Debbie Harry’s fame-hungry days with Blondie are revealed in a captivating behind-the-scenes book and exhibition by her former partner and band co-founder Chris Stein.
Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk by Chris Stein (Rizzoli £35) is out now. Click here to order a copy for £29.75. An exhibition of the photos is at Somerset House, London WC2, from 5 Nov until 25 Jan 2015
“This is Debbie on the Bowery in New York, in the mid-70s, wearing a Stephen Sprouse dress – one of his earliest creations,” says Chris Stein. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“That’s rock journalist Lester Bangs carrying Debbie during a shoot for Punk magazine, New York, 1978,” says Stein. “He wrote a book about Blondie that veers between condemnation and affection. His outrage at Debbie’s overt use of sexuality is really naive in retrospect (and ironic looking at the photo). But he was a great character.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
With Chrissie Hynde in 1980. “One of the UK music papers set up a sort of summit with the top rock women of the day. Kate Bush was invited but didn’t show up.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“Deb, in what is most likely a Halston dress, shot in a hotel room, where we set up a blue paper backdrop.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In the book’s introduction, Harry says: “Chris’s sense of humour and easy, relaxed personality made me feel relaxed, too, and eventually, I started to like being shot by him. Because of our personal relationship, I think, Chris’s pictures of me are the most real and unguarded and ultimately revealing.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“UK tabloids don’t push the limits of credibility any more than their American counterparts,” says Stein, “but in a way they got there first. Here, Debbie is reading about sexism under the ayatollah.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“Debbie during a video shoot for Picture This, circa 1978. She was constantly asked: ‘How does it feel to be a sex symbol?’” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Debbie in a Plastic Letters outtake in Los Angeles circa 1977. “In these pictures for the second Blondie album, she is dressed in a pillowcase wrapped with red duct tape.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In a vintage motorcycle jacket in 1976. “I recall debating whether we should spend the few hundred dollars it must have cost,” says Stein. “She probably still has it.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“Debbie with a frying pan after a fire burned down our apartment. That blue dress was allegedly worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, but it got badly singed. Fortunately, Debbie’s cats were OK.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
“By 1975,” says Stein, “we were plunging ahead with the band and I was taking pictures of everything around me, among them Debbie. I was always aware of her astonishing looks and the effect she had on people.” Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
