Song · Blondie
“Atomic” by Blondie
From the album Eat to the Beat (1979)
“Atomic” by Blondie appears on 13 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1979 on the album Eat to the Beat. Its best result is #27 on the Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,607 alternative song of all time.
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"Atomic" started life with Jimmy Destri chasing another "Heart of Glass", and somewhere along the way Blondie gave it the spaghetti western treatment, all twangy menace and wide-open spaces riding a disco pulse. It sits on Eat to the Beat, their fourth album, from 1979, and went out as its third single in February 1980. Deborah Harry wrote her words on the fly, scatting along while the band worked the song out, and "atomic" in her mouth means nothing much beyond power and the future, which is exactly why it works.
Mike Chapman produced. Clem Burke, Nigel Harrison, Chris Stein, Frank Infante and Destri lock in hard, and Ellie Greenwich turns up on backing vocals. The Guardian later ranked it Blondie's second-greatest song.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 637 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2002 | 941 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2004 | 131 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 292 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 496 | Live 105 | Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2006 | 27 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) | 500 |
| 2019 | 532 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2021 | 903 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2022 | 518 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2022 | 196 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2023 | 440 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
| 2023 | 625 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2026 | 424 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
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