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Deborah Harry aka Debbie Harry: What do we know about her?

If not the absolutely greatest singer, she was once the coolest, sexiest woman in the world. Her and Chris Stein haven't been together romantically for 30 plus years. Does she have a man? A woman? Always thought she had a little lipstick lez thing going on. I like that she's rejected plastic surgery and is happy with looking like a real older woman (kinda like your boozy aunt Joan).

by Anonymousreply 165October 20, 2020 1:55 PM

Yes, she absolutely defined cool and sexy during her heyday.

by Anonymousreply 1March 25, 2018 9:47 PM

I thought she and Stein split up amicably years ago. No?

by Anonymousreply 2March 25, 2018 9:48 PM

A friend who was in the New York scene with her (and liked her) always said, "You can tell when Debbie was on heroin, because that was when she always looked great."

by Anonymousreply 3March 25, 2018 10:00 PM

She has completely had work done, but little bits here and there to enhance her natural beauty. That bone structure and those features should not be fucked with and will take her to the grave as a stunner, and she knows it.

by Anonymousreply 4March 25, 2018 10:04 PM

I know that, pre-BLONDIE, she was with a folk group called THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. She kind of tried to downplay that on her resume.

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by Anonymousreply 5March 25, 2018 10:15 PM

She said years ago that she's had dalliances with women, but no specifics. I don't think she is romantically attached and I get the impression she doesn't want to be.

by Anonymousreply 6March 25, 2018 10:25 PM

She's always been and always will be a great person. I see her around NYC all the time. Very cool - not a diva bone in that body. One of the good ones for sure considering all the shit she's been through.

by Anonymousreply 7March 25, 2018 10:40 PM

Wouldn't you, r5?

by Anonymousreply 8March 25, 2018 10:45 PM

It's cool that she never wanted to get married or have kids. I remember this exchange from an interview Debbie and Chris Stein did as a couple at the band's peak success:

Chris: I'd like to have kids, if it were up to me.

Debbie: Well, it isn't.

by Anonymousreply 9March 25, 2018 11:24 PM

She actually has quite a good voice, though it's not always obvious with her Blondie work.

by Anonymousreply 10March 25, 2018 11:31 PM

One of the greatest stars that ever lived. Pure charisma. If I were a girl, I'd want to look like that.

by Anonymousreply 11March 25, 2018 11:35 PM

Don't forget she was Miss Soft Crab of 1945!

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by Anonymousreply 12March 25, 2018 11:48 PM

Their last album was great, very hard rock. I have not played it that much as they are so old now and it will seem strange that we might not have any new material from them in a few years time. They had a spectacular ride I always liked her more obscure work. If "The Hunter" had been released a couple of years later with Madonna's name on it it probably would have been hailed as a masterpiece.

by Anonymousreply 13March 31, 2018 3:52 PM

The band is going on tour again and I'm looking forward to seeing them near where I live in August.

I think she has aged fairly gracefully, and love that she still can get out there and do it. Very appreciative of fans, I hear.

by Anonymousreply 14March 31, 2018 4:03 PM

An interesting mini-doc on the making of "Heart of Glass", Blondie's biggest ever hit.

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by Anonymousreply 15March 31, 2018 4:10 PM

My brother had a brief affair with her in the mid-90s. He was a pretty big model for a hot second and they walked the runway for a Kenzo show together. He said she was really cool - but then she kinda tossed him to the side when she was done and was a little bitter. Ha. He said her apartment was really fucking amazing.

by Anonymousreply 16March 31, 2018 4:19 PM

What was the sex like, R16? Details!

Is DH a good cocksucker? Into anal?

by Anonymousreply 17March 31, 2018 4:30 PM

"If "The Hunter" had been released a couple of years later with Madonna's name on it it probably would have been hailed as a masterpiece."

I don't agree. I was a huge Blondie fan at the time and I bought the album the week it came out. I thought "The Hunter" was mediocre then, and still do. I bought the CD when it came out a dozen or more years ago, hoping I was wrong, but I wasn't. If it had been a lazy, but deliberate cash-grab like Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage" was, I would have been fine with it (wjp were trying to regain their "Rumours" status after the relative failure of "Tusk.") But "The Hunter" was just just a muddled mess of an album. Part rap, part new wave, part dance music. And none of the songs were any good. Even "DRagonfly," the song that most critics said was the best on the album, wasn't that great. I play Blondie CDs at home all the time, but I never play this one because it's just not good.

by Anonymousreply 18March 31, 2018 4:30 PM

Debbie and Blondie performing "Atomic" at Glastonbury, summer 2014. A big hit in the UK and Europe but not so much in the US in its original release. I had the 45 in the picture sleeve, in high school, and wish I still did.

More than a decade later, the song was remixed and became a dance-club hit, even charting again.

At Glastonbury, to be honest, Deb looks a bit terrified at first to be in front of such a huge festival crowd, but she clearly receives the love from fans and gains strength as it goes along. Good for her.

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by Anonymousreply 19March 31, 2018 4:51 PM

Definitely one of the coolest rocker women out there. Effortless cool.

by Anonymousreply 20March 31, 2018 4:52 PM

She thinks that Ted Bundy tried to abduct her in the early 70s on the way to a party.

She got in the car with a guy to give her a ride to the party and she swears up and down that years later after she escaped from the car she saw his picture on television and said that that was the man.

The FBI says that it’s very common for women to recall guys that were creeps to them around that time and linking them in with Bundy and said that there was no reason to think that he was in the NYC area at the time.

by Anonymousreply 21March 31, 2018 4:58 PM

Blondie released a musical sequel to Heart of Glass called "Long Time" last year.

