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Deborah Ann Harry (born July 1, 1945, in Miami, Florida) is most famous for being the frontwoman for the new wave band Blondie. She is a Grammy Award-winning, and Golden Globe-nominated American singer. Following her success, she went on to moderate success as a solo artist.
Harry was adopted at three months of age by a family from Hawthorne, New Jersey and attended Hawthorne High School, where she graduated in 1963. Prior to starting her singing career she moved to New York in the late 60's and worked as a secretary at the BBC Radio New York office for one year. Later, she was a waitress, a dancer in Union City, and a Playboy Bunny.
She began her musical career with a folk rock group, the Wind in the Willows. Harry then joined a girl-group trio, The Stilettos, in the early 1970s. The Stilettos' backup band included her eventual boyfriend and Blondie guitarist, Chris Stein. Harry and Stein formed the band Blondie in the mid 1970s, naming it for the wolf whistle men often yelled at Harry from passing cars. Blondie quickly became regulars at Max's Kansas City and CBGB's in New York City. After a debut album in 1976, commercial success followed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, first in Australia and Europe, then in the United States.
With her two-tone bottle-blonde hair, Debbie Harry quickly became a recognizable icon of punk style. Her look was further popularized by the band's early presence in the music video revolution of the era. The clip for 'Rapture' appeared within the first 24 hours of MTV's launch. Harry's strong stage persona of cool sexuality and streetwise style became so closely associated with the group's name that many came to believe the singer's name to be "Blondie", to her lasting chagrin.[citation needed] To complicate matters further, Harry has sometimes described "Blondie" as being the character she plays onstage with the band as well as the band's name.[citation needed] The difference between the individual Harry and the band Blondie was famously highlighted with a "Blondie is a Group" button campaign by the band in 1979.
Harry began her solo career with the Gold Certified album Koo Koo in 1981 (see 1981 in music). At the time, Blondie had not officially disbanded, so the solo album was seen as a side project and a tentative step toward a solo career. Koo Koo was a collaboration with Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and featured the artwork of H.R. Giger on the cover. 'Backfired' was the first single from the album, followed by 'The Jam Was Moving'. Two tracks, 'Backfired' and 'Now I Know You Know' had music videos directed by Giger.
In 1982 Blondie regrouped and released their sixth studio album The Hunter, which featured the U.S. and UK hit single 'Island of Lost Souls' and the UK hit 'War Child'. Blondie launched a North American tour to support the release, however, this was cut short when Harry's lover, guitarist Chris Stein, fell ill with the rare genetic disease pemphigus. From 1983 through 1986, Harry minimized her public life and musical career in order to care for him. Stein fully recovered and continues a musical relationship with Harry, but their romantic relationship ended in 1987.
In 1983 Harry teamed up with Giorgio Moroder (with whom she had worked previously on Blondie's 'Call Me') on the song 'Rush Rush', which was featured in the film Scarface (and later, the Grand Theft Auto III radio station "Flashback FM"). She appeared on Broadway with Andy Kaufman in the wrestling play Teaneck Tanzi. A retitled version of the British play Trafford Tanzi, the show failed to transplant itself successfully to Broadway, and opened and closed in one night. Later that year Harry, who had already appeared in a number of independent and underground films, made her major motion picture debut in the David Cronenberg film Videodrome, in which she plays the character Nicki Brand. Harry's single 'Feel the Spin', produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez, was released in 1985 , and along with the whole soundtrack to the film Krush Groove, peaked at #2 on the U.S. Dance Charts. The song's 'uno dos tres quatro' intro has been sampled on a number of records including S-Express's 'Theme From S-Express'.
In 1986 Debbie Harry released her second solo album Rockbird and the single 'French Kissin' in the USA' brought her into the UK top 10 singles chart. Other singles released from the album were 'Free to Fall' and 'In Love With Love' which hit #1 on the U.S. Dance Charts. 'In Love With Love' was a club hit with a proliferation of remixes. Following the release of Rockbird, Debbie took a number of acting roles including the part of Velma Von Tussle in John Waters' 'Hairspray' (1988). She also appeared in the U.S. TV series Wiseguy. A cover of the The Castaways' 'Liar Liar' from the soundtrack to the film Married to the Mob was released as a single in the U.S. Harry's version of Micheal Jay's 'Mind Over Matter' was also recorded in this period, but never released.
