Rapture by Blondie

 

Every now and then, Alexa coughs up disco for me, because I still like disco. Recently, she's been playing "Rapture" by Blondie a lot.

When the song was released in early 1981, most listeners didn’t yet have a name for what they were hearing. I remembering thinking it was cool when I first heard it - I'd never listened to anybody rap, and especially not about a man from Mars who eats up cars, bars, and then only guitars!

The song came out of the New York new‑wave scene, and it included rap. It wasn’t a gimmick. It wasn’t parody. It was a moment when two worlds brushed up against each other, and something shifted.

Musically, “Rapture” is a hybrid: new wave, disco, and early hip‑hop braided together into a single track. Even the genre listings today reflect that blend of new wave, hip hop, pop, and rap rock. It's a reminder that the song never fit neatly into one box.

But its importance goes far beyond its sound.

A Doorway Into Hip‑Hop for the Mainstream

Before “Rapture,” rap was largely a local New York phenomenon. The vibrant, inventive structure of this type of music was mostly invisible to the average American listener. Blondie’s single changed that. It became the first song featuring rap vocals to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a milestone that helped carry hip‑hop from the streets and clubs of the city into national consciousness.

Debbie Harry wasn’t trying to be a rapper. She was trying to shine a light on a culture she and Chris Stein admired and had been moving through. This was a music scene that included Fab 5 Freddy, graffiti artists, DJs, and dancers who were building something new in real time. “Rapture” didn’t invent hip‑hop, but it amplified it at a moment when amplification mattered.

How Early Hip‑Hop Artists Saw It

One of the most striking things about the song’s legacy is how warmly many early hip‑hop figures received it. Blondie wasn’t intruding; they were inviting. The song name‑checks Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, and the band used their platform to introduce these artists to audiences who might never have encountered them otherwise. In that sense, “Rapture” acted as a cultural bridge. Maybe not perfect, but earnest and influential.

The track also helped bring attention to the broader hip‑hop ecosystem, including graffiti culture, which was still largely underground. Contemporary accounts credit the song and its video with exposing mainstream viewers to the aesthetics and energy of that world.

A Strange, Joyful Collision

What makes “Rapture” endure is the way it captures a moment of cross‑pollination at a time when genres were porous, scenes overlapped, and artists borrowed from each other with curiosity rather than caution. It’s quirky, a little surreal, and absolutely sincere.

And it’s historic. In 1981, a new‑wave band fronted by Debbie Harry ended up at the forefront of early hip‑hop history, simply by paying attention to what was happening around them and choosing to celebrate it.

That’s the story worth remembering. Not that Blondie made a rap song, but that they opened a door.

And the video is a trip.

References

• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Blondie, ‘Rapture.’” Background on the song’s chart history and its role in bringing rap into mainstream pop.

• NPR Music. “How Blondie’s ‘Rapture’ Brought Hip-Hop to the Mainstream.” Interviews and retrospective commentary from early hip‑hop figures.

• Rolling Stone. “The Oral History of ‘Rapture.’” Includes perspectives from Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash on the song’s impact.

• The Guardian. “How Blondie Helped Hip-Hop Go Mainstream.” Cultural analysis of the band’s relationship with the early hip‑hop scene.

• Billboard. Chart history for “Rapture,” documenting its status as the first No. 1 single to feature rap vocals.

• Smithsonian Magazine. “The Early Days of Hip-Hop in New York.” Context for the scene Blondie was moving through in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

• Interview Magazine. Conversations with Fab 5 Freddy discussing the downtown–uptown cultural exchange and Blondie’s role in it.

• Grandmaster Flash, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats. Memoir passages describing his interactions with Blondie and the early cross‑scene collaborations.

*An AI tool helped me with this piece.*

Geoff the Fiddler

A while back, we went to listen to Geoff the Fiddler play his fiddle and guitar at a presentation put on by the Botetourt County Historical Society and sponsored by The Reeds and the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. 

Geoff the Fiddler was very good, and his knowledge of his music was impressive. He had been asked by the Historical Society to focus on mid-1800s music, which is basically Civil War era. He came dressed in a Confederate soldier's outfit.

He played a variety of reels and jigs, many of which I am sure most folks would have recognized. He sang a little, too, and he has a very fine voice. He said he plays a mix of Celtic, Appalachian, and a touch of Cajun fiddling. The result is a unique and authentic American-Celtic style, he said.

He said he takes part in Civil War reenactments sometimes and enjoys playing with other musicians who love the music of that time period, too.