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by Anonymousreply 22March 31, 2018 5:03 PM

I absolutely love her "Def, Dumb and Blonde' album from 1989. It really captures what people loved about her in Blondie but it's also a good solo vehicle for Debbie/Deborah, who never was able to carve out a strong solo career. The title of course would never be allowed today.

It's also impressive that when Blondie were in their heyday in the late '70s/early '80s, Harry was in her mid-30s. That would never happen today for a female pop star.

"I Want That Man" is a fun song

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by Anonymousreply 23March 31, 2018 5:03 PM

“Her and...”?

OP, get some skills.

by Anonymousreply 24March 31, 2018 5:07 PM

R24 soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.

by Anonymousreply 25March 31, 2018 5:15 PM

Their attempt to do a James Bond theme was rejected -- but it's still the best song on "The Hunter", really great. Debbie still says theirs is better than the Sheena one ultimately used.

("The Hunter" sounds better now than it did then but still a mess. A couple of great songs thrown into the mix, though I can't remember my other favorite right now, similar to "For Your Eyes Only" above).

by Anonymousreply 26March 31, 2018 5:17 PM

Skip the opening and you get one of the best Blondie songs ever made. "Angels on the Balcony" from Autoamerican. Should've been a single. 1980 when the band peaked saleswise. ("The Tide is High" and "Rapture" was the final straw for diehard original fans unfortunately, I think).

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by Anonymousreply 27March 31, 2018 5:20 PM

R17 = pornsick straight man

by Anonymousreply 28March 31, 2018 5:24 PM

Deborah's film debut was Union City in 1980, and she replaced Meryl Streep in the part. Disney was interested in working with her in the early days because of her beauty. So was George Lucas. She turned down the role of Dorothy Vallens in Blue Velvet (which David Lynch had written specifically for her) because she starred in the bondage themed Videodrome a few years earlier. She also turned down the Daryl Hannah part in Bladerunner because she was preparing to develop and star in her own remake of Alphaville which did not eventuate.

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by Anonymousreply 29March 31, 2018 5:37 PM

Deborah did not really have terrific sense of fashion early on. Stephen Sprouse played a really big part in crafting her look. Also Halston (the white Parallel Line dress). They polished up her "second hand rose" look and found inspiration in the mundane. The Denis swimsuit was based on something Sprouse found in his landlords dumpster. He developed multiple versions of a stenographers outfit (day-glo yellow, black, purple) and the Heart of Glass dress with its tv scan lines and later the military stuff.

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by Anonymousreply 30March 31, 2018 6:45 PM

Her look was so refreshing after years of hippie-gypsy chicks in rock.

by Anonymousreply 31March 31, 2018 6:48 PM

I remember reading a cover story in Rolling Stone about Madonna, and in the lengthy interview, Madge spoke about owing a debt to, admiring and hoping to get to meet Debbie Harry. This was around 1983-84, I think.

I wonder if that meeting ever happened.

by Anonymousreply 32March 31, 2018 7:07 PM

I never knew Debbie turned down Bladerunner. God, she would've been SO much better than Daryl Hannah! A shame she didn't do it.

by Anonymousreply 33March 31, 2018 7:38 PM

I remember thinking she was one of the most effortlessly beautiful woman of the 70's and 80's - there weren't many women that looked like that. And she was a rocker and had an attitude.

She 100% got a facelift about 15-20 years ago - she admits it and says it was needed for her career. But she's been conservative about new treatments.

Apparently after supporting Chris Stein through his longtime illness, they split - amicably. But she wasn't in great financial shape in late 80's, early 90s. A friend in NYC went to a dinner party and overheard someone talking about how they had to loan her money.

Love that woman. One of a kind.

by Anonymousreply 34March 31, 2018 7:47 PM

I love Blondie more than anything, but The Hunter is garbage. Except for the title track (a cover) and For Your Eyes Only.

And they didn't even bother to record For Your Eyes Only properly — they just slapped on the demo they submitted for the Bond film. The whole album was a non-effort.

They all hated each other, Debbie hated her Blondie image, and they were over the band. But the record company threatened to sue if they didn't release the last album on their contract, so they were like, "Oh yeah? Well, here you go then."

by Anonymousreply 35March 31, 2018 8:07 PM

I once hear her on the radio say "At the end of the day, I prefer men."

by Anonymousreply 36March 31, 2018 8:35 PM

What does she prefer at the beginning of it, r36?

by Anonymousreply 37March 31, 2018 10:14 PM

Ah, yes, "English Boys", another track off "The Hunter" that I loved.

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by Anonymousreply 38March 31, 2018 11:00 PM

Gorgeous. One of their best.

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by Anonymousreply 39March 31, 2018 11:06 PM

Playboy Bunny

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by Anonymousreply 40March 31, 2018 11:13 PM

I even like her work on that Wind in the Willows album. Very '60s, of course, but she sounds lovely on it. The album is better than you'd think though it veers a little into "A Mighty Wind" territory at times.

by Anonymousreply 41March 31, 2018 11:16 PM

[quote] She thinks that Ted Bundy tried to abduct her in the early 70s on the way to a party. She got in the car with a guy to give her a ride to the party and she swears up and down that years later after she escaped from the car she saw his picture on television and said that that was the man.

She also claimed that Phil Spector pulled a gun on her years before he killed actress Lana Clarkson. Apparently Debbie has been writing her biography for a few years now so I hope she can elaborate on some of these.

by Anonymousreply 42April 1, 2018 1:57 AM

r33 yeah she ad Rutger Hauer would have been quite a pair.

by Anonymousreply 43April 1, 2018 2:04 AM

One of Blondie's earliest press clippings in 1975, refers to "her" name as Blondie.