Debbie Harry's next solo venture was the album Def, Dumb and Blonde in 1989. Anchored by the songwriting partnership of Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, Def, Dumb and Blonde was primarily produced by Blondie producer Mike Chapman, with Thompson Twins and Arthur Baker producing two further tracks each. At this point Harry reverted from "Debbie" to "Deborah" for her professional name. The first single 'I Want That Man' was a big hit in Europe, Australia, and on the U.S. Modern Rock Charts. She followed this up with the ballad 'Brite Side' and the club hit 'Sweet and Low' (both of which were produced by Arthur Baker). 'Maybe For Sure', a track originally recorded by Blondie for the Rock and Rule animated film, was the fourth single released from the album in June 1990 to coincide with a UK tour. 'Kiss It Better' was also a Top 15 Modern Rock single in the U.S.
During the period 1989 to 1991 Deborah toured extensively across the world with former Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, Underworld's Karl Hyde, and Blondie Mk2 bassist Leigh Foxx. In July 1991 she played Wembley Stadium with INXS. She also starred in the film Intimate Stranger in which she played a telephone sex worker pursued by a serial killer. In 1991 Chrysalis released a "best of" compilation in Europe entitled The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie, containing hits with Blondie as well as solo hits. The collection reached number three in the UK album charts.
The album also included her duet with Iggy Pop on the Cole Porter song 'Well Did You Evah!' (produced by Stein) from the Red Hot and Blue AIDS charity album released at the end of 1990. While recording her next album in 1992 Deborah Harry collaborated with German metallers Die Haut on the track 'Don't Cross My Mind', and released the song 'Prelude to a Kiss' on the soundtrack to the film of the same name. She also released a cover of 'Summertime Blues' from the soundtrack to the film That Night in Australia.
Deborah Harry's fourth solo album Debravation appeared in July 1993. Variously produced by Chris Stein, Arthur Baker and Anne Dudley, the album's first single was the Baker produced 'I Can See Clearly' which was a hit in the UK and on the U.S. dance charts (reaching number 2). The B-side was a duet with Joey Ramone entitled 'Standing In My Way'. This was followed by 'Strike Me Pink' in September. Controversy surrounded the latter track's drowning man video, which was banned and subsequent record company promo cancelled. U.S. editions of the album feature two additional tracks recorded with pre-recorded music by REM: 'Tear Drops' and 'My Last Date (With You)'.
In November 1993 Deborah Harry toured the UK with Chris Stein, Peter Min, Greta Brinkman and James Murphy. The set list of the Debravation Tour featured an offbeat selection of Harry material including the previously unreleased track 'Close Your Eyes' (from 1989) and 'Ordinary Bummer' (from the Stein produced Iggy Pop album Zombie Birdhouse; a track which under the moniker 'Adolph's Dog' Blondie would cover in 1997). Tentative plans to record these shows and release them as a double live CD never came to fruition. However, a cover of The Rolling Stones 'Wild Horses' is available as a bootleg. At the end of 1993 Chrysalis released the Blondie rarities collection Blonde and Beyond, which featured the previously unreleased tracks 'Scenery' and 'Underground Girl'. In early 1994 Harry took the Debravation tour to the U.S.
In the mid-nineties, Harry teamed up with NYC avant-garde jazz ensemble The Jazz Passengers. Between 1994 and 1998 she was a permanent member of the troupe, touring North America and Europe. She was a featured vocalist on their 1994 album In Love singing the track 'Dog In Sand'. The follow-up album, 1997's Individually Twisted, is credited as "The Jazz Passengers featuring Deborah Harry" and Harry sings vocals throughout, teaming up with guest Elvis Costello for a cover of 'Doncha Go Way Mad'. The album also features a re-recorded version of the song 'The Tide Is High', which she had previously had a hit with while a part of Blondie. A live album entitled Live In Spain, again featuring Harry on vocals, was released in 1998.
Harry collaborated on a number of other projects with other artists. She featured as vocalist on Talking Heads side project The Heads' 1996 release No Talking Just Head (performing the title track and 'Punk Lolita'). She also sings on a cover of 'Strawberry Fields' by Argentinian band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. In 1997 she collaborated with Jazz Passenger Bill Ware in his side project Groove Thing, singing lead vocals on the club hit 'Command and Obey'. Another JP collaboration appeared on the Edgar Allan Poe tribute album Closed On Account of Rabies (1997). Harry also reunited with Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri for a cover of Otis Blackwell's 'Don't Be Cruel' for the 1995 tribute album Brace Yourself. During this period she also recorded a duet with Robert Jacks entitled Die Enziger Weg (The Only Way) - Theme from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, although this did not surface until 1999. Likewsie, at the end of 1999 Chrysalis Records released a best of her solo recordings entitled 'Most of All' and a remix of 'I Want That Man'.
