*** Welcome to piglix ***

Rapture (Blondie song)

"Rapture"
Blondie - Rapture.png
North American artwork
Single by Blondie
from the album Autoamerican
B-side "Walk Like Me"
Released January 12, 1981
Format
  • 7" single
  • 12" single
Recorded 1980
Genre
Length 6:31(US Single), 4:58(UK Single)
Label Chrysalis
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Mike Chapman
Blondie singles chronology
"The Tide Is High"
(1980)
"Rapture"
(1981)
"Island of Lost Souls"
(1982)
Alternate cover
European artwork

"Rapture" is a song by the American pop rock band Blondie from their fifth studio album, Autoamerican (1980).

In January 1981, "Rapture" was released as the second and final single from the album. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for two weeks. It was the first No. 1 song in the U.S. to feature rap. The song peaked at No. 4 in Australia and No. 5 in the United Kingdom.

"Rapture" is a combination of disco, funk, and hip hop with the rap section forming an extended coda. The song title "Rapture" served to indicate this element. While it was not the first single featuring rapping to be commercially successful, it was the first to top the charts. Its lyrics were especially notable for namechecking hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.

The music video made its U.S. television debut on Solid Gold on January 31, 1981, and became the first rap video ever broadcast on MTV. Set in the East Village section of Manhattan, the "Man from Mars" or "voodoo god" (dancer William Barnes in the white suit and top hat) is the introductory and central figure. Barnes also choreographed the piece. Much of the video is a one-take scene of Debbie Harry dancing along the street, passing by graffiti artists, Uncle Sam, an American Indian and a goat. Fab Five Freddy and graffiti artists Lee Quinones and Jean-Michel Basquiat make cameo appearances. Basquiat was hired when Grandmaster Flash did not show for the filming. The UK 7" version of the song is used in the video.


...
Wikipedia

...