Tracks

1. Fan Mail

2. Denis

3. Bermuda Triangle Blues {Flight 45}

4. Youth Nabbed As Sniper

5. Contact In Red Square

6. {I'm Always Touched By Your} Presence Dear

7. I'm On E

8. I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No

9. Love At The Pier

10. No Imagination

11. Kidnapper

12. Detroit 442

13. Cautious Lip

14. Once I Had A Love{Aka The Disco Song}

15. Scenery

16. Poets Problem

17. Detroit 442{Live}

Performer Notes

Blondie: Deborah Harry (vocals); Chris Stein (guitar, bass, vibraphone); James Destri (piano, organ, synthesizer, background vocals); Frank Infante (bass, background vocals); Clement Burke (drums, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Dale Powers (background vocals).
Producer: Richard Gottehrer.
Reissue producer: Kevin Flaherty.
Recorded at Plaza Sound Studio, New York, New York in June & July 1977. Originally released on Chrysalis (1166). Includes liner notes by Richard Gottehrer.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Debbie Harry (vocals); Chris Stein (guitar, E-bow, vibraphone); Frank Infante (guitar, background vocals); Jimmy Destri (strings, grand piano, Farfisa, background vocals); Clem Burke (drums, background vocals); Dale Powers (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: Richard Gottehrer.
Recording information: Plaza Sound Studio, N.Y.C (??/??/1975-11/06/1978); Walnut Theater, Philadelphia, PA (??/??/1975-11/06/1978).
Photographers: Jonathan Postal; Bob Gruen; Andrew Kent; Phillip Dixon.
Considered by many to be Blondie's best, their second album catches the group poised on the brink of global superstardom. PLASTIC LETTERS' first single, a gender-switched cover of the '60s pop hit "Denise" by Randy and the Rainbows, was a massive British hit which went far towards dispelling the band's second-tier status on the New York punk scene.
The rest of the disc improves immensely on their self-titled debut, with sharper songwriting and better production. Jimmy Destri's Farfisa organ is still the band's main musical focal point, but his playing has evolved, along with the melodies, beyond the simple '60s pastiches of the debut. "Youth Nabbed as Sniper" and "Contact in Red Square" continue the band's fascination with trash culture, but the glorious "I'm Always Touched by Your Presence Dear," written by departed bassist Gary Valentine, is a genuinely heartfelt, if ironic, love song.

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (9/21/01, p.85) - "...Benefits from full-bodied production and Clem Burke's crafty drumming..." - Rating: A-c

Q (5/02 SE, p.134) - 4 stars ot of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".

Q (10/94, p.135) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...where their frame broadened to include...sci-fi noise and such eerily memorable fare as `Fan Mail' and `Cautious Lip'..."