80 Candles

Impossible to even imagine that Debbie Harry, who has been my No. 1 for as long as I can remember, becomes an octogenarian today. How lucky are we? 

Lisa Robinson recently caught up with the Blondie goddess for a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, in which she discusses the new Blondie album (due this fall), a new documentary and a biopic about her and the band -- and that she can't see Blondie going on without Clem Burke:

They’re in the works, but I don’t know how a life can be summarized or given a caption. I suppose there’ll be something that’s off the wall but will somehow work. I’m happy to be doing it -- it’s helping me to collect my thoughts. I ran into a wall: the tour ended, Clem died, and wow. What is this space I live in now? I’m curing -- I’m doing a cure. And part of that is de-cluttering up my space, which is crowded with that life. I need to get some breath, get some air in there. And I want to feel that little spark of creativity, surprise -- those things. There’s a little tingle of that, and I hope that will be there for me.

Keep reading HERE.

Not my first time meeting my girl, but the first time I had a camera!

Long Live the New Flesh

Based on first-hand experience, I would have to say David Cronenberg's "Videodrome," which this foolish 15-year-old Debbie Harry/Blondie fanboy thought would be great for the whole family! 

Not the poster we had in Phoenix

This is where Debbie -- and my mom -- got off! 

What's your most mortifying movie moment?

P.S. Much to my chagrin, some of Debbie's finest -- and least sexual -- moments were left on the cutting-room floor.

Just for One Day

🙏🙏🙏

Wicked Good

 

Chris Stein writes: Just found this. Andy and Margaret Hamilton w Debbie portraits.

View the contact sheet HERE.

 From Warhol's "Witch in Myths" series (1981)

As seen in “Margaret Hamilton From Cleveland, Ohio to the Land of Oz,” the first-ever book dedicated to the late actress.

(Photo by Victor Bockris)

In his Aug. 12, 1980, diary entry, Andy recalled:

At 12:00 I had an appointment to meet Debbie Harry at the office (cab $4). I was early and Debbie and Chris were on time. We worked all afternoon. Debbie was sweet, every picture came out perfect. Vincent was taping her for the Andy Warhol's TV show and he had Lisa Robinson there interviewing her and Chris. I sat in on it so that I'd have a higher profile on the tape for the show. Lisa is a good interviewer. They were there till 4:00.

And I've decided that I'm not going to call girls anymore and invite them places because they're too difficult. I called Sean Young, the really pretty actress who I met with Linda Stein, because I thought that Richard Weisman would like her. But she wouldn't give me her number so I could call her back and it's too hard. I asked her if she wanted to go to a baseball game and she said she'd been to one already. She's in some James Ivory movie that's about to come out.

I had to leave early because I invited Bianca to the Peking Opera, she said yes, and I invited John Samuels, too. We ran into the Met Opera House and just missed the curtain so we had to wait with Chinese people screaming why couldn't they go in. ... 

Then after ten minutes we could go in. Fran Lebowitz was there with Jed. The opera was boring. Good costumes, lots of tumbling. Drag queens.

I saw Margaret Hamilton, the witch in "The Wizard of Oz," and got so excited and went over to her and told her how wonderful she was. She does the Maxwell House commercials now. She's really small.

I Hadn’t Ate [sic] in Days

This incredible Instagram post about the Official Blondie International Fan Club from my pal Mark Allen reminded me that I hadn't mentioned that Blondie archivist Barry L. Kramer was recently in town, which allowed me to get his signature on one of my copies of his legendary Fan Mail, the official publication of the Debbie Harry Collector's Society. (Barry is a real mensch!) How I have known Mark for over two decades and I'm just now learning about his "Eat to the Beat" photo project -- perhaps the greatest thing of all time -- is anyone's guess. Enjoy below! xo 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Allen (@markallennyc)

Debbie Harry Debuts Fashion Collection With Wildfang

When Debbie Harry was starting out, she turned to Stephen Sprouse to help create her iconic look. Now 50 years later, she's launched a clothing line of her own in a collaboration with Portland, Ore.-based Wildfang:

The Blondie frontwoman finally gives fans what they’ve been waiting for, the first ever clothing line designed by her. A six-piece capsule collection inspired by her iconic fashion over the years as a groundbreaking artist. 

