"Atomic" is a song by the American New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Blondie

Blondie (band)

Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

, written by Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry

Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...

 and Jimmy Destri

Jimmy Destri

Jimmy Destri is an American musician. He played keyboards in the rock band Blondie, and is one of the principal songwriters for the band along with Chris Stein and Deborah Harry. Destri stopped touring with the band in 2004, but remained an official member of the band for several more years...

 and produced by Mike Chapman. It was released as the third single from the band's 1979 album Eat to the Beat

Eat to the Beat

Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Blondie. It reached no.1 on the UK album charts in October 1979, no.9 in Australia and no.17 in the US.-History:...

.

Song information

Atomic was composed by Jimmy Destri and Debbie Harry, who (in the book "1000 UK #1 Hits" by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh) stated "He was trying to do something like 'Heart of Glass', and then somehow or another we gave it the spaghetti western treatment. Before that it was just lying there like a lox. The lyrics, well, a lot of the time I would write while the band were just playing the song and trying to figure it out. I would just be scatting along with them and I would just start going, 'Ooooooh, your hair is beautiful.'"

The song was produced as a mixture of new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 rock and disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 which had proven to be so successful in their #1 hit from earlier in 1979, "Heart of Glass

Heart of Glass (song)

"Heart of Glass" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie, written by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, it was released as a single in January 1979 and topped the charts in several countries, including the US and UK.Rolling...

". The guitar riff is directly influenced by the one in the Neil Diamond song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...

" .

The 1980 single version of "Atomic" was in fact a remix. The original 4:35 version as featured on the albums Eat to the Beat

Eat to the Beat

Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Blondie. It reached no.1 on the UK album charts in October 1979, no.9 in Australia and no.17 in the US.-History:...

and 1981's The Best of Blondie

The Best of Blondie

- Chart positions :- References :# [ Allmusic]...

opens with an intro inspired by the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice

Three Blind Mice

Three Blind Mice is an English nursery rhyme and musical round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753.-Lyrics:The modern words are:-Variations and uses:Amateur music composer Thomas Oliphant noted in 1843 that:...

" and includes an instrumental break with a bass guitar solo. The 7" version mixed by Mike Chapman omits the "Three Blind Mice" intro and replaces the instrumental break with a repeat of the verse.

The song reached number 1 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 for two weeks in March 1980 and number 39 in the US. The B-side was "Die Young, Stay Pretty", also from the album Eat to the Beat, a reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

-influenced track, a style they would perform again in "The Tide Is High

The Tide Is High

"The Tide Is High" is a 1967 song written by John Holt and originally performed by The Paragons with John Holt as lead singer. The song went mainly unnoticed in the rest of the world until it was rediscovered in 1980 when it became a US/UK number 1 hit for the band Blondie...

". The UK 12" single contained a live version of Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

's "Heroes" featuring Robert Fripp

Robert Fripp

Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...

 on guitar recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon just a month before. The track was included on 1993's rarities compilation Blonde and Beyond

Blonde and Beyond

Blonde and Beyond is a compilation album of recordings by Blondie released on Chrysalis Records in 1993. Blonde and Beyond gathers some of the band's hit singles like "Heart of Glass", "Denis", "X-Offender", "Picture This" and "Island Of Lost Souls" along with album tracks and a few rarities like...

.

"Atomic" was remixed and re-released in the UK in September 1994 where it peaked at #19 on the UK Top 40 singles chart. The subsequent April 1995 US release reached #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Charts. The 1994 remix was included on the compilations The Platinum Collection

The Platinum Collection (Blondie)

The Platinum Collection is a two disc compilation album of recordings by Blondie released by EMI/Chrysalis in 1994. The forty-seven track compilation contains the A- and B-sides of all singles issued by the band in the U.S...

, Beautiful - The Remix Album

Beautiful - The Remix Album

Beautiful - The Remix Album is a remix album of recordings by Blondie released by Chrysalis/EMI Records in the UK during 1995. The album spun off a series of remix singles in various formats...

and Remixed Remade Remodeled - The Remix Project

Remixed Remade Remodeled - The Remix Project

Remixed Remade Remodeled—The Remix Project is a remix album of recordings by Blondie released by Chrysalis/EMI Records in the US and the UK in 1995 as part of EMI’s Brilliant series...

. The track was remixed again four years later for the UK compilation Atomic - The Very Best of Blondie

Atomic - The Very Best of Blondie

Atomic – The Very Best of Blondie is a compilation album of recordings by the band Blondie released by EMI/Chrysalis Records in the UK and the rest of Europe in late 1998, shortly before the band issued their successful comeback album No Exit and the UK #1 single "Maria"...

and the '98 Xenomania mix was later included on the first Queer as Folk

Queer as Folk (UK TV series)

Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...

soundtrack album. The song was also featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...

. Its 7" mix was covered by Sleeper

Sleeper (band)

Sleeper were a British Britpop band in the 1990s fronted by Louise Wener. The band had eight UK Top 40 hit singles and three UK Top 10 albums. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of Trainspotting.-Career:...

for the Trainspotting Soundtrack

Trainspotting (soundtrack)

-Trainspotting #2: Music from the Motion Picture, Vol. #2:-Complete soundtrack list:The following is a complete list of songs that appear in Trainspotting in order of appearance:#"Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop#"Carmen Suite No.2" - Georges Bizet...

in 1996.