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by Anonymousreply 44April 1, 2018 2:07 AM

Blondie's cover of Rolling Stone was HOT SHIT.

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by Anonymousreply 45April 1, 2018 2:15 AM

The article that went along with the RS cover chronicles what a spectacular hot mess Blondie was at the time. Deborah painted as neurotic and cold, an image that kind of stuck with her for a while. She always HATED that interview.

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by Anonymousreply 46April 1, 2018 3:06 AM

Lots of drama.

by Anonymousreply 47April 1, 2018 4:04 AM

Their manager really screwed them over.

by Anonymousreply 48April 1, 2018 4:37 AM

True, Deborah was ruthlessly screwed over by her managers. The contract she signed in 1973/4 is probably still being unraveled by her lawyers to this day. That's why Blondie re-recorded their great hit collection several years ago because it gave them a much fairer share of the marketing royalties.

In the early 90s the manager took her to court again claiming that per contract, he was due a large portion of her solo earnings as well. At the same time her US and UK record company washed its hands of her as they started aggressively marketing Blondie's back catalogue.

by Anonymousreply 49April 1, 2018 5:13 AM

I still can't believe Chuck Lorre - yes, THAT Chuck Lorre - wrote French Kissin' in the USA.

by Anonymousreply 50April 1, 2018 5:22 AM

I think DH is cool as fuck, and I like Blondie, but I've never loved Blondie. I feel like I should (primarily because she's so fucking cool), but in every genre they dabbled in - rock, new wave, disco/dance, pop -- there's multiple bands that are way better. A few great songs, but a great band in a straight musical sense?

by Anonymousreply 51April 1, 2018 5:29 AM

Oh by the way, she was adopted.

by Anonymousreply 52April 1, 2018 5:37 AM

Does that matter?

by Anonymousreply 53April 1, 2018 5:42 AM

Jimmy Destri was frigging cute.

by Anonymousreply 54April 1, 2018 5:45 AM

Deborah's solo record Rockbird ('87) and The Curse of Blondie ('03) both have a similar kind of feel. Both failed to connect with a larger audience and sold quite poorly, yet both yielded top 20 singles in the UK. Both are brash and confidant and overloaded with electronica, and they are really stunning in an eclectic kind of way. Deborah's voice is beautiful on both records and (unlike some of their records) they're filled with hooks and melodies.

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by Anonymousreply 55April 1, 2018 5:54 AM

Friend saw her in concert recently. She forgot lyrics and appeared to be under the influence of something. Big disappointment since he idolized her.

by Anonymousreply 56April 1, 2018 7:03 AM

She had sex in the disgusting bathroom of CBGBs.

by Anonymousreply 57April 1, 2018 7:05 AM

[quote]Jimmy Destri was frigging cute.

He was. And he was also an excellent songwriter as well.

His little kid sister was Donna "Madonna stole my career!" Destri.

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by Anonymousreply 58April 1, 2018 7:07 AM

I want to hear more goss from the brother of the male model who fucked her in the '90s.

by Anonymousreply 59April 1, 2018 7:08 AM

Lots of people forget or don't even know of her more experimental, art-music cred--she did a weekly residency for years with the avant Jazz Passengers. Of late has also done the cabaret chanteuse thing in stints at Café Carlyle. Very cool dame indeed.

by Anonymousreply 60April 1, 2018 7:20 AM

Oh Jimmy

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by Anonymousreply 61April 3, 2018 4:06 AM

I wonder if Debbie ever got wasted and rode that dick. Jimmy was only 19 when he joined the band.

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by Anonymousreply 62April 3, 2018 4:08 AM

Patti Smith must have hated her back in the day. Debbie was not only a knockout beauty, but she could sing too.

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by Anonymousreply 63April 3, 2018 4:35 AM

So I always wondered - was that thing around her arm to dab the blood from shooting up?

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by Anonymousreply 64April 3, 2018 4:48 AM

She said she never shot heroin; she snorted.

by Anonymousreply 65April 3, 2018 4:56 AM

Hmm, R65, she was an addict, wasn't she? Addicts usually go from nose to mainline at some point.

by Anonymousreply 66April 3, 2018 4:58 AM

She had a great look. Quintessentially "hot" chick. Maybe not always "beautiful" but always hot and sexy, and unique. And she never looked like a girl. She was a "broad," a mature looking woman, but not in a bad way.

by Anonymousreply 67April 3, 2018 5:02 AM

I remember back in the late 70's when wild rumours were around suggesting that she was Marilyn Monroe's daughter. She was the epitome of effortless cool. Stunning and talented. Love this chick.

by Anonymousreply 68April 3, 2018 5:22 AM

[quote]she did a weekly residency for years with the avant Jazz Passengers

That album she did with the Jazz Passengers was great and should have got more attention. She was an ace jazz chanteuse. It really made me realize what a strong and versatile singer she could be.

by Anonymousreply 69April 3, 2018 6:09 AM

One of the most beautiful tracks she ever sang is a jazz one. It's one that she didn't write herself, it was written by her jazz partner Roy Nathanson. It's a lush ballad from the perspective of a female suicide bomber.

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by Anonymousreply 70April 3, 2018 6:28 AM

[quote]She said she never shot heroin; she snorted.

