Blondie Regeneration
 Following their success of 1978-80, Blondie took a brief break in 1981. That year, Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri both released solo albums; Stein helped out with Harry's album Koo Koo, and Burke with Destri's Heart on a Wall. Also in 1981, Blondie was offered the chance to perform the theme to the new James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. They were under the impression that they had been asked to compose the track as well, but when they presented their song to the film's producers, they learned the offer was to record the theme already written by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson. The producers rejected Blondie's song and passed the offer on to Sheena Easton, who had a top ten hit with the Conti/Leeson song. Blondie's composition for the film was, however, included on their next album.
The band reconvened in 1982 to record and release The Hunter. In contrast to their earlier commercial and critical successes, The Hunter generally received lukewarm-to-negative reviews, and failed to hit the top 20 in the US top charts. The album did spin off two fairly minor hit singles: Island of Lost Souls (#11 UK, #37 US), and War Child (#39 UK).
With tensions within the band on the rise due to the commercial decline and the constant press focus on Harry to the exclusion of the other band members, events reached a breaking point when Stein was diagnosed with the life-threatening illness pemphigus. In August 1982, Blondie canceled their tour plans early and announced their break-up.
Stein and Harry (at the time a couple) stayed together, and retreated from the public spotlight for a few years. After Stein recovered from his illness, Harry resumed her solo career in 1985, with active participation from Stein in all her recordings. Meanwhile, Burke became a much-in-demand session drummer (and played for a time with Eurythmics), and Destri also maintained an active career as a producer/session musician.
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