The Tracks Across America Tour '82 was a
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
by the American band
Blondie in 1982. The tour supported their latest album, ''
The Hunter'' (the first tour since their European Tour in 1979-'80) and would be Blondie's last tour before disbanding in late 1982. The band would reconvene in the late 1990s.
Background
Though the tour nominally supported the album ''
The Hunter'', songs from ''
Autoamerican
''Autoamerican'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached in the UK charts, in the US, and in Australia.
Background
The album was a radical departure for the band, with the openin ...
'' (1980) also saw their first live performances as the band had not toured in support of that album. The non-album hit single "
Call Me" and
Debbie Harry's solo track "
Chrome" were also performed live for the first time.
For the tour,
guitarist Frank Infante was replaced with a
session musician Eddie Martinez due to Infante's conflicting relationship with other band members.
The tour also featured a
horn section
A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...
performing with the band.
Originally, the tour was supposed to have two legs, the second being in Europe with 41 dates in total, but the second leg was cancelled after slow ticket sales. Only 19 of the concerts (all in North America) were performed.
The show at the
Exhibition Stadium
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National E ...
in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada, which took place an 18 August 1982, was recorded and filmed for the broadcast on
HBO. Since then, it has been released several times as a semi-official
live album and on video (both on
VHS and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
).
The tour turned out to be unsuccessful for Blondie with shows taking place at half-empty venues.
[ Guitarist Chris Stein's health had been worsening during the tour. He was rapidly losing weight and shortly after the tour ended was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disease.][ Shortly afterwards, Blondie disbanded. They would not have any further live performances until a series of reunion concerts in 1997 and 1998.
]
Opening acts
* Duran Duran (August 2–18; Duran Duran did not appear with Blondie at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on August 21. Blondie were third on the bill of an all-day stadium show. The line-up that day consisted of Robert Hazard and the Heroes, A Flock of Seagulls, Blondie, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and Genesis.) [
]
Personnel
;Blondie
* Debbie Harry – vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
* Chris Stein – guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
* Clem Burke
Clement Burke (born Clement Anthony Bozewski; November 24, 1954) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer for the band Blondie from 1975, shortly after the band formed, throughout the band's entire career. He also played drums f ...
– drums
* Jimmy Destri
Jimmy Destri (born James Mollica, April 13, 1954, Brooklyn, New York City, United States) is an American musician.
Background
Destri is of Italian descent. His father was a novelist who also wrote screenplays and eventually advertising copy to ...
– keyboards
* Nigel Harrison
Nigel Harrison (born 24 April 1951) is an English musician. Harrison spent several years as the bassist of the American rock band Blondie during the 1970s and 1980s.
Life & career
Harrison grew up in Princes Risborough, a small town in the ...
– bass
;Additional musiciansEnd credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of ...
of ''Blondie Live it Toronto'' video
Setlist
Tour dates
Cancelled Shows
References
{{Blondie
Blondie (band) concert tours
1982 concert tours