"Rapture" is a single by the American new wave band Blondie.
It was released in January 1981 and became one of the first
substantial hit singles to involve rap music, and the first
rap-influenced single to reach number one on the US Billboard
Chart. It was the second and final song to be released from the
band's 1980 album
Autoamerican, the first being "The Tide Is High", which
had topped the chart in the US and UK. "Rapture" went on to
reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number one on
the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and number five in
the UK singles chart. The B-side was "Walk Like Me", also from
Autoamerican. The song was the first #1 hit in the U.S.
to feature rapping.
It was Chic's track "Good Times" that inspired Debbie Harry
and Chris Stein to write "Rapture".
Rapture is a combination of New Wave pop, funk, jazz and rap
music, with the rap section forming an extended coda. While it
was not the first single involving rap to be successful, it was
the first to top the charts. The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 hit
"Rapper's Delight", a straightforward rap track based on the
backing track of Chic's "Good Times", reached #36 on the U.S.
Hot 100 chart and was certified Gold. Kurtis Blow's "The
Breaks" was released in 1980, and became the second rap single
to be certified Gold. The lyrics of "Rapture" included
references to hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster
Flash.
Debuting in 1981, the music video was the first rap video
ever broadcast on MTV. Set in the Upper East Side, the "Man
from Mars" or "voodoo god" (dancer William Barnes in the white
suit and top hat) is the introductory and central figure.
Barnes also choreographed the piece. The final shot is a
one-take scene of Debbie Harry dancing along the street,
passing by graffiti artists, Uncle Sam, a Native American and a
goat. Fab Five Freddy and graffiti artists Lee Quinones and
Jean-Michel Basquiat make cameo appearances. Basquiat was hired
when Grandmaster Flash did not show for the filming.
The versions appearing on the U.S. and UK 7" and 12" singles
were quite different. The US 7" single, also issued with a
different cover picture, used the regular
Autoamericanalbum version, the US 12" single a version
with an additional verse partly in French, making it just 40
seconds longer. For the UK and international single releases,
producer Mike Chapman remixed the track completely. The Special
Disco Mix has a different intro and it was also given a longer
instrumental break with new percussion overdubbed, making it
ten minutes long. The UK 7" version (4:59) was an edit of this
Special Disco Mix, and a slightly different edit (5:33)
appeared on the band's first 'greatest hits' compilation
The Best of Blondiein 1981. The track "Live It Up" was
also extended and remixed for the B-side of the international
12" single, the 8 minute version was included on the deleted
1994 UK CD edition of
Autoamericanbut was re-issued as part of EMI's lavish 14
disc
Singles Boxin 2004.
The picture of Debbie Harry used for the UK/international
editions of the original 7" and 12" "Rapture" singles was later
used for the cover of 1995 compilation
Beautiful - The Remix Album.
Another official remix of "Rapture" can be found on the 1988
compilation
Once More into the Bleach. The track was remixed again
and re-issued as a single in both the UK and the US in 1994 and
included on compilations
The Platinum Collection,
Beautiful - The Remix Albumand
Remixed Remade Remodeled - The Remix Project.
Grandmaster Flash scratch mixed "Rapture" on his single "The
Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel". In
1996 Foxy Brown (featuring Jay-Z) used the song as the base for
her hit, "I'll Be". It was also sampled by Won-G for his single
"Caught up in the Rapture", and was interpolated by rapper
KRS-One on his 1997 single "Step into a World (Rapture's
Delight)". In 2000 it was sampled once more by Glamma Kid on
his single "Bills 2 Pay". In that same year Destiny's Child
sampled it on their single "Independent Women Part I". The song
was also sampled by The Jungle Brothers in the song "In Days 2
Come" from the album "Done by the Forces of Nature". Elements
of "Rapture" were recreated for the Joe Pesci song "Wise Guy",
in which he raps in-character as Vincent LaGuardia Gambini from
the film
My Cousin Vinny.
English synthpop duo Erasure covered "Rapture" on the US
version of their 1997 album
Cowboy, with Vince Clarke providing the rap.
In 2004 at VH1's annual Diva's Live concert, Debbie Harry
performed "Rapture" with rapper Eve who performed her own
original rap.
At the 2003 Brit Awards Justin Timberlake performed part of
the song with Kylie Minogue singing the rap, as the finale of a
medley including his hit songs Cry Me a River and Like I Love
You. During their raunchy routine Timberlake infamously touched
Minogue’s behind. The performance reportedly caused a dispute
between Minogue and her then-boyfriend, model James Gooding.
The much-publicised bottom grope was later revealed to be a
part of the sequence’s planned choreography.
In 2005 "Rapture" was fused with The Doors' "Riders on the
Storm" into "Rapture Riders" by Go Home Productions. This
unofficial mashup remix was later approved to be included on
Blondie's
Greatest Hits: Sight + Sound/
Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision. The song was a Top 40
hit in Australia and made the top ten on the U.S. Hot Dance
Club Play chart.
Chilean musician Nicole also did a cover of this song in
2006, included on her album
APT. Dub Pistols covered the song for their 2007 album
Speakers and Tweeters, featuring Terry Hall from The
Specials at the vocals.
US 7" (CHS 2485, January 1981),
US 12" (12 CHS 2485, January 1981),
UK 7" (CHS 2485, January 1981),
UK 12" (CHS 12 2485, January 1981)