Success came quickly for the talented Colbie Caillat. The fresh-faced Californian is a 21st century breakthrough, earning thousands of plays for her spare but catchy tune “Bubbly” through MySpace as an unsigned artist. The song’s online success led to a more traditional release when it was included on the album Coco in 2007. Caillat also found success with the single “Lucky,” a duet she recorded with Jason Mraz, and her song “Something Special” was recorded for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She cheekily addresses her good fortune with the title of her second album, Breakthrough. Platinum albums and Grammy Awards have followed for the young singer. Caillat’s ride in the music business wasn’t entirely out of the blue, though: Her father Ken Caillat is a record producer and engineer who worked on several seminal albums including Fleetwood Mac’sRumours.

Colbie’s youth is inspiring to choose “Maria” as her classic song, a track critically considered a comeback tune for the influential band Blondie. Led by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, Blondie was on New York’s punk scene in the mid-1970s before departing the underground with edgy urban new wave tunes like “Heart of Glass,” which was a No. 1 single in 1979. Seven more singles would chart between 1979 and 1982 prior to the band’s split. In 1998 Blondie reconvened and a new album, No Exit, followed a year later. It included “Maria’” with its soaring titular chorus, which Caillat found irresistible.