Keith Richards says the same thing, not sure I believe either of them. Big waste of money if true.

by Anonymousreply 71April 4, 2018 3:37 AM

I just put two and two together: Michelle Pfeiffer, who burst onto the scene looking exactly like Debbie in Grease 2, played her role in the Hairspray remake. Inspired or lazy casting?

by Anonymousreply 72April 4, 2018 3:39 AM

When I was a kid I read in Trouser Press that she was into drugs and group sex. Imagine that, Debbie going threeway! I wonder how many of her band mates got to fuck her. I don't think she did groupies though(!)

by Anonymousreply 73April 4, 2018 4:34 AM

Remember when she stormed the stage at Wigstock in '94 and lost the blue Cleopatra wig? Set up or not, it was not her finest moment.

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by Anonymousreply 74April 6, 2018 1:43 PM

OP: .....SHE and Chris Stein....not "her". (Quel horreur)

by Anonymousreply 75April 6, 2018 1:58 PM

Patti Smith hated Debbie Harry. She tried to steal Harry's drummer Clem Burke. She also advised Harry to get out of the music business, as only one woman from the New York scene was going to make it and that woman was going to be Patti.

by Anonymousreply 76April 6, 2018 2:14 PM

Patti Smith sounds like a bitch.

by Anonymousreply 77April 6, 2018 2:24 PM

Patti Smith was insanely jealous of Debbie Harry, because Debbie was so hot. Nobody has ever wanted to fuck Patti.

by Anonymousreply 78April 6, 2018 5:57 PM

Watch her in that documentary they did on her and see her smiling like some housewife, I think on a carnival ride with her daughter. It looks so phony, so not her. So weirdly staged. The music is still good though.

by Anonymousreply 79April 6, 2018 6:48 PM

Patti Smith was an ugly jealous bitch.

by Anonymousreply 80April 6, 2018 6:50 PM

History will say

Debbie kicked ass for decades

Keep going, Blondie

by Anonymousreply 81April 6, 2018 7:25 PM

It's 30 years since Debbie had her first full face lift. Although, she started having cosmetic procedures in 1985 and has various tweaks and treatments very regularly. She has had a lot of work on her neck this last decade (non invasive).

by Anonymousreply 82August 6, 2019 10:02 AM

Andy Warhol called her the original Madonna.

by Anonymousreply 83August 6, 2019 10:33 AM

Her singing was fantastic. I would love to soar like she did.

by Anonymousreply 84August 6, 2019 10:42 AM

I’m looking forward to reading her memoir Face It, which will be out in a few months.

by Anonymousreply 85August 6, 2019 10:44 AM

R82 Prior to even 1980 she had things done. She was a beautician before her music career. Since she started late in the music business and was interested in prolonging the longevity of her looks she was one of the youngest people to have live cell injections into her face. These were cells harvested from the embryos of "black sheep" and injected in a clinic in Switzerland. Also, to stay thin she hardly ate throughout Blondie, living on almonds with the occasional melon ball or cup of yogurt.

by Anonymousreply 86August 6, 2019 11:25 AM

Harry is a pretty fascinating character, with flashes of wild success but uneven as singer and actress. Seeing her up close a few times, she seems very sweet but spacey. The band Blondie had a resurgence with No Exit in 1998, and it is a very good album. Curse of Blondie was also good, and very eccentric in a nice way. I lived in France when The Curse was released and caught their tour there in support of it.

Harry is in some ways an icon of imperfection. I admire the risks she took in trying all genres of music. On film, it looks like directors were attracted to her as a presence, yet struggled to get coherent performances out of her. There must be a lot of unusable footage of her. Her acting is oddly mechanical, and that worked better in some films than others. She is less pretentious than Patti Smith, who seems wildly overrated as a writer and intellectual. Harry seems less self-important than Smith. I think they hate being compared, and probably hate each other, too. The performance artist Penny Arcade has some interesting comments on Patti Smith in the book Please Kill Me.

by Anonymousreply 87August 6, 2019 11:56 AM

[quote] On film, it looks like directors were attracted to her as a presence, yet struggled to get coherent performances out of her. There must be a lot of unusable footage of her.

Early on she had trouble keeping her head still while the camera was on her. Later, she did get better at acting in more naturalistic roles, like as the waitress in Heavy opposite Shelley Winters. She was actually good as the phone sex worker in the B-thriller Intimate Stranger.

by Anonymousreply 88August 6, 2019 12:20 PM

R88 Heavy is one excellent example of her more effective film roles.

by Anonymousreply 89August 6, 2019 12:23 PM

[quote]Quel horreur

Did you really have to add an horror to make up for another horror? It's "quelle horreur"!

by Anonymousreply 90August 6, 2019 12:51 PM

I loved Blondie at the time, even though their catalogue has a lot of dreck in between the hits. I'll have to read her book. She wasn't the most talented vocalist or even the most beautiful woman (had a GREAT look though and used makeup well), but she really got the most out of the tools she had which I almost respect even more. In terms of her acting, Heavy was probably her best performance but I love her small roles in two Isabel Coixet films (My Life Without Me, and Elegy). The most natural and realistic she has been on-screen.

Also, I don't know what the Patti Smith comparisons in this thread are all about... aside from both being NYC women in roughly the same era, they are entirely different in terms of musical genre (despite being under the broad umbrella of 'rock'), style, look, appeal, etc. Their respective audiences / fanbases are like day and night, and I doubt even the music press compares the two.

I don't think Deb is jealous of Patti - not only because she's more attractive like the shallow fucks in this thread have suggested, but because she's spent her life a lot better off financially than Smith ever was. And I don't think Patti is jealous of her either, not only because she seems like an amiable person (sometimes boringly so), but because she seems happy with her lot as a respected lyricist, poet and author. She lives her private life with the kids, does a couple of concerts a year, and shows up to literary events to honour Bob Dylan. She had one iconic album but no real hit singles.

