Blondie's self-titled 1976 debut album is rightly celebrated for its mix of punk, proto-new wave and '60s girl-group sounds. It wasn't a commercial hit and didn't even make Billboard's chart, but it was a cornerstone record in the burgeoning New York scene that also included the Ramones, Talking Heads and Television.

So it's little surprise that singer Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clem Burke, keyboardist Jimmy Destri and bassist Gary Valentine were elated. Flushed with critical success, they returned to the studio for their second LP, Plastic Letters, in the summer of 1977 at New York's Plaza Sound.