Blondie – Against The Odds 1974–1982

Mastering by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio
Numero Group | Released August 26, 2022

Numero Group has released Blondie: Against The Odds 1974–1982, the first fully authorized, career-spanning archival box set documenting the band’s original run—from their earliest recordings through the final studio album of the era.

Spanning 124 tracks, the collection brings together Blondie’s six studio albums alongside 36 previously unreleased recordings, including demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and newly uncovered material. More than a retrospective, Against The Odds functions as a deep archival map of one of the most influential bodies of work in American popular music.

Blondie’s Enduring Cultural Power

Blondie’s Against The Odds 1974–1982 documents a body of work that has become inseparable from the fabric of American popular music. Across punk, new wave, pop, disco, and early hip-hop crossover, Blondie didn’t simply reflect the musical moment of the late 1970s and early 1980s — they helped define it.

The songs remain omnipresent decades later. Tracks like “Heart of Glass,” “Rapture,” and “Call Me” continue to circulate across radio formats, film soundtracks, documentaries, and public spaces worldwide. The visual language of Parallel Lines remains instantly recognizable, while the music itself bridges underground credibility and mass-culture reach in a way few bands have ever achieved.

What makes Against The Odds essential is how clearly it traces that evolution. By pairing Blondie’s six core studio albums with demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and newly discovered recordings, the set presents a comprehensive view of how the band’s sound developed from early New York punk roots into a global pop force. It captures not only the hits, but the process — the experimentation, risk-taking, and stylistic range that allowed Blondie to move fluidly between genres without losing identity.

Taken as a whole, Against The Odds 1974–1982 functions as a musical genome map, showing how Blondie’s recordings became a lasting strand of American music’s core DNA — influential, adaptable, and still deeply embedded in everyday listening culture.

Mastering at Osiris Studio

All material in Against The Odds 1974–1982 was restored where needed and mastered by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio, working from new high-resolution transfers of the original analog tapes. As part of the transfer process, select tapes were processed using the Plangent Processes system, allowing for precise correction of time-base instability embedded in the original recordings. Addressing low-level speed fluctuations at the transfer stage helped restore pitch accuracy, transient clarity, and stereo stability before mastering, creating a consistent, preservation-grade foundation across recordings that span nearly a decade, multiple studios, and evolving production styles.

For Graves, the project carried particular significance. Working with recordings that have shaped multiple generations of listeners was both a technical and cultural responsibility and a personal honor—approached with the same care given to any historically important archive, but with a deep awareness of how embedded this music is in everyday life.

Newly uncovered tapes were integrated alongside long-circulating rarities, presenting the expanded program with clarity and balance while remaining faithful to the character and intent of the original recordings.

Vinyl cutting

The vinyl editions of Against The Odds 1974–1982 were cut by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road Studios, translating the newly mastered sources to lacquer across the collection’s multi-LP configurations.

Albums included (with original release dates)

Original studio albums

• Blondie — 1976

• Plastic Letters — 1977

• Parallel Lines — 1978

• Eat To The Beat — 1979

• Autoamerican — 1980

• The Hunter — 1982

Archival bonus discs compiled for Against The Odds

(Recorded during 1974–1982; assembled specifically for this collection)

• Plaza Sound — early recordings and sessions

• Parallel Beats — alternates, extended mixes, and experiments

• Coca Cola — session outtakes and unreleased material

• Home Tapes — demos and personal recordings

• Out In The Streets — 10" rarities collection

• “Moonlight Drive” b/w “Mr. Sightseer” — previously unreleased single

Credits (selected)

• Artist: Blondie

• Label: Numero Group

• Compilation Producers: Tommy Manzi, Steve Rosenthal, Ken Shipley

• Mastering: Michael Graves – Osiris Studio

• Vinyl Cutting: Geoff Pesche – Abbey Road Studios

Evan Toth talks with Michael Graves

By Michael Graves

I mastered Evan Toth’s excellent album, The Show, last year. After exchanging a few emails we realized that we have a lot in common and a lot to talk about. As luck would have it, Evan hosts a radio show on Fairleigh Dickinson University’s WFDU, 89.1 FM called The Sharp Notes, writes for The Vinyl District and hosts his own podcast. With the upcoming release of Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 we decided it was finally time set up the microphones, fire up the Zoom and do a proper interview. You can see the YouTube interview below and the Vinyl District audio only interview here. The radio show (here) is the same interview but he’s added some music that I’ve mastered into the conversation.

