} Burke credited Kraftwerk and the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever as influences for the song and said that he was "trying to get that groove that the drummer for the Bee Gees had".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/parallel-lines-blondie-19691231|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Parallel Lines – Blondie|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=November 18, 2003|access-date=June 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220131921/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/parallel-lines-blondie-19691231|archive-date=December 20, 2010|url-status=dead}}

Lyrically, Parallel Lines abandoned what Rolling Stone magazine's Arion Berger called the "cartoonish postmodernist referencing" of Blondie's previous new wave songs in favor of a "romantic fatalism" that was new for the band. "Sunday Girl" deals with the theme of teen loneliness. Music critic Rob Sheffield said that the lyric "dusty frames that still arrive / die in 1955", in "Fade Away and Radiate", is the "best lyric in any rock'n'roll song, ever, and it's still the ultimate statement of a band that always found some pleasure worth exploiting in the flashy and the temporary."{{cite magazine|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qr8zLwlIOpwC&pg=PA72|title=The Go-Go's: Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's / Blondie: The Platinum Collection|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=10|issue=10|date=January 1995|pages=72–74|issn=0886-3032|via=Google Books}}

Parallel Lines took its name from an unused track written by Harry, the lyrics of which were included in the first vinyl edition of the album. The cover sleeve image was photographed by Edo Bertoglio and was chosen by Blondie's manager, Peter Leeds, despite being rejected by the band. The photo shows the male members of the band posing in matching dress suits and smiling broadly in contrast to Harry who poses defiantly with her hands on her hips while wearing a white dress and high heels. According to music journalist Tim Peacock, the cover became "iconic – and instantly recognisable".

The album was released by Chrysalis in September 1978,{{cite web|last=Peacock|first=Tim|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/parallel-lines-blondie-album/|title=How 'Parallel Lines' Led Blondie Straight To The Top|website=uDiscover|date=September 23, 2018|access-date=December 3, 2018}} to international success.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/blondie-mn0000044764/biography|title=Blondie|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 16, 2016}} The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart the week ending September 23, 1978, at No. 186, reflecting retail sales during the survey period ending September 10, 1978.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|author-link=Joel Whitburn|title=Top Pop Albums 1955–2001|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbu/page/80|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|year=2001|isbn=0-89820-147-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbu/page/80 80]}} In the United Kingdom, it entered the albums chart at No.13, eventually reaching the no.1 spot in February 1979 after the band had scored hits with the singles "Picture This" (UK #12), "Hanging on the Telephone" (UK #5), and "Heart of Glass" (UK #1). "Sunday Girl" was released in the UK as a fourth single from the album in May 1979 and also reached no.1, and Parallel Lines became the UK's biggest selling album of the year. Blondie embarked on a sold-out tour of the UK and appeared at an autograph signing event for Our Price Records on Kensington High Street; according to Peacock, it "descended into Beatlemania-esque chaos when the band were mobbed by thousands of fans".

Parallel Lines was also a commercial success elsewhere in Europe, Australia, and the United States, where the band had struggled to sell their previous records. "Heart of Glass" became their first number-one hit on the American Billboard Hot 100, with help from a promotional video directed by Stanley Dorfman depicting Blondie in a performance of the song at a fashionable nightclub in New York. The single was "responsible for turning the band into bona fide superstars", Peacock said.

{{Music ratings

| title = Retrospective professional ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|last=Ruhlmann|first=William|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/parallel-lines-mw0000011984|title=Parallel Lines – Blondie|website=AllMusic|access-date=June 30, 2014}}

| rev2 = Blender

| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Weiner|first=Jonah|url=http://www.blender.com/reviews/review_1357.html|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|magazine=Blender|location=New York|access-date=July 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040818044445/http://www.blender.com/reviews/review_1357.html|archive-date=August 18, 2004|url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev3score = A{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|chapter=Blondie: Parallel Lines|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=347|access-date=June 30, 2014|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor and Fields|year=1981|isbn=0-89919-026-X}}

| rev4 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Blondie|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|location=London|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev5 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev5score = B{{cite magazine|last=Weingarten|first=Marc|title=Blondie: Blondie / Plastic Letters / Parallel Lines / Eat to the Beat / Autoamerican / The Hunter|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|location=New York|date=September 21, 2001|page=85}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 9.7/10{{cite web|last=Plagenhoef|first=Scott|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12058-parallel-lines-deluxe-edition/|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines: Deluxe Edition|website=Pitchfork|date=August 1, 2008|access-date=July 9, 2012}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|magazine=Q|location=London|issue=182|date=October 2001|page=143}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}

| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev9score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|last1=Coleman|first1=Mark|last2=Berger|first2=Arion|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|chapter=Blondie|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA85|access-date=September 23, 2011|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/85 85–86]}}

| rev10 = Slant Magazine

| rev10score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Cinquemani|first=Sal|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/blondie-parallel-lines/339|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|website=Slant Magazine|date=October 7, 2003|access-date=June 30, 2014}}

| rev11 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev11score = 10/10{{cite book|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-link=Eric Weisbard|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|chapter=Blondie|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher=Vintage Books|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=49–50}}

}}

The album was met with universal acclaim from critics. Writing in The Village Voice in 1978, Robert Christgau said although Blondie still could not write a perfect hit single, the record was a consistent improvement over Plastic Letters.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv10-78.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|date=October 30, 1978|access-date=June 30, 2013}} Years later, he wrote in Blender that it was "a perfect album in 1978" and remained so with "every song memorable, distinct, well-shaped and over before you get antsy. Never again did singer Deborah Harry, mastermind Chris Stein and their able four-man cohort nail the band's signature paradoxes with such unfailing flair: lowbrow class, tender sarcasm, pop rock."{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bl/blondie-08.php|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|magazine=Blender|location=New York|issue=73|date=September 2008|access-date=June 30, 2013}} New York Times critic John Rockwell named Parallel Lines the eighth best album of 1978.{{cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/22/archives/the-pop-life-one-critics-top-10-for-1978.html|title=The Pop Life|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1978|access-date=May 26, 2020}} Daryl Easlea from BBC Music, who felt the record combined power pop and new wave styles, credited Mike Chapman's production and flair for pop songwriting for helping make Parallel Lines an extremely popular album in the United Kingdom, where it was a number-one hit and charted for 106 weeks during the late 1970s.{{cite web|last=Easlea|first=Daryl|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/mf54|title=Blondie Parallel Lines Review|publisher=BBC Music|year=2007|access-date=June 30, 2014}} Q magazine called the album "a crossover smash with sparkling guitar sounds, terrific hooks and middle-eights more memorable than some groups' choruses."

In a retrospective appraisal of 1970s post-punk albums, Spin magazine's Sasha Frere-Jones said Parallel Lines may have been "the perfect pop-rock record" and Blondie's best album.{{cite magazine|last=Frere-Jones|first=Sasha|author-link=Sasha Frere-Jones|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-qexhnZaukC&pg=PA137|title=Destination Unknown|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=17|issue=11|date=November 2001|page=137|issn=0886-3032|via=Google Books}} Christian John Wikane from PopMatters later called it "a creative and commercial masterpiece by Blondie ... indisputably one of the great, classic albums of the rock and roll era."{{cite web|last=Wikane|first=Christian John|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/blondie-parallel-lines/|title=Blondie: Parallel Lines|website=PopMatters|date=July 3, 2008|access-date=June 30, 2013}} In the opinion of Pitchfork critic Scott Plagenhoef, the album popularized "the look and sound of 1980s new wave" with classic songs that showcased the depth and complexity of Harry's sexuality and singing. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was also impressed by her singing, which he felt varied from "purring like a kitten and then building to a mean growl", and cited "Heart of Glass" as the album's best track because of her "honey-dipped vocal".

