When Blondie hit the airwaves in 1976 many thought the band an overnight success. But behind the bleached blonde fringe and pouting lips of its sultry lead singer Debbie Harry were years of low-rent gigs and lost time.
Debbie Harry The Early Years
Growing up in New Jersey with her adopted family Debbie Harry longed to cross the Hudson River into Manhattan. As a teenager she’d watch the city's lights twinkle with the promise of freedom.
At the age of twenty she moved into a walk-up in Greenwich Village. Working as a waitress at Max’s Kansas City, one of the hippest night clubs, she waited on tables for the likes of Andy Warhol, Jane Fonda, Roger Vadim and Lou Reed. And was exposed to a new way of thinking that was light years from her New Jersey roots.
Debbie took a while to find her groove. There were too many temptations and she spent years in a heroin haze. It was only when her boyfriend Gil died of an overdose that Debbie decided to get her act together.
She moved back home with her parents and tried to convince herself she could live a suburban life, but the draw of the city was too strong and before long she returned to the Village. But this time she stayed clean.
Debbie Harry and Chris Stein
The music scene was exploding in New York in the early seventies. The New York Dolls, Television, Talking Heads and the Ramones were making new music. The city was alive.
Debbie sang with an all girl group, the Stilettos. When the band broke up over artistic differences she and the band’s guitarist, and her lover, Chris Stein formed their own group.
In the Flesh
In 1975 Debbie took the stage at underground clubs like CBGB as Blondie along with Chris Stein (guitar), Jimi Destri (keyboards), Clem Burke (drums) and Gary Valentine (bass). Her model features and seductive stage presence quickly won fans.
It didn’t take long before they had a record deal and were laying down tracks for their first album. Two hit singles – In the Flesh and Rip Her to Shreds – took Blondie out of the clubs and exposed them to a global audience.
Parallel Lines
Their third album Parallel Lines shot Blondie into the mainstream selling more than 20 million copies. The single Heart of Glass, penned by Debbie and Stein, became an international hit and launched Debbie into the superstar stratosphere. It is still popular today and features in the 2008 Gucci perfume commercial.
While the band was working on its fourth album, Eat to the Beat, Debbie starred in the independent film Union City beginning a long career in art-house cinema.
Scarface Rush Rush
As Debbie’s Rush Rush for the Scarface soundtrack raced up the charts the band imploded in a hail of acrimony, drug abuse and debt. After six albums in as many years Blondie called it quits in 1983.
By the time Debbie released her second solo album Rockbird in 1986 there was a new blonde on the scene, a young singer named Madonna. Debbie’s Rockbird got lost in Madonna’s wake. A year later she and Stein split.
Debbie Harry Collaborates with Fall Out Boy & Fergie
Today Deborah Harry is, at 63, still sought after. She’s been the face of Mac Make-Up’s Viva Glam Campaign (2006) and this year recorded with Fall Out Boy, performed a duet with Fergie and released a new single Fit Right In.
In between the birth of Blondie and the Deborah Harry of today have been many reinventions, the stamp of a true rock chick.
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