| Island of Lost Souls | |
| Cover: | Blondie_Island_of_Lost_Souls.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Blondie |
| Album: | The Hunter |
| B-Side: | Dragonfly |
| Released: | April 1982 |
| Recorded: | 1981 |
| Genre: | Calypso, pop, new wave |
| Length: | 3:49 (UK), 4:44 (US) |
| Label: | Chrysalis Records |
| Producer: | Mike Chapman |
| Prev Title: | Rapture |
| Prev Year: | 1981 |
| Next Title: | War Child |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
"Island of Lost Souls" is a song recorded by the band Blondie and released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, The Hunter, in April 1982.
Continuing the band's penchant for spanning different genres of music, including rock, disco, reggae and rap/hip-hop (all of which had given the band No. 1 hits), "Island of Lost Souls" saw Blondie delve into calypso music. The song was recorded in the autumn of 1981, and promotional copies of the single were sent to U.S. radio stations on 31 October 1981.
Upon its release in 1982, "Island of Lost Souls" was not one of Blondie's biggest hits, only reaching the Top 10 in Belgium, although it did top the Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary chart. It peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 (becoming Blondie's final U.S. Top 40 hit on that chart to date), and also reached No. 11 in the United Kingdom.[1]
The music video was filmed in the Isles of Scilly in the UK. It features three scenes interspersed with each other: a group of men dressed as undertakers in a Cornish gig boat, the band dressed in white monk robes (the members apart from Harry play horns and saxophones while wearing fish masks), and the band dressed as a Latin American band.
US 7" (CHS 2603, April 1982)
UK 7" (CHS 2608 & 7" Picture Disc CHSP 2608, April 1982)
UK 12" (12 CHS 2608, April 1982)
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 13 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[2] | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart[3] | 15 |
| UK Singles Chart[4] | 11 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] | 37 |
Brazilian singer and hostess Mara Maravilha recorded a Portuguese version of the song titled "Na Ilha dos Sonhos Perdidos", on her 1990 album Deixa a Vida Rolar.[6]