Still Wild About Harry

Michael and I had the privilege of being front-row-left at Thursday night's Debbie Harry concert at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, the opening night of her Necessary Evil tour. We were told there was no opening act so I made Mikey skip dinner so we could get there at 7:30 p.m. to secure a prime spot only to have there be both an opening act (some Swedish guy named Kristoffer Ragnstam) and a lengthy delay before her royal blondness came out (but it was worth the wait). Onetime "Kiss Me, Guido" hottie Nick Scotti was also there at 7:30 sharp standing right next to us, and I later found out is (also) an obsessed Debbie fan!

It's late and I don't feel like writing a lengthy review (what else can you say about an icon?), but I did want to do a quick post for anyone who's planning to see Deb this time around. As advertised, this was a Debbie Harry show -- not a Blondie show -- so I'm not really sure what Dan Aquilante of the New York Post was thinking when he let readers know that he doesn't think Debbie's solo material is nearly as good as old Blondie hits (way to go out on a limb, Dan. See his related review of how Paul McCartney's tour for "Memory Almost Full" isn't nearly as good as a Beatles concert). The guy seems to think the 18-year-old "Lovelight" is from her new album, so what can you expect? That said, longtime Debbie fans will get a real rush (rush) out of seeing her perform her greatest (shoulda been) solo hits, including "I Can See Clearly," "French Kissin'," "The Jam Was Moving" and "Rush Rush." And while it would have been nice for her to have done some of her other "famous" near-misses -- "Liar Liar," "Feel the Spin," "In Love With Love," and "Sweet and Low" come to mind, and Blondie even did "Chrome" on the Tracks Across America tour back in '82 -- you've gotta hand it to an old broad who wants to skip the nostalgia once in awhile and try something new. (She's been on the road with Blondie nonstop since 1999 and never once has she failed to do all of the band's hits so I think she's more than earned it.) Truth be told, other than the acoustic "Tide Is High"/"Heart of Glass" combo, the breezy new "Two Times Blue" (video) and the punk throwbacks "Whiteout" (video) and "You're Too Hot" (video) got the biggest crowd reaction by far.

If you wanna know more, my friend Matt has lots of photos, video (I snagged his clip of the heartwarming "Tide Is High" campfire singalong, below) and a song-by-song review of the show here.

Setlist: (opening) "Jen Jen" / "I Can See Clearly" / "Necessary Evil" / "The Jam Was Moving" / "Two Times Blue" / "If I Had You" / "French Kissin'" / "Rain" / "The Tide Is High" / "Heart of Glass" / "Lovelight" / "Heat of the Moment" w/Nomi / "School for Scandal" / "Rush Rush" / "Love With a Vengeance" / "What Is Love?" / "Whiteout" / "You're Too Hot" / "Charm Alarm" w/Miss Guy of the Toilet Boys

Debbie Harry Kicks Off Tour Tonight in NYC!

 

See if her royal blondness is coming to your city and check out songs from her new album, "Necessary Evil," over on her MySpace.

End of the Run? Hardly

There's a fun little article about Debbie Harry in today's New York Times. Andy Warhol was right when he wrote in his diaries that Deb always gives a great print interview: "It’s hard for me to think that Blondie was so completely original," she said. "I don’t really think that I’m an icon. I think an icon is a statue, something that’s frozen, you know. I don’t feel like that." And she added, "I don’t really love walking down memory lane." But when you see her actually speaking she's so awkward and ill-at-ease (in an endearing way, of course). I got her just-released album, "Necessary Evil," last week and after sitting through it once and hating it (17 songs??? WTF?!!!!), I've played it a dozen times since and am actually really starting to love it. (This is not uncommon with me and new music.) Sure, there are still too many songs (instrumentals and interludes? Come on, Deb. You don't even play an instrument!) and sure she revisits some genres that she's conquered a number of times before far more successfully, but the good stuff -- as was the case on Blondie's comeback LPs, "No Exit" and "The Curse of Blondie" -- is really good. "Two Times Blue" (a remix of which has actually charted), "Love With a Vengeance," "Dirty and Deep," "Whiteout," "School for Scandal" and especially "You're Too Hot" (ever heard garage-punk from a 62-year-old?) rate high against the rest of her solo catalog, and even the annoying songs are impossible to get out of your head (please make "Charm Alarm" stop!). At this point in their careers, many artists would be content to rest on their laurels, but as Debbie told The Times: "I never wanted to be in an oldies band; I just didn't." Adding, "I was just ready to do something new, and I needed to be creative." With her new album I would say she has indeed succeeded. Can't wait for the big show next month at Irving Plaza ...

The Jam Will Be Moving

Guess who's going to see Debbie Harry's solo show at Irving Plaza on Nov. 8?! Last time I saw her sans Blondie was with my best pal Greg on her "Def, Dumb and Blonde" tour in 1989 at After the Gold Rush, a little bar in Tempe, Arizona. After hearing about her soloriffic setlist on the ill-fated True Colors Tour ("Rush Rush," "French Kissing in the USA," "The Jam Was Moving" etc.) I'm looking forward to this show in the same way I looked forward to seeing Diana Ross -- finally at a point where I was actually hoping she wouldn't do all Supremes songs. (Tour Dates / TicketMaster)

By the way, Deb's new album, "Necessary Evil," is finally out today!

Re-Debravation

Debbie Harry has been making records for nearly 40 years, but she can still crank out a catchy single. "Two Times Blue" is the opening track off "Necessary Evil," her first solo release in 14 years that comes out this Tuesday.

It's hard to believe it's been more than 25 years since Debbie first "went solo." I still smile every time I hear "Backfired," her debut solo single from her underrated (yet somehow still not-as-good-as-it-should-have-been) 1981 collaboration with Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, of Chic, "Koo Koo." Although her solo albums have been decidedly uneven, past singles like "Backfired" (H.R. Giger video below), "The Jam Was Moving," "Rush Rush" (from "Scarface"), "French Kissing in the USA," "In Love With Love," "Liar Liar" (from "Married to the Mob"), "I Want That Man," "Sweet and Low," "I Can See Clearly" and "Strike Me Pink" had hit written all over them yet were sadly ignored by the masses. I don't expect "Two Times Blue" to do any better, but it's a real pleasure that Debbie is still in the game and still making interesting new music.

Like "a traveling salesman met...", "farmer with three daughters," yet!

All the quips were so suggestive.

Then we ran down to HoJo's for hamburgers to go!

London Calling

My girl Debbie Harry is seen arriving at the Vodaphone Live Music Awards in Earls Court in London yesterday. Just three more weeks until her new solo album, "Necessary Evil," drops here in the U.S.A.

Photo Flashback: 1986

That's my best friend from Arizona, Greg, on the left, and my onetime French tutor in my childhood bedroom on West Kiva. (And no, that isn't an omelet on my head, technically.)