Blondie Revival: One Way Or Another Again

10/16/1998 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(10/16/98, 6 p.m. PDT) - Recently-reunited veteran new wave act Blondie is putting the finishing touches on No Exit, its first album in more than 16 years, today in New York. The album is due Feb. 23, 1999 on the new Beyond Records label, but the Blondie revival is actually beginning this Fall.

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch--The Album and The Rugrats Movie soundtrack both feature cover versions of the Blondie 1979 hit "One Way Or Another," which will likely expose the band to an audience that wasn't even born when the song first hit the airwaves. The cover versions aren't performed by current hit acts, but by the stars of the show and movie.

Due Oct. 27 on Geffen Records, Sabrina includes a version of the Deborah Harry/ Nigel Harrison-penned song performed by Sabrina star Melissa Joan Hart and produced by onetime Blondie producer Richard Gottehrer. According to Spencer Proffer, the show's music consultant and the album's supervising producer, Blondie is Hart's favorite band and "One Way Or Another" is her favorite song.

The Sabrina album also features Sugar Ray's cover of the Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra," Matthew Sweet's interpretation of Walter Egan's "Magnet & Steel" with Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham (who played on the original) on guitar and former Bangle Susanna Hoffs on backing vocals, as well as tracks by the Spice Girls, Aqua, the Backstreet Boys and N-Sync.

While the Sabrina version of "One Way Or Another" may be a hit with the pre-teen and early-teen set, the version on the Rugrats will likely appeal to the pre-school and elementary school crowd. The song is performed by Cheryl Chase, better known as the voice of Rugrats terror Angelica Pickles. To add a little new wave cool to the whole equation, the Rugrats version is produced by Devo members Mark Mothersbaugh and Robert Casale. (Mothersbaugh, who also provided the music for Pee Wee's Playhouse, has been scoring the hit animated series since its inception). The Rugrats soundtrack is also a star-studded affair (myLAUNCH, 10/7).

According to a spokesman for Blondie, Harry is aware of the cover versions and she's "honored that the song is taking on a new life." Meanwhile, Blondie flies to Europe on Tuesday (Oct. 20) in preparation of a European tour that kicks off Oct. 26 in Stockholm, Sweden.

A spokesperson for the band does not expect the lawsuit filed by former Blondie members Harrison and Frank Infante, who weren't included in the band's reunion plans, to hold up the release of No Exit.