My favorite part of the hour was when he played The Battle Hymn of the Republic. He said he wasn't going to sing it, so the audience sang it for him. Well, we sang the first verse and the chorus. Nobody seemed to know the other verses, including me, though I struggled a bit to try to remember the second verse and then gave up.

There were a few other songs that the audience sang along with as well. We didn't know the second verses of those songs, either.

It was a nice way to spend some time with the community, and I certainly enjoyed the music. Visit Geoff's website linked in the first sentence to learn more about him and see videos of his work if you are so inclined.

The Zone

Last night I could stand it no longer, and I pulled my electric Fender guitar from its case, plugged it into my amp, and played.

I haven't touched it in about a year. I've been having trouble with my shoulder and my left arm, and playing is painful. I occasionally pick up a tiny little tinny sounding Yamaha that I bought because it weighs next to nothing, but it is not the same as playing on a fine instrument.

My lack of practice was obvious. I flinched at the boo boos in chords, the missed noting, the overreach on frets.

And then finally, I forgot to be conscious of how bad I sounded, and I just played. I don't know if it sounded good - I doubt it did - but for a few minutes there, I found that sweet, delicate space that said, "I am making my music, I am me, I am doing what I want, and to hell with everything else."

Today my left arm and shoulder was so sore I could barely carry in the groceries, but it was worth it.

So worth that I am going to do it again here in a few minutes, pain and tendonitis and whatever else is wrong be damned.

Those few minutes of finding that sound is indescribable to someone who hasn't experienced it. It's like a runner hitting the zone during a track meet. Or the basketball player on a hot streak. Or the writer who has found what she needs to get the words flowing.

It's the zone, baby. It's the zone. It's like a drug, that zone.

Listen to the music. Write the words. Find the song.

Oh man, I need to find my song.

The Day Elvis Died

There are many things that happened nationally that I remember because I remember where I was and what I was doing.

I know exactly where I was when the second plane hit the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001. I know where I was when Challenger exploded. I know where I was when I heard President Reagan had been shot. I know where I was when I learned John Lennon had been shot. I know where I was on November 9, 2016, when I learned that Hillary Clinton lost the election even though she won the popular vote.

And I know where I was when the radio announcer said, in solemn tones, "The King is dead."

We were driving through some flat area of Kansas or someplace like that, my parents, my brother, my grandmother, my two young uncles, and me, all piled into a bus-van type contraption that my father had found for a trip across the country.

My father had been flipping radio stations to find something to listen to, and that was what we heard, "The King is dead." We were all hushed while my father tried to find a station to figure out what was going on. At first, we were confused - what king? King of a country? Not the king of rock and roll, surely. He was only 42 years old.

After much fiddling with the radio dials - we were, after all, in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest - my father found another station.

"Elvis Presley is dead," the announcer said.

My father gasped, my mother shrugged, my grandmother said something to the effect of that being too bad.

My brother and two uncles went back to playing cards in the back of the bus-van, my grandmother returned to her nap, and my father drove, his hands tight on the steering wheel, not yelling at the boys for making noises they made as they messed around in the back.

I sat behind my father, and I watched him. I was only 13, but I knew this was important.

I have never asked Dad what that meant to him, to have someone he had idolized die and have no one to share it with when it happened. He didn't talk about it, didn't make much of it. He just kept driving.

My father was a big Elvis fan. My father had a band of his own and he sang many Elvis songs. He idealized himself as a "B" version of Elvis, or so I thought. My mother, who was riding shotgun in the bus-van, didn't seem to care one way or another, but I remember feeling the change in my father's mood even though he didn't say a word.

I remember his sadness, though he made sure no one saw him sad.

He wasn't alone, of course, we were all there in the bus-van. I knew he was feeling something, but we have never been a very lovey-dovey touchy-feely kind of family. I don't know if I was the only one who knew that this was a blow to my father. I've never talked about it with anyone, though my father asked me some time ago if I remembered where we were when we heard about Elvis's death. He was pleased that I remembered, right down to the cornfields along the side of the long stretch of highway.

Wise men say many things; others say very little. I always equate Elvis Presley with my father, and I always have that memory following me around, the memory of me, the young girl-woman in the seat behind her father, watching without comment while the man she once thought hung the moon absorbed devastating news.

Feel Like Making Love

This song, Feel Like Making Love, originally released in 1975 by Bad Company, is a song I had difficulty with.

For one thing, I couldn't sing it in the key it was originally recorded in, so I had to move it up from D to E.