Blondie were a BIG record label band, with chart hits, music videos, magazine covers, and constant touring. The two ladies were in completely different lanes and still are today.

by Anonymousreply 91August 6, 2019 1:49 PM

My absolute favorite song of hers.

by Anonymousreply 92August 6, 2019 2:13 PM

Oops

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by Anonymousreply 93August 6, 2019 2:14 PM

She's finally addressing her 'wilderness' years in the mid 80s in her new book 'Face It' It's very sad.

by Anonymousreply 94August 6, 2019 2:47 PM

Have your read the book already, R94?

by Anonymousreply 95August 6, 2019 4:08 PM

She did a great job in “My Life Without Me” (which was a bit sappy), playing Sarah Polley’s blue-collar mother. Very small part, but she was solid.

by Anonymousreply 96August 6, 2019 4:22 PM

I love her in "Hairspray." One of my favorite parts is when she puts on the Latex gloves to pop Amber's zit--she does it as if she's done it thousands of times before.

by Anonymousreply 97August 6, 2019 4:27 PM

Like Jefferson Airplane, Blondie’s internal culture was influenced mostly by the band member who was closest to the strong female lead singer. In Blondie, it was Chris Stein and Deborah Harry. Their relationship seems complex and codependent. As a couple they behaved disloyally to others in the band, probably most with Jimmy Destri, who gave the band their 2nd coming with their hit song Maria. Harry and Stein come off pretty miserably in different stages Blondie’s history, a lot of ego and insecurity and resentment for their management and the record labels who exploited them early in their career. Harry probably did better off financially because of her partial rights to some Blondie hits that were used in other projects. Their resurgence in 1998 with a live compilation CD called Livid was impressive, probably a high point in their history. A dvd of a concert at NYC’s Town Hall at that time was also amazing. Since that time, they’ve had a few good songs, but spread among a lot of mediocrity. They’re interesting failures, intermittently really good performers but also messy and self-pitying in spite of their successes. Harry said it herself in a VH1 documentary, calling them “the same old fuckups”.

But she’s still very cool for all her exploits (some damned good performances of Italian cinema classics, things like that). And she has a great face, and a giant exquisitely photogenic head. The photographer Mick Rock saw that, and published a huge book of photos, called Blondie Style, I think. On NPR’s Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed Mick Rock but seemed completely disinterested in Harry, even though he was promoting a book centered on her. It was odd. It’s like Harry’s career happened to her but she wasn’t always psychologically present in the experience. But she must have worked very hard, too.

by Anonymousreply 98August 6, 2019 5:43 PM

Overlooked gem.

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by Anonymousreply 99August 6, 2019 5:59 PM

Her "Desert Island Discs" is worth a listen:

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by Anonymousreply 100August 6, 2019 6:03 PM

Her contemporary Tina Weymouth rivaled her for coolness and talent:

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by Anonymousreply 101August 6, 2019 6:30 PM

[quote] Her and Chris Stein

Learn English, you frothing idiot.

by Anonymousreply 102August 6, 2019 7:33 PM

A simple "Oh, [italic]dear[/italic]" would have sufficed, Little Miss Anger Management Problems at r102.

by Anonymousreply 103August 6, 2019 7:36 PM
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by Anonymousreply 104August 6, 2019 7:41 PM
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by Anonymousreply 105August 6, 2019 7:44 PM

I always felt a bit sad that fame didn't come to her until she was 35, so she didn't get the real chance at movie stardom I think her looks and talent deserved. She didn't make a splash in film at all until Videodrome, and by then she was nearly 40.

She's 74 as of right now.

by Anonymousreply 106August 6, 2019 7:49 PM

Wasn't Chris Stein really ill for a number of years? Does anyone know what disease he had?

by Anonymousreply 107August 6, 2019 7:54 PM
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by Anonymousreply 108August 6, 2019 8:23 PM

Saw Blondie in concert 2 weeks ago at the tennis stadium in Forest Hills, Queens. She looked great and they sounded great as well. Set list:

Setlist Blondie Forest Hills Stadium 7/25/2019

One Way or Another

Hanging on the Telephone

(The Nerves cover)

Fun

Call Me

Maria

Too Much

Rapture

Old Town Road

(Lil Nas X cover)

Fade Away and Radiate

The Tide Is High

(The Paragons cover) (with Groove Is In the Heart by Deee-Lite)

Orchid Club

Atomic

Heart of Glass

(with a snippet of I Feel Love by Donna Summer)

Encore:

You're Too Hot

(Debbie Harry song)

Dreaming

by Anonymousreply 109August 6, 2019 8:33 PM

I've always liked her. I'm not a diehard fan of Blondie by any means, but many of their songs are indubitable classics. I love her voice, and always found it intriguing that she took up smoking cigarettes in her 40s; I suppose at that point, if you're going to be a smoker, the ailments that come with it probably won't get you until you're at the age of dying anyway.

I think she is a fantastic actress. She has done a lot of indie flicks outside her most iconic roles (i.e. "Videodrome"), and she is fantastic in all of them. I loved her performance in "Heavy," a '90s indie flick she did with Pruitt Taylor Vince, Liv Tyler, and Shelley Winters. She played a chain-smoking, bitter waitress at a diner in upstate New York. She was very authentic. She seems to me to excel in salt-of-the-earth roles like that. She played a similar character as the trashy mother of Sarah Polley in "My Life Without Me," another good indie flick with Scott Speedman and Mark Ruffalo.

by Anonymousreply 110August 6, 2019 8:44 PM

I was at that concert, R109. Too bad Forest Hills strict 10:00 PM curfew required both bands to cut 15 minutes out of their usual sets. Nice venue, but not for multi-artist concerts.

by Anonymousreply 111August 6, 2019 8:54 PM

I saw Blondie 2 summers ago at Bethel Woods (Garbage opened up for them and were terrific).