More BELOW.

Blondie Ambition

 

Yikes. I'm not sure what to make of these entrants to a Debbie Harry lookalike contest a British magazine held back in 1979. The judges apparently picked 18-year-old Ruth Merritt, whom the caption says is "top row, second right," but all I see is a Cherie Currie or two and a Debbie Down Syndrome. My guess is some of their peers had told them they “looked just like Blondie,” to which I say: Kids can be so cruel. 

Two Debs Are Better Than One

 

ICYMI: Debbie Harry and Debi Mazar looked like a couple million bucks at the Marc Jacobs show on Friday here in New York City! Two more HERE.

Still 'Koo Koo' for Debbie Harry

Chris Stein reports on Twitter that he just signed off on his U.S. book deal for his memoir -- this is going to be good! -- that the new Blondie album is terrific ("if I do say so myself) and the Debbie/Giger book with all the intel on their collaboration with him is out in April 

I joked to my friend that this was the book "dozens have been clamoring for" as I reached for my book about the film "Union City"(!). 

Exciting times to be a Blondie fan! Pre-order HERE.

Song of the Day: "Everybody's Talkin'" by Debbie Harry

Someone just posted this incredibly obscure clip of Debbie Harry singing "Everybody's Talkin'" -- made famous by Harry Nilsson -- at Squeezebox back in 1996, a period I remember as her "lost years" when her solo recording contract was canceled and Blondie had yet to reform. Have a listen -- she sounds fantastic -- because something tells me it's not going to stay up for long.

P.S. There's a great appraisal of the legendary downtown nightspot HERE.

The year was 1994. Rudy Giuliani had just been elected mayor of New York. It was before the city was gripped by terror, before Times Square was recast as a Disneyfied playground for tourists, before models and bottles infiltrated, soured and sterilized its clubs.

P.S. There's also a documentary about the venue that premiered in 2008 at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

When Debbie Harry Tried to Remake Jean-Luc Godard's 'Alphaville'

I remember reading in the 1982 Blondie book "Making Tracks" that Debbie Harry and Chris Stein had sought to do a remake of Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville" (1965), about a dystopian future ruled by a giant computer. Robert Fripp was to play Lemmy Caution and Debbie Harry would be Natacha von Braun, roles originated by Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina. Amos Poe, the "Blank Generation" filmmaker who had directed the Blondie singer in underground flicks "Unmade Beds" (1976) and "The Foreigner" (1978), was to be at the helm. The project was already in the rearview mirror by the time I learned about it, but the photos in the book had me dying over what could have been. 

 

Forty years later and of course this tweet from Stein on the death of the legendary French New Wave director had me rolling!

I believe that's called "petit larceny"!

Read more about the film that never was HERE.

Melody Maker (Dec. 23, 1978)

Debbie's No Wave moment ...

UPDATE: Chris Stein just added footage of the "screen test" that was filmed!

Watch HERE.

Picture This: Debbie Harry and Gilda Radner

 

How am I just now seeing for the first time this photo of two of my favorite entertainers of all time? If anyone can tell me anything about it -- purportedly taken by Chris Stein in 1979 -- please speak up! Debbie Harry hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1981 during that off-brand season when Lorne Michaels wasn't at the helm and Gilda was gone. So my best guess is Debbie visited Gilda at the Winter Garden Theatre when she was doing her one-woman Broadway show, "Live From New York," the soundtrack to which I played nonstop after getting it for Christmas later that year!

Gilda Radner Debuts on Broadway on This Day in 1979

Listen: "Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On)"

We lost Gilda to cancer more than 30 years ago, while Debbie is still mesmerizing us at 77. Life is so strange. 

UPDATE: I reached out to Chris Stein to see what he remembered about the photo and here’s what he said:

Never mind. 

Song of the Day: 'Is That All There Is?' by Debbie Harry (live at the Hollywood Bowl)

Imagine my delight waking up yesterday to discover that my girl Debbie Harry -- with the Count Basie Orchestra backing -- had performed not one, but four songs at the Tribute to Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra concert the night before at the Hollywood Bowl. All of them were delightful. But of course "Is That All There Is?" is the most iconic -- and suits her to a tee. 

