Maria by Blondie

TITLE: Maria
ARTIST: Blondie
CHART POSITION: 1
DATE IT WAS A HIT: February 1999

B-SIDES?: A couple of remixes. They could have done better, frankly.

CONTEXT IN MY LIFE: I'd just made it through the first term at university and was spending a lot of time listening to my radio while 'studying'. Amazingly, I'd managed to make it to the age of 19 without really knowing many Blondie songs apart from 'Atomic' and 'The Tide is High', and when this song hit the charts it sounded brand new. I wasn't even put off Blondie by the fact that a hideous girl on the same corridor of my accommodation block used to play the Greatest Hits at an absurd volume at 3am.

DISMAL OR DISCERNING?: Yeah, I wish I could say I bought 'Denis' back in 1978, but that just wasn't possible. 'Maria' is a totally nonsense song with nonsense lyrics, but it's got that distinctive Blondie sound, and a great opening riff. 'Walking on imported air' makes no sense at all, but you know exactly what they mean. One of the higher points in my singles-buying career.