Michael Graves Joins GRAMMY Camp Lunch & Learn with L.A. Chapter Board

Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter board member Michael Graves, participated in the GRAMMY Camp Lunch & Learn on August 4, 2022, in Los Angeles, California.

Held at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center at USC, the private event brought together GRAMMY Camp students and members of the L.A. Chapter board for an informal mentoring session focused on building successful careers in the music industry.

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Career Mentorship for the Next Generation

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During the Lunch & Learn, Graves shared insights from his career in mastering, audio restoration, and archival work, emphasizing craft, collaboration, and long-term sustainability. Fellow board participants included Manny Marroquin, Claudia Brant, Loretta Muñoz, Julia Michels, Sara Gazarek, Jordin Sparks, Ericka Coulter, and Jeff Greenberg, offering students a wide range of industry perspectives.

Part of the GRAMMY Camp Experience

The Lunch & Learn is a key component of GRAMMY Camp, a highly selective educational program for high school students pursuing careers in songwriting, music production, and the music business. By pairing professional mentorship with informal conversation, the event provides students with real-world insight and meaningful industry connections.

Events like these reflect the Recording Academy’s commitment to music education and Osiris Studio’s ongoing support of the next generation of music creators.

Bobby Owsinski talks with Michael Graves on the Inner Circle Podcast

By Michael Graves

Back in 2001 when I was trying to figure out what exactly a mastering engineer does, I read Bobby Owsinski’s excellent book, “The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook.” I pored over every word. It gave me a solid foundation for the craft of mastering and set me on the road to what I do now. Bobby also produces a well-respected podcast for music industry people (any fan of music will appreciate it too).  This is me on that podcast talking about my career path and some of the tools and techniques I use.

New Blondie Box Set Announced

Here’s some good news: A Blondie box set is about to be released into the wild! And it is gorgeous. For the first time ever, Blondie’s first six albums and 4 LPs worth of bonus material are being given the deluxe box set treatment. Michael Graves had the honor of restoring and remastering every song on this set. Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 also marks the first time the band has approved new masters of their earlier work. Everyone involved in making this project happen really brought their best to the table. Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 will be released on August 26, 2022 on Numero Group and UMC. More details to come.

Baked Tape

Vintage weed! Oh, the things you find in old tape boxes. We work with a lot of archival tapes here at Osiris Studio and sometimes you find a surprise. I feel bad for the person who misplaced this little gem back in 1974. I’m sure they were looking forward to spending some quality time with it.

More Hasaan Ibn Ali

Pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali was a local Philadelphia legend who had an impact on John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner and many others. After the 2021 release of Ali’s once-thought-lost album, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album and the resulting joy and praise from jazz fans worldwide, Omnivore Recordings releases a second Ali album of unreleased songs that will forever cement his legacy the history of jazz. 

Retrospect In Retirement Of Delay: The Solo Recordings collects 21 informal solo recordings made by Alan Sukoenig and saxophonist David Shrier when they were students at the University of Pennsylvania in 1962.  Produced by the team of Sukoenig, Lewis Porter, and Cheryl Pawelski, the 2-CD/Digital or 4-LP vinyl version set also features restoration and mastering by Michael Graves. As Richard Brody writes in The New Yorker Magazine, “It does more than put him on the map of jazz history—it expands the map to include the vast expanse of his musical achievement.”

Erroll Garner — Liberation In Swing: Centennial Collection

Mastering Contributions by Osiris Studio
Mack Avenue Records | Originally released September 17, 2021

Released in celebration of the centennial of Erroll Garner’s birth, Liberation In Swing: Centennial Collection is a definitive archival statement documenting one of jazz’s most singular and joyful voices. Issued by Mack Avenue Records in collaboration with the Erroll Garner Project, the collection brings together Garner’s complete Octave Records catalog alongside newly issued and previously unreleased recordings, presented across a 12-CD Octave Remastered Series and companion formats.

Produced by Peter Lockhart and Steve Rosenthal, the Centennial Collection was newly transferred from the original analog master tapes using Plangent Processes, allowing for unprecedented pitch stability, timing accuracy, and low-level detail. From those transfers, the recordings were carefully mastered with an emphasis on musical feel, dynamic integrity, and historical authenticity.

Mastering for the collection was shared between Michael Graves (Osiris Studio) and Jessica Thompson (Jessica Thompson Audio), with each engineer responsible for distinct portions of the catalog.