Debbie is really a camp act now. She was sort of singing and every now and then made slow dance-type movements. She did seem half out of it. But it was fun and I am glad they are able to make some money to help them in their elder years.

by Anonymousreply 112August 6, 2019 8:58 PM

Did Debbie sing ‘Maria?’ They were having guitarist Tommy Kessler sing it last I knew of. There was a reason for it, but I can’t remember what it was.

by Anonymousreply 113August 6, 2019 8:58 PM

Didn’t know Hanging on the Telephone was a cover.

by Anonymousreply 114August 6, 2019 8:58 PM

R107: he had the rare autoimmune disease pemphigus (blisters, potentially fatal). Debbie took care of him during his illness.

by Anonymousreply 115August 6, 2019 9:03 PM

Agreed r111, the curfew does suck.

Forgot to mention I met Cyndi Lauper at a local restaurant just prior to the show. She was a blast.

by Anonymousreply 116August 6, 2019 9:17 PM

R12 & R97 Harry was really a highlight in Hairspray. She was also really generous in her perceptions of Sonny Bono playing opposite her. Hairspray (and Serial Mom) are two mainstream Waters films that did respectably. Harry had some very good lines in Hairspray and made them work well. Her character’s sternness is very dark and funny, especially in one scene where she grabs Amber’s arm and scolds her (“No lip from you miss ingrate!”).

by Anonymousreply 117August 6, 2019 10:49 PM

R100 Interesting clip. She refers to herself as a recovered drug addict, speaks of exercising and health in her 60’s. The interviewer is obviously an admirer of Harry,. It’s also interesting that the image on the album Parallel Lines was chosen by her manager out of spite. Harry’s selections of songs are interesting. She has eclectic tastes in music.

by Anonymousreply 118August 6, 2019 11:08 PM

She did this stunning cover of a Teddy Pendergrass song on SNL.

Was so bummed that this wasn't on KooKoo, which was released a few months after.

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by Anonymousreply 119August 6, 2019 11:17 PM

R115 If by 'took care', you mean supplying herself and Stein with heroin in Lenox Hill then yes you are right. They both fell apart in early 1984. She really thought he was going to die.

by Anonymousreply 120August 6, 2019 11:32 PM

What do we know about her? She was adopted. She worked for a short time as a Playboy bunny. She's not a natural blonde. She was very devoted to Chris Stein and stuck by him throughout a serious illness he had. I never knew what she saw in him; he was a very unattractive guy. She's bi-sexual. She was a heroin addict. And she HAS had plastic surgery done.

I never found her that interesting. I thought her voice was average, but her model good looks helped Blondie get noticed. I never believed her story about being abducted by Ted Bundy. I tend to think the Phil Spector story is bogus, too.

Long ago I recall an interview where she was asked if she shaved or waxed her legs. She said she "plucked" them. With tweezers. By way of explanation she said "I like the pain. I like the slow approach." I guess she thought that was pretty cool. But it just seemed like something a druggie rock star would say.

by Anonymousreply 121August 6, 2019 11:40 PM

[quote]Wasn't Chris Stein really ill for a number of years? Does anyone know what disease he had?

LOVE'S VIGIL “I’ve put my life on hold till he’s well again,” says Harry, 39, sitting in the waiting room of New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital.

The transcript from Us Magazine in 1984, which was the first news anybody read about this sad time in Debbie Harry's life. I got this article from an amazing Blondie archival site that has almost every article ever printed about them from the mid-Seventies to today.

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by Anonymousreply 122August 7, 2019 1:00 AM

Debbie's stunning looks got their foot through the door with the recording industry, (she simply looked like a STAR,) but then they had the catchy pop songs to back them up anyway. Debbie turned her back on early 80s superstardom to care for her ailing husband, whoever that was, another member of the band. By the time she was ready for a comeback, Madonna had supplanted her.

by Anonymousreply 123August 7, 2019 1:59 AM

r122 Michael as a ladykiller and all his women, hilarious! Did anyone really buy that back then?

by Anonymousreply 124August 7, 2019 2:07 AM

[quote]Debbie's stunning looks got their foot through the door with the recording industry, (she simply looked like a STAR,)

Debbie Harry, Farrah and Dorothy Stratten were the 3 main sex-symbols who ushered in the brand new look for the Eighties. Happily, Debbie is still with us and is going great.

by Anonymousreply 125August 7, 2019 5:21 AM

R50, you forgot to link the (fantastic) song.

I'm a huge Harry fan. She's a New York legend and, by all accounts, a wonderful person.

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by Anonymousreply 126August 7, 2019 9:30 AM

The Hunter isn't half as bad as everyone claims. Half the songs on the LP are as good as anything the band had ever done. But the rest aren't, and the song order is a mess. Previous Blondie albums were jumbled style-wise and made it work, this one doesn't. Plus the sound recording sounds "off," like muffled or too quiet.

These are all very good Blondie songs:

"War Child" "Island of Lost Souls" (but it's a weird one, I can't believe this was released as the first single) "Danceway" "(Can I) Find the Right Words (To Say)" "English Boys" "For Your Eyes Only" (could have been pumped up in the studio though, or done another re-take) "The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game"

The rest are weak or sound unfinished. Unusual for a Blondie album. "Dragonfly" sounds like it could have been a good Blondie song... a weird funk/disco song about spaceship races with Debbie as the announcer. This was typical of an unusual idea that Blondie could often made work, but don't here. It sounds thin and sluggish.