The mid 90s saw the release of Blondie remix albums Beautiful (in Europe) and Remixed Remade Remodeled (in the U.S.). New mixes of 'Heart of Glass', 'Atomic', and 'Union City Blue' were released as singles and all made the UK Top 40, while remixes of 'Atomic', 'Rapture', and 'Heart of Glass' had major success on the U.S. dance charts. Then in 1997 Blondie began working together again for the first time in 15 years. Two tracks recorded with TV. Mania (the production duo of Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo), 'Studio 54' and 'Pop Trash Movie' were scheduled to be released on a Blondie compilation entitled This Is Blondie. However, the project and the tracks were shelved as the four original members (Harry, Stein, Burke and Destri) embarked on sessions for what would become Blondie's seventh studio album. During this period they released a cover of Iggy Pop's 'Ordinary Bummer' on the Pop tribute album We Will Fall (1997).
After a final tour of Europe with The Jazz Passengers in the summer of 1998, Deborah Harry resumed duties as lead vocalist of Blondie. Prior to the release of No Exit the band completed a rapturously received sell out tour of Europe. Dates at London's Lyceum Theatre were recorded by the BBC and aired on UK Radio. A week prior to the release of No Exit, the lead single 'Maria' debuted at number one in the UK, making Harry the oldest female singer to reach No. 1 in the UK, a record she still holds. 'Maria' hit #1 in 14 different countries, the top 10 on the US Dance Charts, and Top 15 on the US Adult Top 40 Charts. The album No Exit debuted at No.3 in the UK and #17 in the US, where it is very close to gold certification, and Blondie announced dates for a major Arena tour that summer during which they played the Glastonbery Festival and Party in the Park in London. 'Nothing Is Real But The Girl' was another UK Top 30 hit, while the title track was released as a single to coincide with further arena dates in November that year.
Tracks culled from dates throughout the 1999 world tour were released as a live album, titled Live in the U.S. and Livid in the UK, and released in late 1999 and early 2000 respectively. A Blondie Live companion DVD was also released, recorded at a show in NYC Town Hall.
Aside from writing and recording material for Blondie, Harry pursued a number of solo projects. She appears on the 2001 Bill Ware album Vibes 4 singing the track 'Me and You' as well as on ex-Police guitarist Andy Summers's album, Peggy's Blue Skylight on the track 'Weird Nightmare'. A techno cover of Stan Jones' 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' was featured on the soundtrack to the film Three Business Men and was available on her website to download. Harry sings on two tracks on Andrea Griminelli's Cinema Italiano project; 'Amarcord' and 'You'll Come To Me', as well as on a tribute album reinterpreting the music of Harold Arlen, on which she sings the title track 'Stormy Weather'. A high point in Deborah Harry's career as a solo artist came in May 2002 when accompanied by The Jazz Passengers and the BBC concert orchestra she performed a selection of her jazz material at the Barbican centre in London. In 2003 she was featured vocalist on the song 'Uncontrollable Love' by electro-clash dance producers Blow Up.
Although Blondie commenced recording tracks for the follow-up to No Exit in 2001 the sessions were besieged with problems including the loss of master tapes after 9/11. In the winter of 2002 Blondie burst back into life with a full scale UK tour. This preceded the release of a new single in summer of 2003 entitled 'Good Boys' (a hit across the UK and Europe that autumn, and top 10 on the US Dance Charts the following spring) and the release of Blondie's eighth studio album, the critically acclaimed The Curse of Blondie. Blondie toured throughout 2003 and 2004 completing two further full scale tours of the UK.
A second live album, entitled Live By Request, was released in 2005 along with a companion DVD set. 2005 saw the release of a dual disk CD/DVD of The Curse of Blondie and a mash-up, 'Rapture Riders', which combined their 1981 hit 'Rapture' with The Doors' 'Riders on the Storm'. This track was taken from a Blondie Greatest Hits compilation entitled Sound and Vision - released with a companion DVD disk and new mixes of In The Flesh and Good Boys.
In the winter of 2005 Blondie toured the UK for the fourth time in as many years. In 2006 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Around this time Blondie released a new studio track, a cover of the Roxy Music song 'More Than This' to promote their "Road Rage" tour.
At the end of 2006 a new mix of Heart of Glass became a big club hit in Europe (rumours of another remix album persist) while Deborah Harry released the single New York New York a collaboration with Moby. The song debuted on youtube some four weeks before its official release. Dates have just been announced for a UK tour in the summer of 2007.