For another, this song, if you listen to the released version, doesn't know whether it's a folk-rock song or a hard rock song. At the beginning, it sounds like folk rock, or soft rock (whatever you want to call it), but at the end, it's like the guy with the guitar just couldn't hold it back anymore so he rocks it on out.

However, VH1 once labeled this the 78th best hard rock song, so I guess it's a hard rock song, even if I have my doubts.

I struggled with this for a good month. I lack the vocals, and I lack the lead guitar skill. Finally, after some prompting from a friend, I decided to do it "my way" and hope it worked.

This uses my RC-3 Loop Station for the drums. I recorded a background rhythm first, then if you listen closely you can hear where I attempted to use the guitar to enhance the vocal parts where there should have been more people singing. I'm not sure that worked, but it doesn't sound awful. I did the lead guitar differently than the released song, and I also end the song earlier.

My voice has two ranges, the one that sounds a lot like I talk (which is what you hear in this video), and the one that sounds more alto-soprano and is higher pitched. What I can't do, likely because I never had vocal training, is switch from one voice to the other or hit the notes in between. I do know my limitations.

Anyway, here goes.

I Can See Clearly

This is my version of I Can See Clearly Now, by Johnny Nash.

I used my RC-3 Loop Station for the drums. I recorded a background rhythm track, and then went back in and did a little thump thump thing to try to give it more sound.

Not the best, I guess, but all I can do with one guitar.

Day After Day

This is my cover of Day After Day, written by Peter Hamm and performed by Badfinger in 1971. I have a soft spot for those light rock/pop ballads.

Anyway, the drums are from the Boss RC-3 Loop Station. Everything else is me playing on my Dean Vendetta electric guitar (and singing of course).

First, I played a strumming rhythm and recorded it. Then I played and sang the song. That means you're watching me add the lead and a bit of a bass line in there at times while this video is playing, along with some single string picking at various points in the song.

I must have practiced this 30 times or more before I was somewhat satisfied. There was more I thought about doing with the guitar lead, but I don't trust myself to record over a first recording on the Looper Station and I was afraid I'd lose what I already had. That's something I need to play with so I am more comfortable making those kinds of additions.

Anyway, here you go.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Sam the Snowman from Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, assists me with a Christmas carol.

Christine McVie

Sleep well, Songbird. I cried when I learned you had passed away today. You made lovin' fun and kept me believin' in tomorrow. Thank you for the music.

RIP Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.

Falling

This is my cover of Falling, by LeBlanc and Carr. It's not a song you hear much anymore, but it came to mind a few weeks ago so I looked it up.

I wish I could say that a performance like this is just a quick grab of the camera, placing it on video, and playing, but no.

First, the song was in a key I couldn't sing it in well (F). After much fiddling around, I ended up with the capo on the 5th fret of the guitar.

I hate playing with a capo anyway, but one that high up on the guitar makes the guitar sound too high for my taste. I tried transposing it back so I could play it in a lower register, but it's in A# now, and frankly the Fmaj7 chord position sounds so much better on the guitar, even with the capo in the 5th fret, than an A#maj7 chord position, that I left it alone.

After figuring that out, I had to find the tempo on the RC-3 Loop Station, then play it through several times to make sure I could play it and sing it. Then I taped a strumming round on the Loop Station. Later, I taped another guitar round on the Loop station, except I was finger picking it instead of strumming.

Finally, I went back and taped in the little lead runs. I had initially planned to play those while I was singing, but I've hurt my left hand, so I went with taping the lead instead.

And then, feeling like I'd had about enough of this song, I hit the video and recorded it.

This took about 10 days over all to accomplish, what with life stuff and my hand swelling up.

Anyway, here is my cover of this 1977 love song.

Still a Little Country

This is one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar, I think. I've known for as long as I can remember. I am playing a Dean Vendetta electric guitar. The background rhythm was recorded on a Boss RC-3 Looper station using a Yamaha acoustic guitar. The looper station supplies the drums.

The song is Help Me Make It Through the Night, by Kris Kristofferson.

 

Break It To Me Gently

This is a cover of Break It to Me Gently, a song made famous before I was born by Brenda Lee, and later by Juice Newton when I was a teenager.

I am playing a Dean Vendetta electric guitar and using a Boss RC-3 Loop Station. I recorded first the rhythm, then some of the lead, and am adding rhythm and lead when I recorded this with my iPhone. The drums come from the Loop Station.