I also always had a problem with the cover. I love Debbie's obnoxious wig and leopard skin dress, and she looks incredible... old school rock and roll Las Vegas-style camp. But the guys with those weird scratches on their faces, and that purple color scheme, and stupid hand-drawn lettering.

by Anonymousreply 127August 7, 2019 1:13 PM

Was "The Hunter" not released on CD in the 1980s? The earliest CD listing on Discogs is 1992.

by Anonymousreply 128August 7, 2019 1:21 PM

Worked with her once. Total bitch.

by Anonymousreply 129August 7, 2019 5:14 PM

R76 Was Rip Her To Shreds a Debbie song written from Patti's point of view?

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by Anonymousreply 130August 7, 2019 10:02 PM

She is now in her early seventies and says she is no longer bisexual because "of hormones", or the lack thereof.

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by Anonymousreply 131August 7, 2019 10:08 PM

Oh my God that US cover at 122 is hilarious!

by Anonymousreply 132August 7, 2019 10:34 PM

R129 That’s really interesting. It’s also why I never go near her when I see her in social settings. She seems really aloof, probably by necessity. I have another friend, also a style icon and famous for that, who tells me that it’s awkward when strangers or even acquaintances want equal shares of “face time” with notables who really just want to socialize on their own terms. It’s different at meet & greets, stage door appearances, etc., but at social events (especially when supporting another artist, musician or author), there is a social code of sorts. But in your particular case (bitchiness in a work setting) it sounds like basic unprofessionalism. Maybe you caught her on a bad day. I remember a journalist who did that once, and when Harry’s dog growled and tried to nip at the writer, Harry sort of smiled covertly. She’s kind of a weird wolf, cool and cynical and probably a little mean when she’s betrayed or let down. She affiliates more closely with visibly creative & countercultural types, and she can be really kind and generous with downtrodden misfits and punks. That’s admirable.

by Anonymousreply 133August 8, 2019 12:17 AM

She looks and sounds pretty cool in this clip performing “Mother”. I think that’s a dagger in her belt?

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by Anonymousreply 134August 8, 2019 12:26 AM

Phil Spector pulled a gun on John Lennon twice. There’s an actual list, which Debbie is on. I think waving a gun and sometimes firing it was the ‘Phil Spector’ way of showing love...and other emotions!

by Anonymousreply 135August 8, 2019 12:53 AM

It's rumoured Blondie will announce a final album and tour in 2020.

Before that, there's a boxset of the first 6 Blondie albums and rarities, and also Debbie Harry s autobiography.

by Anonymousreply 136August 11, 2019 5:01 PM

The boxset was supposed to be with Numero Music Group in the US but it seems to have gone rather quiet. I've no doubt it will come out in the UK, on UMC/Universal.

by Anonymousreply 137August 11, 2019 5:14 PM

The box set "The Complete Studio Recordings" should be released to coincide with Deborah's book. "Face It" was on Oprah's list of most anticipated must-reads of 2019, so if the fraus still follow her every word it should sell a decent amount.

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by Anonymousreply 138August 11, 2019 8:09 PM

An odd campaign for the boxset. A limited edition12" vinyl of Heart of Glass, to announce the box set, and then nothing. I would expect some news at this point. Especially a tracklist.

by Anonymousreply 139August 11, 2019 8:13 PM

It wouldn't surprise me if the deal fell through with Numero.

by Anonymousreply 140August 11, 2019 8:23 PM

When Blondie call it a day, I hope Debbie Harry does some solo shows. She struggles with the older hits now. And she must be sick of performing some of those songs, but is contractually obliged to by promoters.

by Anonymousreply 141August 11, 2019 8:28 PM

She did a stint at the Cafe Carlyle. It was odd. Debbie is not the patter sort.

by Anonymousreply 142August 11, 2019 8:33 PM

How sad. According to Wikipedia, Debbie's birth mother rejected her as an adult: Debbie Harry was born Angela Tremble on July 1, 1945, in Miami, Florida. At the age of three months, she was adopted by Richard Smith and Catherine (née Peters) Harry,[4] gift shop proprietors in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and renamed Deborah Ann Harry.[5] Harry learned of her adoption at four years old and later, in the late 1980s, located her birth mother, a concert pianist,[6] who chose to not establish a relationship with her.[7]

by Anonymousreply 143August 11, 2019 8:40 PM

R75

Quelle horreur, mon chéri.

by Anonymousreply 144August 11, 2019 8:53 PM

R143 A concert pianist? I guess talent/creativity does run in families.

Anyway I love her. Here she is with Dame Edna, from 2007. She's a good sport.

Dame Edna: "Have you ever played Nurses and...nurses?" Debbie: "I have!"