In 2006 Deborah Harry started work in NYC on tracks for her fifth solo album 'Necessary Evil' (2007). Working with production duo Super Budha (who produced the remix of Blondie's 'In The Flesh' for the 2005 Sound and Vision compilation) the first music to surface in was a hip-hop track entitled 'Dirty and Deep' in which she spoke out against rapper Lil' Kim's incarceration. The song is available for download on the web-site www.deborahharry.com.
Throughout 2006 a number of new tracks surfaced (but then disappeared) from Harry's MySpace page, including 'Charm Alarm', 'Deep End', 'Love With Avengence', 'School for Scandal' and 'Necessary Evil' as well as duets she recorded with Miss Guy (of Toilet Boys fame). These were 'God Save New York' and 'New York Groove'. It is unclear whether these tracks were finished versions of the tracks that will appear on the new record. However, the tracks are marked by a definite shift towards a more dance infected electro-rock style. A streaming version of the lead single 'Two Times Blue' was added to Harry's My Space page in May 2007. On June 6th, 2007, an iTunes downloadable version was released via her official web site, www.deborahharry.com.
The final track listing for the album has now been issued, citing 17 tracks to make the final cut. The new album will be released on Eleven Seven Music on August 7, 2007 (US only) by which time she will have completed both a solo tour of the US in June and an European tour with Blondie in July. The Album gets a UK release in September. An unusual move considering Harry is more poular in the UK than the US (according to chart positions)
Some of Harry's notable film roles are appearances in Videodrome (1983); Union City (1980); New York Beat (otherwise known as Downtown '81, in which she plays the angel of the East Village alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat); Rock & Rule (1983), an animated movie where she did vocals opposite Robin Zander of Cheap Trick; John Waters' Hairspray (1988), in which she played the big-haired and villainous Velma von Tussle, paired with Sonny Bono as her husband Franklin and Colleen Fitzpatrick as her equally villainous daughter Amber.; and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990). She also had notable roles in such films as Spun, Cop Land, Heavy and My Life Without Me, and is featured in David Munro's upcoming feature film Full Grown Men.
Her TV guest appearances include The Muppet Show, MADtv, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Will & Grace, Absolutely Fabulous, Saturday Night Live (as a musical guest and a host) 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.
She played the role of "Elizabeth" in the FMV-based game Double Switch, which was released for the Sega CD (1993), the Sega Saturn, Apple Macintosh, and Windows 95.
She played the lead in the 2005 short film I Remember You Now directed by Henry S. Miller, and worked with the same director again in his 2007 psychological thriller Anamorph.
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This article has been tagged since June 2007.
See also: Blondie discography
Artist
Year
Song
US Hot 100
US Dance
US Modern Rock
UK singles
Album
Debbie Harry
"Backfired"
43
29
32
Koo Koo
Debbie Harry
"The Jam Was Moving"
82
Koo Koo
Debbie Harry
"Rush, Rush"
105
28
87
Scarface (Soundtrack)
Debbie Harry
"Feel The Spin"
2
Krush Groove (Soundtrack)
Debbie Harry
"French Kissin' in the USA"
57
8
Rockbird
Debbie Harry
"In Love With Love"
70
1
45
Rockbird
Debbie Harry
"Free To Fall"
46
Rockbird
Debbie Harry
"Denis '88"/ "Rapture '88"
Once More Into The Bleach
Debbie Harry
"Liar, Liar"
14
Married To The Mob (Soundtrack)
Deborah Harry
"I Want That Man"
2
13
Def, Dumb and Blonde
Deborah Harry
"Kiss It Better"
12
Def, Dumb and Blonde
Deborah Harry
"Brite Side"
59
Def, Dumb and Blonde
Deborah Harry
"Sweet and Low"
17
57
Def, Dumb and Blonde
Deborah Harry
"Maybe For Sure"
89
Def, Dumb and Blonde
Deborah Harry
"Summertime Blues"
That Night (Soundtrack)
Deborah Harry
"I Can See Clearly"
2
23
Debravation
Deborah Harry
"Strike Me Pink"
46
Debravation
Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry
"Command and Obey"
42
This Is No Time
Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry
"Command and Obey" (Remix)
49
Deborah Harry and Robbie Jacks
Der Einzige Weg (The Only Way)
Deborah Harry
"Ghost Riders In The Sky"
Internet Only Release
Deborah Harry
"Dirty and Deep"
Internet Only Release
Moby featuring Debbie Harry
"New York, New York"
43
Go: The Very Best of Moby
Debbie Harry
"Two Times Blue"
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
Necessary Evil