In 2000, Parallel Lines was voted number 57 in Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums.{{cite book|title=All Time Top 1000 Albums|title-link=All Time Top 1000 Albums|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=Virgin Books|edition=3rd|year=2000|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=61}} Three years later, it was ranked at number 140 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, and moved slightly down to number 146 in the 2020 revision;{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/blondie-parallel-lines-2-165743/|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=May 31, 2012|access-date=September 18, 2019}}{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/blondie-parallel-lines-3-1063087/ | title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=December 31, 2023 }} an accompanying essay said the album was "where punk and New Wave broke through to a mass U.S. audience". It has also been placed at number 18 and 45 on NME{{'}}s 100 Best Albums of All Time (2003){{cite web|url=http://timepieces.nl/chart/18863/2003-nme-writers-all-time-top-100-albums|title=NME Writers' All Time Top 100 Albums|website=timepieces.nl|date=March 2003|access-date=July 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917003950/http://timepieces.nl/chart/18863/2003-nme-writers-all-time-top-100-albums|archive-date=September 17, 2014|url-status=dead}} and 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2013) lists,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-100-1-1426116|title=The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100–1|magazine=NME|location=London|date=October 25, 2013|access-date=October 19, 2020}} respectively; number 7 on Blender{{'}}s 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time;{{cite magazine|url=http://www.blender.com/photos/55659/100-greatest-american-albums-all-time.html|title=100 Greatest American Albums of All Time|magazine=Blender|location=New York|access-date=July 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112105049/http://www.blender.com/photos/55659/100-greatest-american-albums-all-time.html|archive-date=November 12, 2010|url-status=dead}} number 94 on Channel 4's 2005 list of the 100 greatest albums of all time;{{cite magazine|url=http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/radiohead-top-c4-albums-poll/027921|title=Radiohead top C4 albums poll|magazine=Music Week|location=London|date=April 18, 2005|access-date=January 13, 2014}} and number 76 on Pitchfork{{'}}s list of the best albums from the 1970s.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/?page=3|title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s|website=Pitchfork|date=June 23, 2004|access-date=August 22, 2017|page=3}}

In 2024, "Parallel Lines" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".{{Cite web| title=National Recording Registry Inducts Sounds of ABBA, Blondie, The Cars, The Chicks, Juan Gabriel, Green Day, The Notorious B.I.G. and Lily Tomlin| url=https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/national-recording-registry-inducts-sounds-of-abba--blondie--the-cars--the-chicks--juan-gabriel/s/29ee4224-3060-4247-a7a4-7deea2c2f816 |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=LOC.gov |publisher=Library of Congress}}[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abba-blondie-notorious-big-national-recording-registry/ ABBA, Blondie, The Notorious B.I.G. among 2024's additions to National Recording Registry - CBS News][https://the1a.org/segments/the-sounds-of-america-blondies-parallel-lines/ The Sounds of America: Blondie's 'Parallel Lines'|1A]

The album was reissued and remastered in 2001 along with Blondie's back catalog, and featured four bonus tracks: a 1978 version of "Once I Had a Love", a live cover of T. Rex's song "Bang a Gong (Get It On)", and two live tracks taken from the Picture This Live live album.{{cite web|url=http://www.deborah-harry.com/discography/parallelal.php|title=Parallel Lines [album]|website=deborah-harry.com|access-date=February 4, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140204202103/http://www.deborah-harry.com/discography/parallelal.php|archive-date=February 4, 2014|df=mdy-all}}

On June 24, 2008, an expanded 30th Anniversary Edition of the album was released,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1045344/blondie-celebrating-30th-birthday-of-parallel-lines|title=Blondie Celebrating 30th Birthday Of 'Parallel Lines'|magazine=Billboard|date=May 20, 2008|access-date=February 4, 2014}} which featured new artwork{{cite web|url=http://www.deborah-harry.com/?p=629|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140204202052/http://www.deborah-harry.com/?p=629|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2014|title='Parallel Lines' 30th Anniversary collector's edition artwork|website=deborah-harry.com|access-date=February 4, 2014}} and bonus tracks along with bonus DVD.{{cite web|url=http://www.deborah-harry.com/press/pll.php|title='Parallel Lines' 30th anniversary collector's edition press release (May 2008)|website=deborah-harry.com|access-date=February 4, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140204202128/http://www.deborah-harry.com/press/pll.php|archive-date=February 4, 2014|df=mdy-all}} The liner notes once again featured lyrics to the unfinished "Parallel Lines" song. The Parallel Lines 30th Anniversary Edition included the 7″ single version of "Heart of Glass", the French version of "Sunday Girl" and some remixes, plus a DVD with albums, promo videos and TV performance.

