Debbie Harry - Biography

Last Editor: e.clanagan				Debbie Harry Biography -   Name : Debbie Harry Profession : Musician Birth Details : born July 1, 1945 in Miami, Florida Genre(s) : Punk rock, New Wave, pop rock, disco, reggae, dance, Occupation(s) : Vocalist, musician, actress Instrument(s) : Vocals, percussion, tambourine, tamboura, finger cymbals, clarinet Years active : 1954-present Associated acts : The Wind in the Willows The Stilettos Blondie

Debbie Harry Trivia -

Was a former beautician, barmaid and Playboy bunny. She and her band Blondie reunited and released their first album since their 1982 breakup (1998). Her band Blondie broke up (1982). Name of her band was originally called "Angel and the Snakes," but she changed the name to Blondie after the countless cat calls from truck drivers who would yell out the window at her when she was walking down the street, "Hey! Blondie!" Lead singer and songwriter for punk rock group Blondie. Singer/actress. Blondie's video for their hit song "Rapture" featured a cameo appearance New York artist/Andy Warhol disciple Jean Michel Basquiat, whose life was portrayed in the Basquiat (1996). In 1981 "Harper's Bazaar" named her to their 10 Most Beautiful Women in America list. Has admitted to getting a face lift. Ranked #12 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll. "Eat To The Beat", released in 1979, is an early video collection by Blondie. The late model Gia Carangi appears in the eighth video, "Atomic". Starred in the Broadway play "Teaneck Tanzi" with Andy Kaufman. She played a female wrestler and Kaufman played the ref. The play closed after opening day. The play was her Broadway debut. He dyed her hair red for her role as James Woods's masochistic girlfriend in David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983). She and Blondie are credited, due to the rapped section of the song "Rapture" (which, among other things, name-drops Fab 5 Freddy) and its graffiti-filled video, with helping to popularize hip hop music, especially among white audiences. Blondie was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006. He was a good friend of Nancy Spungen. He was up for the female lead roles in the movies Raging Bull (1980) and TRON (1982). He ranked #18 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists. Debbie was the original choice for Pris in Blade Runner (1982). Has stated that if she had the choice of any actress to play her in a film, she would choose Michelle Pfeiffer. Not surprisingly, Michelle stated in an interview that when she was in her twenties, strangers would come up to her thinking she was Debbie Harry.

Debbie Harry Detailed Biography -

Deborah Ann Harry (born July 1, 1945 in Miami, Florida) is an American rock and roll musician who originally gained fame as the frontwoman for New Wave band Blondie, which originated in the mid 1970s and achieved commercial success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was a regular at CBGB's, a famous New York City club that was an early epicenter for punk rock. Although Blondie could rock as hard as any of the punk rock bands of that era, it became the epitome of the New Wave style, and Debbie Harry, with her two-tone bottle-blonde hair, became its best known icon. Launching just on the cusp of MTV, Debbie Harry and Blondie put out some of the first rock music videos, in some cases inventing some of the cliches of the form. Before Blondie, Debbie was in a forgettable folk rock group The Wind In The Willows before becoming part of The Stilettos with Blondie guitarist Chris Stein in the early 1970s. Her strong stage personality of cool sexuality and street-wise style became so closely associated with Blondie the band that many confused Harry herself as "Blondie" - as a solo artist - to her lasting chagrin. This is unfortunate because Blondie, the band, laid down a rich legacy of experimental tracks, situationist lyrics and DIY weirdness which makes them interesting as a musical group. Among her notable vocals are "Heart of Glass" (a New-Wave/Disco crossover) and the rap on "Rapture" (the first rap song to top the US charts). Harry fans list her Yoko Ono-esque screams on "Victor" and delivery of such classics as "Atomic", "Call Me", "The Tide Is High", and "One Way or Another" as other outstanding vocal performances. In 1981 (see 1981 in music), Harry began a solo career, but then entered a temporary retirement (1983-1985) to help nurse Chris Stein, back to health after he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Pemphigus. With Stein's recovery, she returned as a musician and actress. Deborah Harry currently resides in New York City. Acting roles Some of her notable film roles were in Videodrome (1983), Rock & Rule (1983) an animated movie where she did vocals opposite Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, and John Waters' Hairspray (1988), where she played the big-haired and villainous Velma von Tussle, paired with Sonny Bono. She has also had notable roles in such films as Spun, Cop Land and My Life Without Me She also guest starred on the first episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Wiseguy . She had a voice role in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as a cab dispatcher, and sang "Ghost Riders in the Sky" over the closing credits of Alex Cox's film Three Businessmen. Solo career Harry has since released solo albums, performed with the avant-garde jazz group the Jazz Passengers, released two new albums with Blondie - No Exit (1999) and The Curse of Blondie (2004), and come on to be one of the biggest Gay icons in the world. One of the biggest Gay anthems in the U.K is "I Want That Man", from her 1989 solo album Def, Dumb and Blonde. In 1995, Debbie recorded two songs with Argentinian ska band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, most notably on the Lennon-McCartney song Strawberry Fields Forever. Debbie Harry became the prototype for successive strong women in popular music such as Madonna, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani and any number of contemporary pop princesses. Up to that point, rock had been a heavily male-dominated field, with women trivialized as backup singers or groupies. Many women musicians have acknowledged Debbie Harry's pioneering role. Albums See also Blondie discography Koo Koo (1981) Rockbird (1986) Def, Dumb and Blonde (1989) The Complete Picture - The Very Best Of Deborah Harry And Blondie (1991) Debravation (1993) Singles Year Song US Hot 100 US Dance US Modern Rock UK singles Album 1981 "Backfired" 43 29 - 32 Koo Koo 1981 "The Jam Was Moving" 82 - - - Koo Koo 1983 "Rush, Rush" 105 28 - - Scarface soundtrack 1986 "French Kissin'" 57 - - 8 Rockbird 1986 "In Love With Love" 70 1 - - Rockbird 1988 "Liar, Liar" - - 14 - Married To the Mob soundtrack 1989 "I Want That Man" - - 2 13 Def, Dumb and Blonde 1989 "Kiss It Better" - - 12 - Def, Dumb and Blonde 1990 "Sweet and Low" - 17 - - Def, Dumb and Blonde 1993 "I Can See Clearly" - 2 - 23 Debravation 1997 "Command and Obey" (Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry) - 42 - - - 1999 "Command and Obey" (remix) (Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry) - 49 - - -