Blondie - The Tide Is High

'The Tide Is High' is a 1967 song written by John Holt and performed by The Paragons with John Holt as lead singer. Although originally released as an A-side in Jamaica on the Treasure Isle label it was relegated to the B-side of the 'Only a Smile' single for UK release a few months later.

The song features the violin of 'White Rum' Raymond and was popular in Jamaica and became popular amongst West Indians and skinheads in the UK when a deejay version by U-Roy was released in 1971. 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 British girl group Atomic Kitten also had a number 1 with their version of the song in 2002.

'The Tide Is High' was covered by US New Wave band Blondie in 1980, in a reggae/ska style that included horns and strings. It was released as a single, and appeared on the band's fifth album, Autoamerican. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and was popular outside the USA, reaching number one on the UK singles chart, number four in Australia, and number fifteen in the former West Germany. It was the last UK number one single for the band until 'Maria' in 1999. The B-side of 'The Tide is High' was 'Suzie and Jeffrey', which appeared as a bonus track on the original 1980 cassette edition of the album Autoamerican and was also included on EMI-Capitol's re-issue of Autoamerican in 2001.

Official remixes of the Blondie version have been issued twice. First by Coldcut in 1988 on the Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation Once More into the Bleach and the second time in 1995 by Pete Arden and Vinny Vero on the album Remixed Remade Remodeled - The Remix Project (UK edition: Beautiful - The Remix Album).

In November 1980, the song was played on radio stations across the state of Alabama in anticipation of a football game between University of Alabama, whose nickname is the Crimson Tide, and the University of Notre Dame.

In 1981, Swedish singer Siw Inger recorded a German language version of the song. Although the lyrics are not a direct translation, the vocal and instrumental arrangements are virtually identical.

In 1984, Nigerian singer Onyeka Onwenu covered the song for the album In the Morning Light. A year later, parts of this song were taken and used as a sample for Bryan Adams' "Reggae Christmas".

Click the link below to download the following:
Video
Single Version
Suzy And Jeffrey

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c34c005a756101ea2af0a154af670496da

Blondie - The Tide Is High - Video