This is actually harder than it looks. :-)

TroubleMaker

I wrote another song. This one is called TroubleMaker.

I'm playing an Epiphone Les Paul Special I and using an RC-3 Loop Station for the drums. I recorded a rhythm track first, then a lead track over that, and then played rhythm again and sang.

This is not a song that really suits my voice, but I honestly think of the things I've written, this is probably the most "commercial." 

Here are the words:

Troublemaker

By Anita Firebaugh

We’ve got similar demons, we sing similar songs

But you did things right while I did them wrong.

Did an angel grab you, send you on your way

While the devil told me there’d be hell to pay?

I’m a troublemaker. I’m a troublemaker.

I’m a troublemaker, risk taker, fool maker, heart breaker, troublemaker.

You smile like the sunshine, your voice is like spring

I laugh at the darkness and my words only sting.

You smell only flowers and you see only good

While I’m the bad girl in the neighborhood.

I’m a troublemaker. I’m a troublemaker.

I’m a troublemaker, risk taker, fool maker, heart breaker, troublemaker.

What kind of spell did you place on me to make me think I could fly with no wings?

What kind of fool do you think I am? Do you really think that I might give a damn?

I’m a troublemaker. I’m a troublemaker.

I’m a troublemaker, risk taker, fool maker, heart breaker, troublemaker.

I can sense your desire, I can see in your eyes

That you thought you had me when you made me cry.

But I know you’ve got secrets, I know if I stay

I’ll make sure they all come out one day.

I’m a troublemaker. I’m a troublemaker.

I’m a troublemaker, risk taker, fool maker, heart breaker, troublemaker.

I'm a troublemaker.

Memphis Dance

This is a guitar instrumental song that I wrote. The strumming is performed on an Epiphone Les Paul Special I electric guitar using an RC-3 loop station, which also supplies the drumbeat.

I am playing the lead on a Yamaha APXTZ, which is an electric travel guitar.

I was really just using this for practice but after recording it, I realized it was rather pretty. 

 

(There's a jump in the recording, I think something happened in the upload, but if you're just listening and not watching it's not noticeable. I have very bad Internet service and it took over two hours to upload this little video, so I am always surprised if they upload without issue.)

Yes, I Also Play the Harmonica

Not only do I play guitar, I also (sort of) play the harmonica.

This is a short video of me playing harmonica to a background of guitar music. The guitar is me strumming rhythm and playing a line of lead on a Boss RC-3 loop station.

The harmonica is a $3 Homer instrument I picked up several years ago at Cracker Barrel. It is in the key of C. The chords I am playing on the guitar are C, F, Dm, and G.

This is actually a real song that I simply went musically all over the place with. Youtube didn't flag it for copyright claims, so the real song must be hidden well enough. Can you guess it?

A Jam for My Friend

My friend, B., died on December 3. The family chose not to have a service. Instead, in the obituary, we were all advised to spend an hour having fun in my friend's name.

I had a sinus infection and was sad, so I wasn't exactly into fun at the time. Instead, I picked up my guitar and settled into a bluesy honkey-tonk jazzy something or another that went on and on and on without an end. This video ultimately was 20 minutes long; I cut it back to 6 minutes.

The rhythm guitar and drum loop was created using a Boss RC-3 loop station. I played the background rhythm first with the drums from the loop station. It's a simple jam in E7, A, and B. The lead guitar runs are simply me playing whatever I was feeling at the time.

The D string went out of tune a little bit during the time I was playing, and I can hear it in this part, which is unfortunate because I thought this section had some of the best lead runs in it. Oh well. What's a "live" performance without some error, right?

I hope B. enjoyed it.

Lost In Love

This is a cover of the song Lost in Love by Air Supply. I go off-key a little bit in one place and there's a guitar error near the end, but what the hey. I've never claimed to be a professional at this. My asthma doesn't help; I could tell it was bothering me when I made the video.

Somebody out there needs to see an overweight woman who can't sing that well strumming a guitar this morning, right? I mean, if I can put myself out there, everyone can.

Anyway, this uses a RC-3 Loop Station and has two guitar recordings on it and it is supplying the drum beat. One of the guitars was an electric Epiphone Les Paul Special and the other was an amplified acoustic Yamaha FG-150, which I am playing as I sing, so essentially there are three guitars on this song, all of which I played, including the error.

Believe

I've been writing a song again.

This one came as an inspiration from a request from a friend and former teacher. She wanted a happy song.

For me, this is about as happy as it gets, I suppose.

