Parallel Lines is the third studio album by Blondie. It was released in September 1978 by Chrysalis Records

The idea for the sleeve was (the band’s manager) Peter Leeds’  idea, who saw Blondie as being Debbie Harry with a band. With her incredible voice and good looks, maybe that’s the way the public always saw Blondie too, but that wasn’t the way Harry or the band wanted it to be

When Parallel Lines was being recorded, the Machiavellian Leeds was well aware who his meal ticket was. “I was not fond of Peter”, Harry told Q magazine. “He told the boys that they could all be replaced; I was the only important one.” While the cover for Parallel Lines is widely regarded as an iconic classic, ironically for the band it’s a symbol of manipulation and contributed to the dropping of Leeds as manager. “I don’t think it’s a great design, personally,” says Harry

They all look like they’ve stepped out from a huge Bridget Riley Op-Art painting. Or is it piano keys? The typography is perfect for the sleeve and the era from which it came, the red matching Harry’s lipstick

Blondie were a punk band. Looking at the sleeve for Parallel Lines, you’d be excused for not realising it. Debbie Harry standing out in front of band in a dress that was a far cry from some of the outfits she’d been known for wearing on stage. The band is dressed in suits, and their ties create more parallel lines. The only clue that things might not be quite what they seem is the guys’ casual footwear

The story, revealed in Q’s “The 100 Best Record Covers of All Time,” is interesting and not what you’d expect. Apparently, the band were sold on the idea that they would fade in and out of the stripes, which was the one element they liked. The facial expressions – Harry’s sexy-as-hell scowl contrasted with the guys’ goofy grins – were also Leeds’ idea. According to Harry, he tricked them into pulling the expressions once and then proceeded to make the cover without showing them

“We were all taken aback, “Harry said. “The fact that the artwork had been finalized without our consent and that the decision had been made without the band’s involvement shocked us all. It was a clear indication that our creative input was not being fully respected”

It was the final straw, and Leeds was replaced by Alice Cooper’s manager, Shep Gordon. But at least the duo-chromatic cover, with the guys either predicting Reservoir Dogs or remembering the mod craze of the 60s, featured the whole band

They weren’t so lucky on the picture disc version of the album. Taken by British photographer Martyn Goddard, the image features Debbie licking the edge of a 12-inch vinyl LP, with a lipstick ‘kiss’ on the label