You ever hear a song, think “that’s nice”, and file it away in your memory… and then hear the song years later and think “wow, that’s pretty cool!”
Such is the case with me and the song “Once I Had A Love” by Blondie. The song was the basis of the later megahit “Heart of Glass”. But whereas “Glass” was much influenced by the Disco movement, “Once I Had A Love” is more of a rock and roll song, with a nifty reggae\ska beat. Many of the sounds that would by made by synthesizers in “Glass” were made by guitars in “Love”. And, most interestingly of all, the words “heart of glass” do not appear in the original at all. Where Debbie Harry would later sing “had a heart of glass”, in this version it’s “was a thing of the past”.
Have a listen:
Also, I had no idea the line “soon turned out, to be a pain in the ass” (heard in both songs) was such a big deal back in the day. Apparently the song was banned from Australian radio completely. In the UK, the BBC demanded an edited version of the song, and when the music video was played on Top of the Pops it faded out before the last verse.