Start date July 23, 1982 No. of shows 19 in North America Associated album The Hunter | Legs 1 End date August 21, 1982 Leg 1 | |
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The Tracks Across America Tour '82 is the last concert tour by American band Blondie during its original existence. The tour supported their latest album, The Hunter, and was the first tour since European Tour 1979-'80 which supported the 1979 album Eat to the Beat.
Contents
Background
Though the tour nominally supported the album The Hunter, songs from Autoamerican also saw the first live performances since there was no tour in support. Non-album hit single "Call Me" and Debbie Harry's solo "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 difficult relationship with other band members. The performances also featured a horn section playing with the band.
Originally, the tour was supposed to have two legs, the second being in Europe with 41 concerts total, but it was cancelled after slow ticket sales. Only 19 of the concerts (all in North America) were performed.
The show at the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Canada, which took place an 18 August 1982, was recorded and filmed for the broadcast on HBO. Since that is it has been released several times as a semi-official live album and a video album, both on VHS and DVD.
The tour turned out to be unsuccessful for Blondie with shows taking place at half-empty halls. Chris Stein's health has been worsening during the tour. He was rapidly losing weight and shortly after the tour 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.