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by Anonymousreply 145August 11, 2019 9:02 PM

They used to say Jayne Mansfield was a "concert violinist"...

by Anonymousreply 146August 11, 2019 9:07 PM

Huge Blondie fan forever here, but wish they treated each other better over the years, particularly band-mate Jimmy Destri. The story of his exclusion from the lineup is vague (an issue of sobriety or suitability to perform live). It will be interesting to read her autobiography. There are likely passages on Warhol and also many of the performers she admires, like Shirley Manson. I wonder if there is much left to say about CBGB. I was interested to see that the docudrama based on CBGB cost $5 million to produce and earned less than a tenth of that amount back in its theatrical release. I know there is more to her story than her ascent in punk/pop. There will also likely be passages about her acting, specifically Hairspray and Videodrome. She has appeared in a huge number of independent films, probably 40 or so. She may also write about Andy Kaufman, too.

by Anonymousreply 147August 11, 2019 10:11 PM

I expect it will about as interesting as Grace Jones' memoir.

by Anonymousreply 148August 11, 2019 10:15 PM

R148 yeah? Was Jones’ memoir any good? Patti Smith had such a freakishly huge success with her memoir Just Kids, though it mischaracterizes Mapplethorpe. It was interesting in the docudrama CBGB that Patti Smith is portrayed as reading poetry and quoting Rimbaud to a disinterested crowd, telling the audience to shut up. That part was funny. They also have the actress portraying her lip sync “Because the Night”.

by Anonymousreply 149August 11, 2019 11:05 PM

Like a lot of celebrty memoirs, I felt like the Grace Jones one spent too much time recounting her childhood and adolescence. I think celebs or publishers don't realise that many of us care more about the years of them trying to make it, and the years of their most well known work / relationships / output.

And to be fair Grace Jones' childhood was actually a very interesting and unique one! But once you get to her prime years it's more fleeting recounts of parties etc. I still enjoyed it, but would have liked more depth on her later years.

I am guessing the Deb Harry one will be more of the same.

by Anonymousreply 150August 14, 2019 7:42 AM

She glides over so much in 'Face It' - her solo career, the excessive drug use during this period, the bad press over her appearance at Wembley Stadium supporting INXS in 1991, how she fell out with Jellybean Benitez in 1985 (and the resulting unreleased tracks)

She comes over as quite an emotionless person. I guess that's how she got through a lot of bad experiences but it leaves her somewhat enigmatic and unfathomable.

by Anonymousreply 151January 29, 2020 5:32 PM

I love this live performance of Calamarie

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by Anonymousreply 152January 29, 2020 10:06 PM

^ my mistake, Calmarie

by Anonymousreply 153January 29, 2020 10:08 PM

Deborah is close friends with Francesca Beghe (Jason's singer sister). Francesca's husband directed a short film a few years ago that starred Harry. She is still gorgeous.

by Anonymousreply 154January 30, 2020 12:42 AM

[quote]She glides over so much in 'Face It' - her solo career, the excessive drug use during this period, the bad press over her appearance at Wembley Stadium supporting INXS in 1991, how she fell out with Jellybean Benitez in 1985 (and the resulting unreleased tracks)

This was the section that put writing the whole project in jeopardy. I think partially it's because Deborah doesn't remember so much from this period. People who have followed her career can see that the timelines in Face It are occasionally a little out of whack, and sometimes she can only put the connection together based on what hairstyle she had at the time.

I agree about the lack of solo songs at Blondie shows, and it's a wasted opportunity. Once in awhile she will throw in a Koo Koo song like Chrome or another obscure song, but not the hits. French Kissing with a live arrangement sounds amazing. It's much superior to the single version, but I don't think she has played it live more than a couple of times in over 20 years.

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by Anonymousreply 155January 30, 2020 1:32 AM

R155 That’s a fascinating clip. She looks amazing in it and she manages to reproduce that song’s sound pretty well in a live performance. In a few places she’s close to being lost in the mix but the she pipes up.

I couldn’t make it through Face It, maybe because I’m spacey and distractible. Her face is pretty remarkable, the geometry of it alone. Harry is still interesting. I’ve commented this before, but she seems overrated and underrated at the same time. She really did push her talent to its boundaries, in music and on film. She can honestly be considered a style icon. When the giant book of old and new photos of Harry by the late photographer Mick Rock came out, I remember he promoted it on a segment of NPR’s Fresh Air. The host of that program, Terry Gross, seemed really disinterested in Harry as topic. I thought that was unusual and interesting. Yet it was a long while ago, too.

by Anonymousreply 156June 29, 2020 12:17 AM

Debbie is stunning in their big introduction to mainstream America, their first appearance on American Bandstand in 1979.

You just can't take your eyes off her.

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by Anonymousreply 157June 29, 2020 1:03 AM

We know enough. Next.....

by Anonymousreply 158June 29, 2020 1:03 AM

I A D ❤️ R E H E R !

Who else thinks she & Michelle Pfeiffer could be sisters or even twins?

by Anonymousreply 159June 29, 2020 1:34 AM

I love the IDEA of Deborah Harry and Blondie, but when I try to listen to an entire album I'm always disappointed.

Definitely a 'greatest hits' type of artist.

by Anonymousreply 160June 29, 2020 4:58 AM

In one of those pap pics above, she resembles Deneuve. I will hazard that both Debbie and Grace don't remember the successful periods at all, because of the drug use. I have one friend who was a hard partier and went to New York on a job (he lives in L.A.) to work with an actress- actress said, "So good to see you here again!" He replied, "Uh, I've never been to New York". She said, "Yes you have, and we hooked up". He has no recollection of it at all, and he's gay.

by Anonymousreply 161June 29, 2020 4:49 PM

Does R86 who said Debbie lived on almonds and some melon have a source for this?

by Anonymousreply 162June 30, 2020 6:11 AM

Grace Slick's autobio is a terrific read.

by Anonymousreply 163June 30, 2020 12:51 PM

Blondie’s Debbie Harry on their 2021 UK tour with Garbage and how she wishes she’d written ‘WAP’:

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by Anonymousreply 164October 20, 2020 1:52 PM

So "Heart of Glass" just came on while I'm awaiting my doctor.

by Anonymousreply 165October 20, 2020 1:55 PM
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