Songs: how they were made and what they mean

This section takes single songs seriously: where they came from, who played on them, how they were recorded and what happened after release. We describe meaning in our own words and never print lyrics, not even one line.

We begin with two songs from one band, because together they show how far the music travelled in a little over two years. Rip Her to Shreds appeared on Blondie's debut album in December 1976, a sharp, girl-group flavoured song from the CBGB years, and it gave this magazine its name.

Heart of Glass came out as a single in January 1979 and reached number one in both Britain and the United States. The song had existed for years as a slower demo before producer Mike Chapman and the band rebuilt it around a drum machine pulse. For some punk purists it was a betrayal, for everyone else it was the moment new wave met the dance floor.

A song page is a piece of history, so we stick to what can be checked: release dates, personnel, chart positions and what the musicians have said on the record. Where a meaning is a matter of interpretation, we say that it is.

In this section

2 pages

Heart of Glass meaning: Blondie's 1979 hit explained

Heart of Glass meaning and history: what Blondie's 1979 number one is about, how a 1975 demo became a disco hit with a Roland CR-78, and why punk fans were split.
Rip Her to Shreds: Blondie's 1976 song explained

Rip Her to Shreds explained: the Blondie song from the 1976 debut album, how it was made, what it is about, its 1977 UK single release and why it still sounds sharp.

Other sections

Genres

Punk, new wave, post-punk, no wave and Neue Deutsche Welle explained: where each style began, which records define it and where the boundaries blur.
Scenes

CBGB on the Bowery, New York punk and London in 1976: the clubs, shops and people that turned a few local bands into a movement.
Lists

The best punk albums, new wave songs, and the punk, post-punk and new wave bands that matter, each entry with year, place and a reason.
Bands

Independent band profiles from punk and new wave, starting with Blondie: line-ups, key records and where each band fits in the story.
Press

How NME, Sounds, Creem, Punk magazine and Sniffin' Glue covered and shaped punk and new wave, from weekly music papers to photocopied fanzines.
Vinyl

Practical guides to collecting punk records, identifying first pressings and choosing a turntable, with clear criteria and no made-up test results.