The band also launched a world tour of the same name in 2008 to promote the re-release and celebrate the event.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1045481/blondie-to-fete-parallel-lines-30th-anniversary-with-tour-reissue|title=Blondie To Fete 'Parallel Lines' 30th Anniversary With Tour, Reissue|magazine=Billboard|date=May 7, 2008|access-date=January 31, 2014}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Hanging on the Telephone

| note1 = The Nerves cover

| writer1 = Jack Lee

| length1 = 2:17

| title2 = One Way or Another

| writer2 = {{hlist|Deborah Harry|Nigel Harrison}}

| length2 = 3:31

| title3 = Picture This

| writer3 = {{hlist|Harry|Chris Stein|Jimmy Destri}}

| length3 = 2:53

| title4 = Fade Away and Radiate

| writer4 = Stein

| length4 = 3:57

| title5 = Pretty Baby

| writer5 = {{hlist|Harry|Stein}}

| length5 = 3:16

| title6 = I Know but I Don't Know

| writer6 = Frank Infante

| length6 = 3:53

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title7 = 11:59

| writer7 = Destri

| length7 = 3:19

| title8 = Will Anything Happen?

| writer8 = Lee

| length8 = 2:55

| title9 = Sunday Girl

| writer9 = Stein

| length9 = 3:01

| title10 = Heart of Glass

| writer10 = {{hlist|Harry|Stein}}

| length10 = 3:54

| title11 = I'm Gonna Love You Too

| note11 = Buddy Holly cover

| writer11 = {{hlist|Joe B. Mauldin|Niki Sullivan|Norman Petty}}

| length11 = 2:03

| title12 = Just Go Away

| writer12 = Harry

| length12 = 3:21

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2001 remastered reissue bonus tracks

| title13 = Once I Had a Love (aka The Disco Song)

| note13 = 1978 version) (recorded June 3, 1978, at The Record Plant, NYC{{cite AV media notes |title=Against the Odds 1974–1982 |type=liner notes |others=Blondie |publisher=Capitol, Universal |year=2022 |id=00602508760969}}

| writer13 = {{hlist|Harry|Stein}}

| length13 = 3:18

| title14 = Bang a Gong (Get It On)

| note14 = recorded live November 4, 1978, at The Paradise in Boston, MA

| writer14 = Marc Bolan

| length14 = 5:30

| title15 = I Know But I Don't Know

| note15 = recorded live November 6, 1978, at the Walnut Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

| writer15 = Infante

| length15 = 4:35

| title16 = Hanging on the Telephone

| note16 = recorded live 1980 in Dallas, Texas

| writer16 = Lee

| length16 = 2:21

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2008 deluxe collector's edition bonus tracks

| title13 = Heart of Glass

| note13 = 7″ single version

| length13 = 4:10

| title14 = Sunday Girl

| note14 = French version) (from "Sunday Girl" 12″ single

| length14 = 3:04

| title15 = Hanging on the Telephone

| note15 = Nosebleed Handbag Remix) (from Beautiful: The Remix Album

| length15 = 6:14

| title16 = Fade Away and Radiate

| note16 = 108 BPM Remix) (from Beautiful: The Remix Album

| length16 = 5:16

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2008 deluxe collector's edition bonus DVD

| title1 = Heart of Glass

| title2 = Hanging on the Telephone

| title3 = Picture This

| title4 = Sunday Girl

| note4 = live on Top of the Pops

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2010 Mail on Sunday promo bonus tracks

| title13 = What I Heard

| writer13 = {{hlist|Matt Katz-Bohen|Laurel Katz-Bohen}}

| length13 = 3:15

| title14 = Girlie Girlie

| writer14 = {{hlist|Anthony Davis|Lloyd Douglas|Steve Golding}}

| note14 = Sophia George cover

| length14 = 3:25

}}

• The album version of "Heart of Glass" was replaced with the disco version (5:50 long) on pressings of the album from March 1979 onward. The original length version of "Heart of Glass" appeared on the original US CD release in 1985 (Chrysalis VK 41192, later F2 21192) although the CD artwork proclaimed it was the disco version. Later editions of the Capitol disc had the mistake removed from the inlay but it remained on the disc until its deletion. The 1994 DCC Compact Classics Gold CD release (Capitol Special Markets USA GSZ 1062) features the original version with the disco version as a bonus track.
• A promotional CD of the album was given away free with the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday on December 5, 2010, including the bonus tracks "What I Heard" and "Girlie Girlie" from the band's 2011 album Panic of Girls.{{cite web |url=http://www.blondie.net/blog/free-download-of-mother-now-available/ |title=Free download of "Mother" now available! |website=blondie.net |date=December 5, 2010 |access-date=July 11, 2012}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Parallel Lines.{{cite AV media notes |title=Parallel Lines |type=liner notes |others=Blondie |publisher=Chrysalis Records |year=1978 |id=CHR 1192}}

