When it comes to living pop icons, few can match Debbie Harry. A genuine symbol of pop culture, Debbie Harry contributed to the aesthetic in a way few can match. In a word, she has substance. These deep cuts celebrate what will be another big year for Debbie and her foils, Blondie.
Words & curation by Keith, cover art by Lina
With Blondie, Debbie Harry created a persona melded from the starlets of the silver screen and the steely determination of the feminist pioneers. Yet she lived up the persona in every way - that voice, those looks and that attitude. Debbie makes an art out of songwriting and performance. In a word, she has substance.
It might be said that Debbie’s solo music work is a let down, and she wouldn’t be the first and only iconic band leader to have a less than glorious solo catalogue (think Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger). Her 1981 debut, Koo Koo, was produced by superproducer Nile Rodgers (and his musical partner Bernard Edwards), but one of Rodgers' failures (he had more than you think). It spurred no real hits - the lead single ‘Backfired’ an unqualified flop given Debbie’s status at the time. In a way, Koo Koo revealed too much of Debbie for what she was - a little weird and ready to explore the edge of things (check out the album’s cover for a start). Koo Koo was a funk-rock-pop fusion - an early effort by Rodgers who went on to have massive successes doing something very similar with David Bowie and Madonna.
I was all-in on Debbie Harry’s solo stuff, and I bought her sophomore album Rockbird (1986) with hard earned pocket money. Unbelievably, Debbie had no record deal leading up to Rockbird. With Blondie disbanded after The Hunter (1982) and Koo Koo a commercial so-so, she had to charm a few ‘fanboy’ financiers and label execs to make another record with some muscle behind it. These days, she would no doubt be a prime mover in the indie scene, but it wasn’t an option in the 80s. Rockbird was another commercial failure, despite better singles (remember ‘French Kissin’ in the USA’?) and good critical reception. Debbie closed the 80s out as Deborah Harry, with a third solo outing ‘Deaf, Dumb and Blonde’ which spurred the minor hit single ‘I Want That Man’. The record was obviously closer in sound to Blondie (with Chris Stein more involved and Mike Chapman producing), perhaps hinting that she was ready to entertain the idea of Blondie making a comeback.
In her own words “the second half of the eighties had been pretty awful and sometimes downright diabolical”. However, the Blondie revival was still a decade away. After her third commercial bomb, I suppose Debbie did what many icons of the 80s did, muddle through the 90s in semi anonymous fashion, at least musically speaking (she was busy acting in a variety of film and TV projects). Her only solo LP of that decade was 1993’s Debravation - a huge production with an enormous cast of players and multiple producers. Like all her previous solo projects after Koo Koo, the album is a mish-mash of styles and inconsistent song quality - to the point where her label at that time rejected it and forced yet another round of remixes. It spurred an alternative version ‘the producer’s cut’: Debravation 8.5 (with the original mixes) which she released independently. It was Debbie’s last solo record until 14 years later - 2007’s Necessary Evil. Since then musically speaking, she has pretty much gone back to a pure focus on being the leader of Blondie. It is through that vehicle that Debbie has done her best work, including very recently - including 2017’s strong outing Pollinator.
Debbie/Deborah Harry’s solo catalogue remains an oddity really, a patchy - occasionally inspired collection that didn’t quite place her in a clear lane post-Blondie. But, Koo Koo in particular is worth a reevaluation and with luck, Blondie’s recent run of form will continue. Taken as a whole, her contribution to music and popular culture are colossal - is she quite possibly the greatest frontwoman ever? She should be handed the keys to New York and, better yet, she may still produce something special.
Debbie always kept the fan art that her fans posted or sent to her directly, much of which she published to illustrate her autobiography Face It. In that case, we hope she will approve of Lina Moon’s suitably fabulous portrait and animated gif.