Blondie "Heart of Glass"

The very first album I ever bought was “Parallel Lines” by Blondie (circa 1978) because I loved the song “Heart of Glass” so much. I was about 8 years old and, although I really hated disco, this song transcended disco or anything else that was being played at that time. A few years later, I would buy the B-52s “Wild Planet” after seeing them on Saturday Night Live (I was blown away by their beehive wigs), and Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” after hearing the song “Transmission” and realizing it was so incredibly different and bizarre. Finding and listening to my own music was a wonderfully liberating (and safe) act of defiance. And my gauge for knowing what kind of music to listen to was easy: I knew that whenever my ACDC/ Meatloaf-loving half-brother deemed a song or artist “shit,” it was definitely going to be something I would love.