Uncut
September 2011
CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
Debbie Harry
Picture this: the Blondie frontwomah’s life through a lens…
“I’ve stayed glamorous because it’s my job!”
1. NEW YORK STATE, 1968
The Wind In The Willows, my first group. It’s such a long time ago, but I do remember where we shot that album sleeve. We went out to some mountain, and we were sitting among all these rocks and looking out over this vast wooded valley, and we were all tripping our asses off, as you can tell by the picture. It was a pretty baroque, ridiculous kind of folk-rock band. I was a back-up singer, and I just sort of fell into it.
2. PLAYBOY CLUB, NEW YORK, 1970
Me as a bunny girl. The opportunity to get that job arose, and I was curious about what it was all about. Waitressing there and at Max’s Kansas City later was just a means to an end. The end of the ’60s was a real cash economy, and being a bunny girl was decent money, I suppose.
3. CBGB’S, NEW YORK, 1974
The Stilettos. It was a girl trio with a rock band… that’s us with the New York Dolls [from right, Thunders, Kane, Sylvain, Nolan]. We did ok at CBGB’s, we had a good following. It was before punk rock, and CBGB’s was just small then. There were comedy acts, and our crazy friends – Tomato Du Plenty, Gorilla Rose, Babs The Stunt Girl. It was our vaudeville, where everyone in Blondie got it together.
4. CBGB’S, NEW YORK, 1975
This is a very early incarnation of Blondie, with Gary Valentine, Clem Burke, Chris Stein, and myself. We were going down all right, and CBGB’s was gathering momentum as a cool place to go. It was very underground. But we didn’t mean to stay there. Anyone who starts a band expects to be a huge star. We were already thinking of the visual and fashion side. I was inspired by the blonde movie superstars, who when I was young all seemed so beautiful and glamorous. I wanted to bring a movie image to the front of the band. I couldn’t really have done much else, when I think what women were doing in bands then. I was out of place in that respect.
5. NEW YORK, 1977
Joan Jett, myself, David Johansen and Joey Ramone. Nice picture: a nice bunch of rockers. We were pretty established by then, and I’d known those people for a while. David’s a street intellectual. I had known Joan from very early on. She played in a venue called My Father’s Place on Long Island with The Runaways, their first gig on the East Coast, and we drove out to see them. And every time we went out to LA we’d see Joan for sure. Being a glamorous rock frontwoman wasn’t accepted then, and I suppose Joan and I bonded on that.
6. NEW YORK, 1978
Slipping ol’ Stiv [Bators, singer of early CBGB’s punks The Dead Boys] a big one. [laughs] I liked Stiv a lot, he was a terrific guy, a great performer, and it was a real tragedy when he was gone [Bators died after being hit by a cab in Paris in 1990]. The Dead Boys were underrated. They did pretty well anyway, but they could have gone on to bigger and better things.
7. NEW YORK, 1978
That’s the Parallel Lines shoot. That was our big breakthrough, and it was open season on me once we got to that level of stardom. We were working all the time, and at high visibility. I think that’s a strain on anyone. Some people don’t give a hoot about walking around and being on the street, but there were times when it was not so great. How did I protect myself? I didn’t. There was really no way to.
8. TEXAS, 1980
Alan Rudolph’s film Roadie. We had a little cameo, and we performed the Johnny Cash song “Ring Of Fire”. Alice Cooper and Roy Orbison were in it, too. Meat Loaf played the lead, a trucker who becomes a roadie. We did some pictures fooling around with him and the midgets who were in the movie, too, but we didn’t really hang out. He was too busy. He was the star.
9. LONDON, 1980
The Muppet Show. The girl scout uniform wasn’t my idea. It was quite fascinating, and really unbelievable how when you were working with puppets, it really was like working with people. They had such personality. Miss Piggy actually would not perform with me. Frank Oz didn’t think it was right. I was really disappointed.
10. NEW YORK, 1981
KooKoo, my first solo album. HR Giger did that sleeve, and we made the videos together, too, on 16mm film. I met him when he came to collect his Oscar for the Alien artwork and the creature that he created, which he has not received enough credit for, and has been knocked off a ridiculous amount. His art is erotic, beautiful and strange, and goes right to the subconscious. You can’t imagine me being disturbed by much? You’re wrong about that.
11. NEW YORK, 1980s
Me having dinner with Andy [Warhol]. I took him out to a restaurant out in the Bronx, a very elegant, old-fashioned place up on a hill that had a total view of Manhattan. The food was nothing special, though. We went there with Victor Bockris and Chris [Stein]. Andy was a terrific influence on the New York scene and on a personal level to me, too, and very friendly to me and Chris. He didn’t especially open up to us. We had a friendship, but it wasn’t deep and personal. It was horrible the way he died [from complications after routine surgery in 1987].
12. NEW YORK, 1990
Me and Iggy Pop singing Cole Porter’s “Well Did You Evah”, for the Red Hot + Blue charity album. Iggy croons really well. He has an excellent voice, that he could do anything with. I haven’t heard his jazz album yet. I think he’s stayed pretty much the same all these years. I hope I have, too. That would be nice! [laughs] Life seems a lot easier for me now. I know more.
13. NEW YORK, 2011
Blondie today. Me and Clem [Burke, right] and Chris. We’re old pros now, so we’re really enjoying it. The new album Panic Of Girls has taken longer to get out than I would have liked and it’s an independent release, because it’s a different world today. As far as Blondie’s future, I’m living in the moment. I think that’s the smartest thing to do. I’ve stayed glamorous because I’m the frontperson. It’s part of my job.