• Jimmy Destri – electronic keyboards
• Frank Infante – guitar, co-lead vocals on "I Know but I Don't Know"
• Chris Stein – guitar, 12-string, E-bow
• Nigel Harrison – bass
• Clem Burke – drums
• Debbie Harry – vocals

• Robert Fripp – guitar on "Fade Away and Radiate"
• Mike Chapman – production, backing vocals on "Hanging on the Telephone"{{efn|In the documentary Blondie's New York... and the Making of Parallel Lines (2014), Mike Chapman states his additional vocals were overdubbed to the outro of the song. He also proves this by playing the master track isolated during the interview in his studio.}} and "Heart of Glass"{{cite web|last1=Spiegel|first1=Amy Rose|last2=Shipley|first2=Ken|url=https://numerogroup.com/blogs/stories/blondie-once-i-had-a-love|title=Blondie: Once I Had a Love|website=The Numero Group|date=July 2018|access-date=August 21, 2023}}
• Pete Coleman – production assistance, engineering
• Grey Russell – engineering assistance
• Steve Hall – mastering at MCA Whitney Studio (Glendale, California)
• Edo Bertoglio – photography
• Ramey Communications – art direction, design
• Frank Duarte – illustration
• Jerry Rodriguez – lettering
• Kevin Flaherty – production (2001 reissue)

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{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Parallel Lines}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1978|relmonth=09|certref={{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/nirvanas-nevermind-is-one-of-many-classic-albums-that-stalled-at-no-2-on-the-australian-charts-but-why/news-story/18eb7f86d45a49cc3898474a04560157|title=Great albums to only reach number two in Australia|last=Adams|first=Cameron|date=May 13, 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|access-date=April 9, 2019}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|relyear=1978|relmonth=09|certyear=1980|date=June 1, 1980}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Netherlands|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|award=Gold|certyear=1979|relyear=1978|access-date=5 August 2018}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1978|id=1979-11-09|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|date=November 11, 1979}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1978|certyear=1979|date=February 6, 1979|salesamount=1,694,353|id=4997-804-2|salesref={{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/Q/Queen/2006/11/17/2391437.html|title=Queen rules – in album sales|work=Jam!|date=November 17, 2006|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629073900/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/Q/Queen/2006/11/17/2391437.html|archive-date=June 29, 2012|first=Bill|url-status=usurped|last=Harris}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1978|certyear=1979|date=June 6, 1979|salesamount=1,500,000|salesref={{cite news|title=La pop-star che fa impazzire i teenagers – Arriva Debbie dei Blondie|newspaper=La Stampa|page=32|date=May 25, 1981|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,32/articleid,1431_02_1981_0140_0032_24802633/|language=it|access-date=March 20, 2021|quote=Tra l'altro, il cosciente tentativo di rendere la loro musicati piii commerciale possibile ha funzionato, dal momento che solo negli Stati, Uniti ne sono state vendute un milione e mezzo di copie}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Yugoslavia|artist=Blondie|title=Parallel Lines|type=album|award=Platinum|salesamount=100,000|relyear=1978|relmonth=09|certref={{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT73|magazine=Billboard|title=Foreign Acts Win Yugoslavia Awards|volume=94|issue=42|page=74|date=October 23, 1982|issn=0006-2510|via=Google Books}}|salesref=}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|nocert=true|salesamount=16,000,000|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04fmgkb|title=Blondie's New York... and the Making of Parallel Lines|publisher=BBC Four|date=August 25, 2017|access-date=February 12, 2021}}{{Disputed inline|date=February 2021}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Bangs|first=Lester|author-link=Lester Bangs|year=1980|title=Blondie|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-671-25540-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|publisher=Australian Chart Book|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

• {{cite book|title=A Brief History of Album Covers|first=Jason|last=Draper|publisher=Flame Tree Publishing|location=London|year=2008|pages=184–185|isbn=9781847862112|oclc=227198538}}
• {{cite web|last=Olliver|first=Alex|date=September 20, 2017|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-new-york-punk-albums-you-need-in-your-record-collection|title=The New York punk albums you need in your record collection|website=Louder|access-date=February 22, 2020|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027141048/https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-new-york-punk-albums-you-need-in-your-record-collection|url-status=dead}}

{{Blondie}}

{{UK best-selling albums (by year) 1970–1989}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1978 albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Chapman

Category:Albums recorded at Record Plant (New York City)

Category:Blondie (band) albums

Category:Chrysalis Records albums

Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings

Category:United States National Recording Registry albums