Blondie

While the UK's alleged vinyl revival might be a little overplayed (the statistics are on the up - but only by small margins) there is no doubt that a certain music buyer does have a penchant for vinyl. Right in that generation of music buyers, will be Blondie. In time for (rather large) Christmas stockings, comes this box set of vinyl reissues of the band's first six albums.

While the music has been discussed many times - and the history of the band and its musical influences was explored superbly on the recent documentary One Way Or Another - it is worth reiterating just how much of an influence Blondie and lead singer Deborah Harry were. Matching the edgy feel of punk with singalong pop choruses and the sexiness of Harry proved the perfect blend for several years of success. It also meant other females could follow. Without Blondie, there would have been no Madonna for example.

It's surprising then to reflect that Blondie initially needed a cover version to break the UK, with Denis announcing their arrival in 1978. Before that, their success had come in Australia where a TV show famously played the wrong song - featuring In The Flesh instead of X Offender. The former became a huge hit there but neither debut album Blondie or the follow-up Plastic Letters troubled the US market. That would come after Heart of Glass took Parallel Lines to the masses. It's still the band's strongest sounding album and a classic of the time.

More hits would follow - and East To The Beat and Autoamerican were commercially bigger successes but weaker in terms of quality. The Hunter is the final album featured here, which was the band's last for 17 years before their unexpected success with Maria in 1999.