On a more somber note: It's hard to not think about the fact that Debbie and Joni Mitchell are merely 20 months apart in age, yet their recent appearances are like night and day, with Debbie singing and moving about the stage like a woman a fraction of her years. Damian's mom and my mom also similarly aged, yet his still travels to world capitals and tends her garden while my mom -- who looked so forward to her golden years to be able to travel -- is all but wheelchair bound these days. Life is cruel that way, so I guess the takeaway, as always, is to enjoy it while you can. 

Hear "Why Don't You Do Right?," "Let's Love," "I Get Ideas" 

Song of the Day: 'Don't Be Cruel' by Debbie Harry

 

I somehow missed this when it first came out on an Otis Blackwell tribute album in 1993. (Hell, would you believe Debbie Harry's Debravation tour made a stop two blocks from my apartment in D.C. back in '94 that I learned about this year?!) That was life before the internet.

But I recently remembered Deb's cover of "Don't Be Cruel" when I came across these photos of Deb looking fetching during a visit to Graceland! 

Ditto for my completely missing "Summertime Blues” until years after the fact.

Song of the Day: 'Shayla' by Blondie

Mind-blowing to see that today is Debbie Harry's 77th birthday. (Carly Simon also hit the milestone on June 25; they're just 3 1/2 years younger than my mother!) We all know that aging is different than it used to be. But Debbie takes it to such a new level -- she doesn't comport herself like an older person -- that I've almost begun to take her granted, skipping tours and feeling like she'll always be around. (Shame on me.) To mark her special day, here's a photo taken by Miss Guy plus one of her by Chris Stein in the recording studio yesterday along with one of Blondie's most beautiful songs. Happy birthday, Deb! 

CORRECTION: Turns out Carly had long lied about her age -- maybe because she was five years older than James Taylor? -- so actually turned 79.

"She's just a number ..."

With producer John Congleton. 

Sexy Septuagenarian Alert!

 

Love these photos by Chris Stein, above, and Miss Guy, affectionately paired together as:

 Debbie Harry in the '70s ...

and

Debbie Harry in her 70s! 

My longtime friend Scooter LaForge writes:

Collaboration is key! Photo by @missguynyc distressing by #debbieharry @blondieofficial and painting and silkscreen by yours truly. This vulture T-shirt is it re-creation of the legendary garment @christein gave to Debbie back in the day. Debbie asked me to re-create this T-shirt a few years back for Blondie’s No Principals tour. And yes, this picture is very current and no filters, Debbie looks like that in real life. #icon #queenofpunk

Song of the Day: 'The Sidewalks of New York' by Debbie Harry

Because I didn't watch "The Deuce" -- on top of being generally oblivious to many contemporary things -- I'm just now learning about the version Debbie Harry and others from Blondie did of vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor's and lyricist James Blake's famed "Sidewalks of New York." Many have covered it, including Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Mel Tormé and the Grateful Dead. (In 2011, Richard Barone of the Bongos released an updated version referencing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.) But something about hearing the queen of downtown put her mark on it feels especially right. See if you agree. 

Song of the Day: 'Platinum Blonde' by Blondie

Although I first heard this song over 40 years ago when my brother Bill brought home a 7-inch EP featuring rare Blondie demos in college -- "Out in the Streets," "Puerto Rico" and "The Thin Line" were also on it -- I don't know if I knew that "Platinum Blonde" was the first song Debbie Harry ever wrote until I read about it this new article. The track never made it past demo form. But it's cute and especially fun to listen to all these years later set to rare footage from the '70s, which you can view below:

Song of the Day: 'Denis' (rehearsal) by Blondie

Thanks to the World Wide Web, nary a day goes by that I don't come across a photo, video or factoid about my favorite band, and yesterday was no exception. Admittedly, I probably should have already seen this adorable clip of Blondie rehearsing "Denis" at CBGG's for a concert in 1977 -- it was included on a bonus DVD of Blondie's 2014 (double) album. But my patience for their later material doesn't match my enduring love for the past catalog, so forgive me for discovering it.  

P.S. But seriously, why did "Ghosts of Download" have SIXTEEN tracks?????