The song was used in Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

's global television ad for 1998

1998 FIFA World Cup

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 and 2002 FIFA World Cup

2002 FIFA World Cup

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

 campaigns. Both ads use the "Eat football. Sleep football. Drink Coca-Cola" (or "Vivez Football, Vibrez Football, Buvez Coca-Cola") strapline.

Music video

The music video depicts the band performing on stage at what looks like a post-nuclear war nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

 in which Debbie Harry is famously wearing a bin liner as a futuristic costume. Footage of a horseman and an atomic explosion are also intercut. Model Gia Carangi

Gia Carangi

Gia Marie Carangi was an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Carangi is considered by some to be the first supermodel, although that title has been given to others, including Janice Dickinson, Dorian Leigh, and Jean Shrimpton...

 (a strong supporter of the band) made a guest appearance in the music video; she can be seen in various scenes.

Track listing

UK 7" (Chrysalis CHS 2410)
US 7" (Chrysalis CHS 2410)

1. "Atomic" (7" Mix) (Deborah Harry
   Debbie Harry
   Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
   
   , Jimmy Destri
   Jimmy Destri
   Jimmy Destri is an American musician. He played keyboards in the rock band Blondie, and is one of the principal songwriters for the band along with Chris Stein and Deborah Harry. Destri stopped touring with the band in 2004, but remained an official member of the band for several more years...
   
   ) - 3:48
2. "Die Young Stay Pretty" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein
   Chris Stein
   Christopher "Chris" Stein is co-founder and guitarist in the New Wave band, Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film Wild Style....
   
   ) - 3:27

UK 12" (Chrysalis CHS 12 2410)

1. "Atomic" (7" Mix) (Deborah Harry, Jimmy Destri) - 3:48
2. "Die Young Stay Pretty" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) - 3:27
3. "Heroes" (Live) (David Bowie
   David Bowie
   David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
   
   ) - 6:28
   • Recorded live at The Hammersmith Odeon, London, on January 12, 1980. Produced by C. Stein, J. Destri and P. Maloney.

UK 1994 Remix CD1 (7243 8 81661 2 6)

1. "Atomic" (Diddy's Edit) - 4:10
2. "Atomic" (Diddy's 12" Mix) - 6:54
3. "Atomic" (Diddy's Push The Button Mix) - 6:06
4. "Atomic" (Boom Mix) - 5:49
5. "Atomic" (New Disco Mix) - 7:56

UK 1994 Remix CD2 (7243 8 81662 2 5)

1. "Atomic" (Diddy's Edit) - 4:10
2. "Sunday Girl
   Sunday Girl
   "Sunday Girl" was a UK number-one single by Blondie for three weeks in May 1979. It was Blondie's second UK number-one single after "Heart of Glass"; it was, however, never released as a single in the US.-Song information:...
   
   " - 3:01
3. "Union City Blue
   Union City Blue
   "Union City Blue" is a song by the US rock band Blondie. It was written by Deborah Harry and Nigel Harrison, and was featured on their 1979 album Eat to the Beat.-Single information:...
   
   " - 3:18
4. "Atomic" (Original 1980 7" Edit) - 3:50

US 1995 Remix CD (7243 8 58340 2 8)

1. "Atomic" (Diddy's Remix Edit) - 4:10 *
2. "Atomic" (Original Single Version) - 3:50 **
3. "Atomic" (Diddy's 12" Mix) - 6:54
4. "Atomic" (Armand's Atomizer Mix) - 9:00
5. "Atomic" (Explosive Ecstacy Mix) - 5:50
6. "Atomic" (Beautiful Drum And Bass Mix) - 7:43
7. "Atomic" (New Disco Mix) - 7:56
8. "Slow Motion" (Stripped Down Motown Mix) - 3:30

• * Identical to the UK Diddy's Edit version.
• ** Identical to the UK Original 1980 7" Edit version.

Chart positions

Chart (1980)	Peak Position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	12
Austria	5
Dutch NVPI NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry... Charts	17
German Media Control Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... Singles Chart	20
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	3
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	7
Norway	5
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	39

Chart (1994)	Peak Position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	19
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	1

Party Animals recording

"Atomic" is the fifth single of the Party Animals

Party Animals (musical group)

Party Animals are a pop-gabber group from The Netherlands. The band was created by producers Jeff Porter, Jeroen Flamman together with vocalists MCs Remsy, Evert van Buschbach, Patrick de Moor, Dennis Adam and Paul Grommé...

 from their second album Party@worldaccess.nl. The song was released in 1997 and was a minor success in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. The song is a cover version of the Blondie song recorded with a gabber

Gabber

Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....

 beat. The song peaked at number 8 in the Dutch Top 40

Dutch Top 40

The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

.

Track listing

#	Title	Length
1.	"Atomic (Flamman & Abraxas radio mix)"	3:31
2.	"Mocht Ik onder het Hakkûh Bezwijken"	5:32
3.	"Atom-X"	4:52
4.	"Total Smash"	5:15

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1995 (U.S.)