Maria (Blondie song)

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“Maria”
“Maria” cover
Single by Blondie
from the album No Exit
Released 1999
Format CD, Cassette, 12" vinyl
Recorded 1998
Genre Pop/Rock
Length 4:12
Label Beyond Music
Writer(s) Jimmy Destri
Blondie singles chronology
"War Child"
(1982)		 Maria
(1999)		 "Nothing Is Real but the Girl"
(1999)
Alternate cover
US edition of the "Maria" single with alternate cover art.
US edition of the "Maria" single with alternate cover art.

"Maria" is a song by Blondie from their 1999 album No Exit. This song was Blondie's comeback single; it was the first release from the band since "War Child" in July 1982. It was also the first U.K. number 1 for the band since "The Tide Is High" in November 1980, and coincidentally, topped the charts exactly twenty years after their first UK chart-topper, "Heart of Glass" in 1979. The song was written by Jimmy Destri, who had also penned some of their earlier hits, such as "Atomic".

In the UK the single was released as a 2 CD set, the first containing remixes of "Maria", and the second live versions of "No Exit" album track "Screaming Skin" and their very first hit single "In the Flesh".

When the song reached No. 1 in the UK on February 1999, Debbie Harry, who was then 53, became the oldest female singer to achieve that feat. The single only reached the lower rungs of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart however, stalling at #82.

The line "...like a Millionaire/walking on imported air" was used in a previous Blondie song, "Walk Like Me" (also written by Destri), from the album Autoamerican (1980).

The song is rumored to be at least partially written about Regina Russell, who was involved with Blondie drummer Clem Burke at the time.

[edit] Release history

All tracks written by Jimmy Destri unless otherwise noted.

UK CD 1

  1. "Maria" (Radio Edit) - 4:09 Listen (help·info)
  2. "Maria" (Soul Solution Remix Radio Edit) - 4:08
  3. "Maria" (Talvin Singh Remix Edit) - 4:39

UK CD 2

  1. "Maria" (Radio Edit) - 4:09
  2. "Screaming Skin" (Live) (Ashby, Foxx, Harry, Stein)
  3. "In the Flesh" (Harry, Stein) (Live)

UK CD 3

  1. "Maria" (Radio Edit) - 4:09
  2. "Maria" (Talvin Singh Rhythmic Remix) - 7:26

UK Cassette

  1. "Maria" (Radio Edit) - 4:09
  2. "Maria" (Soul Solution Remix Radio Edit) - 4:08

US CD

  1. "Maria" (Soul Solution Full Remix) - 9:27
  2. "Maria" (Talvin Singh Remix) - 7:27
  3. "Maria" (Talvin Singh Rhythmic Remix Edit) - 4:39
  4. "Maria" (Album Version) - 4:51

US 12"

  1. "Maria" (Soul Solution Full Remix) - 9:27
  2. "Maria" (Soul Solution Bonus Beats)
  3. "Maria (Talvin Singh Remix) - 7:27
  4. "Maria" (Talvin Singh Rhythmic Remix Edit) - 4:39
  5. "Maria" (Album Version) - 4:51

[edit] Cover versions and appearances in other media


Preceded by
"U Don't Know Me" by Armand Van Helden & Duane Harden		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
February 7, 1999 - 13 February 1999		 Succeeded by
"Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz
v • d • e
Blondie
Debbie Harry · Clem Burke · Jimmy Destri · Chris Stein
Leigh Foxx · Paul Carbonara · Kevin Patrick · Gary Valentine · Frank Infante · Nigel Harrison
Studio albums
Compilations
Live albums
Singles
Remixes
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