Octave Remastered Series

Titles Mastered by Michael Graves (Osiris Studio)

• That’s My Kick (1960)

• One World Concert (1962)

• Liberation In Swing (1960)

• Feeling Is Believing (1960)

• Close-Up In Swing (1961)

• Gershwin & Kern (1964)

• A Night At The Movies (1964)

In addition, Graves mastered two Centennial-era companion releases:

• Sessions — A newly curated compilation of Garner originals drawn from the Octave Remastered Series, issued for the first time on vinyl

• The Final Concert Cassette — Garner’s final recorded performance, captured live at Mister Kelly’s in Chicago in 1975

Titles Mastered by Jessica Thompson (Jessica Thompson Audio)

• Dreamstreet (1961)

• Campus Concert (1963)

• A New Kind Of Love (1964)

• Gemini (1964)

• Up In Erroll’s Room (1965)

• Magician (1966)

Thompson also mastered one of the most historically significant recordings in the collection:

• Complete Symphony Hall Concert — A previously unreleased live performance recorded January 17, 1959, at Boston’s Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts

Critical Response

The Liberation In Swing: Centennial Collection was widely praised upon release for both its depth and sonic presentation:

“A revelatory deep dive into Erroll Garner’s genius — intimate, exuberant, and beautifully restored.”
— DownBeat

“The sound is astonishingly vivid. These transfers and remasters bring Garner closer than he has ever sounded on record.”
— The New York Times

“One of the most important jazz archival releases of the decade.”
— The Guardian

“A masterclass in how historical jazz recordings should be preserved and presented.”
— Pitchfork

A Centennial Statement in Sound

Spanning studio albums, live performances, orchestral sessions, and intimate trio recordings, Liberation In Swing: Centennial Collection offers a comprehensive portrait of Erroll Garner’s artistry. The use of Plangent Processes transfers, combined with meticulous mastering across the series, allows the music’s rhythmic elasticity, harmonic richness, and unmistakable swing to emerge with renewed clarity—without sacrificing the character of the original recordings.

For Osiris Studio, participation in this project reflects a broader commitment to historically informed mastering: preserving the emotional intent of the performance while presenting these recordings with the highest possible fidelity for modern listeners.

Liberation In Swing: Centennial Collection stands as both a celebration and a definitive reference point for Erroll Garner’s enduring legacy.

Women of the Records

When recording technology came to India in 1902 with the Gramophone Company from London, across the country--North, South, East, West, it was women who embraced this nascent technology. Most of them belonged to the courtesan community--the Tawaifs and Devadasis. Circumventing the social taboos against recording and the logistical & creative challenges involved, these women bargained terms and conditions with European agents. In just 3 minutes that a 78 RPM Shellac could hold, they presented a concise portrait of an art form as improvisatory and expansive as Indian Classical Music. Their records catapulted Indian classical and folk music from the closeted confines of salons, temples, theaters and royal courts to global mass media. It made super stars of many of these women who also negotiated hefty fees from the recording companies. India was soon to emerge as one of the major markets for the fledgling international music industry. But soon the virulent Anti-Nautch campaign branded all performing women as prostitutes; their stories and names were rubbished away into the dustbins of history and purged from national and musical consciousness. This work is a tribute and an effort to recreate the stories, the lives, the magic and the music of these stellar pioneers, but for whose brave efforts, Indian music and the music industry would not be where it is today.

Produced by Dr. Vikram Sampath and Ricky Kej, this set is comprised of 43 songs all newly transferred, restored and mastered by Michael Graves.

It’s a Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

By Michael Graves

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards were held virtually, so we had the unique experience of sitting on our living room couch while hearing our names called as we won this year’s GRAMMY Award for Best Historical Album.  No red carpet, no tuxedos, no gowns, but it was still thrilling as ever.  And because we were homebound, our dog, Otis, got to join in the celebration too!

The GRAMMY went to, Omnivore Recordings’, It’s Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers.  The album collects 23 songs from the beloved broadcaster (backed by long-time collaborator and pianist Johnny Costa, Carl McViker on bass, and percussionist Bobby Rawsthorne). Containing classics like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “You Are Special,” and the title track, this release also features five previously unissued tracks including the show’s original closer, “Tomorrow.”  Along with myself, fellow GRAMMY recipients were producers Cheryl Pawelski and Lee Lodyga. The award show was held March 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. and broadcast live on CBS.