"Maria" is a song by the American band Blondie, taken from their 1999 album No Exit. The band's first single release since "War Child" in July 1982, "Maria" marked Blondie's return to the charts after an almost 17-year absence. It reached number one in the United Kingdom; Blondie's sixth UK chart-topper.
Overview and chart success
"Maria" was written by the band's keyboardist Jimmy Destri, who had also penned some of their earlier hits such as "Atomic". A line from the song: "...like a millionaire/walking on imported air", was used in a previous Blondie track, "Walk Like Me", from the albumAutoamerican. In the UK, "Maria" was released as a two-CD set, the first containing remixes of the song, and the second containing live versions of "Screaming Skin", and their very first hit single "In the Flesh". Both were recorded during Blondie's No Exit Tour. The song gave Blondie their sixth UK number-one single. Topping the singles chart in February 1999, the release of "Maria" came exactly 20 years after Blondie's first number-one hit, "Heart of Glass". "Maria" also topped the charts in Greece and Spain, and was a top 10 hit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. In the US, however, "Maria" was not a successful hit for the band, stalling at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it did reach number 14 on the Adult Top 40 listing. The song was included on the 2014 compilation albumGreatest Hits Deluxe Redux. The compilation was part of a 2-disc set called Blondie 4 Ever, which included their tenth studio album, Ghosts of Download, and marked the 40th anniversary of the band's formation.
Critical reception
Billboard described the song as a "delectable track" and a "skillfully arranged array of passionate Debbie Harry vocals, great guitar and drum thrusts, and neat harmonica passages that climb into the toll of cathedral bells." They also noted further that "all these touches are in the service of a cool rock/pop intelligence powered by the street smarts that are the Blondie trademark."
Music video
The music video for "Maria" was directed by Roman Coppola, and is set in New York City. Parts of New York through night-vision goggles are seen before zooming into an apartment where Blondie are performing. Mysterious dark-clothed individuals are seen spying around different buildings setting up spy equipment. Toward the end of the video, one of the dark-clothed individuals aims a sniper rifle towards lead singer Deborah Harry, and fires a bullet at her. Smashing through a window, a light bulb and the microphone, Harry simply grabs the bullet from the air and examines it as the surveillance systems are switched off.
Release history
All tracks written by Jimmy Destri unless otherwise noted. UK CD 1