The ending is abrupt because I messed up and it was the 7th take and I was tired so I just stopped and said that was enough. I could have posted the end where I messed up and let everyone see me curse, but that's the great thing about editing software. That type of thing can be deleted!

I'm playing an acoustic Yamaha FG-150 and using a Boss RC-3 Loop Station for the drums.

The words are below the song.

So, here's Believe.

Believe

My teacher she said write a happy song

I said I’m pretty sure I’ll get that wrong

But I’ll try. . . . . I can try.

She said I don’t want to hear about your fears

No more crying, no more tears, and no sighs.

. . . . No goodbyes.

So there’s an elephant dancing to my beat

And a zebra running down my street and a rainbow –

. . . . Yeah a rainbow

And there’s a violet growing in the summer rain

A beautiful girl with love to gain and I know

. . . . Oh yes I know.

That days go like the seasons.

And a happy song needs a reason

So I’ll go sit on the bleachers

And write a song for my teacher.

Cause I know, yes I know – that she believes in me.

There’s a kitty cat knocking on my back door

A ladybug crawling on the kitchen floor

And she’ll fly – O yes she’ll fly.

My lover tries to tickle me behind my knee

I laugh aloud because I am pleased and I know why

Yes I know why

That a day may be a dreamland

And a happy song will help you understand

That you will do everything you can

And I know, yes I know, that I believe in me.

And a day is like a season

And a happy song needs no reason.

And I know, yes I know, that I believe in me.

No One's Child

This is a song I have been working on for a while. The chorus came to me first, and the rest of it eventually fell into place.

This is a ballad (I guess). I am using an electrified acoustic guitar along with a Boss loop station. A loop station (also called a looper) allows me to add stuff to the song like lead guitar playing while strumming. You will see it toward the end.

I only got the looper this weekend so I'm still learning how to use it, and I think I go flat on the first line because I'm still sniffling a bit with my sinuses, but I needed to get this recorded before I forgot the tune.

So here is No One's Child.

Here are the words to the song:

No One’s Child

By Anita Firebaugh

My momma she was a broken tree upon a rocky shore.

My daddy was a drunken sea, a storm when I was born.

Between the waves and the killing tree

There was never hope for me.

There was never hope for me.

And I am no one’s child. I run eager, free, and wild.

And I drift along like deadwood in a stream.

I was born to bleed

To always have this ache and need.

With nightmares in my sleep, I do not dream.

With nightmares in my sleep I do not dream.

My sister was the silver moon, she fed me fruit and grain

My brother was a thunder boom, he brought me wind and rain.

Between the thunder and the moon

I grew up too soon.

Yes I grew up too soon.

And I am no one’s child. I run eager, free, and wild

And I drift along like deadwood in a stream.

I was born to bleed, To always have this ache and need.

With nightmares in my sleep, I do not dream.

With nightmares in my sleep, I do not dream.

(Guitar solo)

Whispered: No one’s child.  I am no one’s child.  No one’s child. Etc.

Melissa Etheridge Live in Concert

Saturday was Melissa Etheridge's 60th birthday. She celebrated by having a concert at a hotel in LA. She had 200 people in a 1800-person venue, and sold tickets to the show for the rest of us to watch online.

So I watched. The concert also was a celebration of the release of her new single, One Way Out. The concert was called "One Way Out . . . of the Garage."

It was a spirited show. She was happy to be back in front of people and happy to have someone bring her guitars instead of having to do things on her own. I suspect being a rich rock and roller had spoiled her, as she had helpers doing all the things she did for over a year in her garage.

I enjoyed her early music and have listened to some of her later albums, but honestly after Breakdown I stopped listening so much. She released a compilation of hits and I thought she was probably done then, but she continues to make music.

I snipped this image while she played her concert.

Watching her off and on during the pandemic, while she played nearly everyday (for free for several months, then switching over to her Etheridgetv.com channel where there was a fee, so I didn't see much after that), I learned that she is quite the business person, too. She has another business, Etheridge Botanicals, which sells cannabis-related items. She also set up a foundation to study drug abuse after her son died of an overdose nearly a year ago.

All in all, it made for a late Saturday night for this not-yet-60-year-old, who finds a 10 p.m. bedtime more suited to her lifestyle these days.

It was good to see someone close to my age doing what she loved, and doing it well. There is hope for us older folks yet.

Her band consisted of 3 members. A drummer,
a bass player, and a keyboardist/guitar player.
Melissa Etheridge did most of the guitar work.

She changed guitars for nearly every song.