This is our weekly feature called “Obscure Song Monday.” Each week we spotlight a song from the 70’s or 80’s that was a big hit on the charts – but over time – seemed to have been forgotten about. 

This week's obscure song is from the 70's and 80's new wave band Blondie, featuring lead singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The song is "Heart of Glass", which was the third single from the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines (1978). It was released in January, 1979, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 28th of that year.

According to Wikipedia, shortly after Harry and Stein met in early 1974 they wrote an earlier version of "Glass" and called it "Once I Had a Love". This version was initially recorded as a demo in 1975, but because of it's slower, funkier, disco beat sound, they  started referring to it as "The Disco Song". In 1978, the song was re-recorded a second time with more of a pop-oriented sound. It was then that Chris Stein came up with the title "Heart of Glass".

"Heart of Glass" was written in Harry and Stein's New York City apartment and according to Harry it was one of the first songs Blondie wrote.

Some United States radio stations almost didn't play the song because of the "pain in the ass" lyric, so in January, 1979, a 7-inch single version was released.

The earlier version of "Heart of Glass"  which was called "Once I Had a Love (aka The Disco Song)" was included in the 2001 reissue of the Parallel Lines album.

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