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One Record, Infinite Ripples: How 'Parallel Lines' Rewired the Rules of American Radio
Before 'Parallel Lines' landed in 1978, radio programmers operated on a strict set of unspoken rules about what kinds of records belonged on Top 40. Blondie didn't just break those rules — they made the people enforcing them look ridiculous for ever having believed in them. This is the story of how one album quietly dismantled the gatekeeping infrastructure of commercial radio.