Debbie Harry interview: Blondie are back
he may have just turned 66, but Debbie Harry is in fine shape and turning heads in the bar of her West End hotel. The legend of her band Blondie has involved sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, the near-death of Debbie’s former partner and artistic counterpart Chris Stein, and financial meltdown.
But with their new album Panic Of Girls, Blondie are very much alive and Harry – dressed in black sweater and tight jeans – looks as beautiful as ever.
Everyone from Madonna to Lady Gaga owes her a debt, and Snoop Dogg has Tweeted that Rapture was the first rap record he ever heard.
Harry bounces across the room, vivacious and fresh from a gym workout. She answers questions thoughtfully, but also laughs like a dirty drain.
Before Chris, now 61 and married with two kids, arrives she recalls how their extraordinary partnership began.
“He was magnetic,” admits Debbie. “I didn’t know if I could take him seriously and I thought there was a good chance he was gay because he was wearing eye make-up and wore lots of jewellery.
“I was trying to fulfil my dream of being in a band and working in a trio. He came along played bass and we got to know each other.”
Before Blondie took off and she became a woman in the mainly man’s world of New York punk, Debbie had been a Playboy bunny.
“People viewed it as a sexist operation,” she smiles. “The attraction was sexist. Basically we were cocktail waitresses in skimpy outfits, but we were treated as valuable assets.”
The New York CBGB’s scene produced many great artists – Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Television – but Blondie had the greatest commercial success with global smashes Atomic, Rapture and The Tide Is High. Debbie wasn’t a star, she was an icon.
“During the first seven years of Blondie, that never came through to me,” she says, modestly. “I knew I was the face of the band and my looks were a big factor, but when we got back together after a long period away and people were calling me iconic, it shocked me. I always thought it was an absurd thing.”
Drug abuse eventually lead to Chris developing a rare life-threatening auto-immune disease, while Debbie put on weight (“the ice cream years”, she once called them) as she nursed Chris back to health. They then split as a couple, but remained musical partners.
“There was a period of adjustment,” Harry admits. “In a way, separating gave us an idea of our individuality.”
Chris joins us and says the band became the baby they never had together.
“It was never possible for me because we were working at such a pace,” Debbie reflects.
“I recommend everybody takes vacations!”
Although she never had children, Harry’s legacy is immense. She was once called a photogenic suffragette by writer Julie Burchill – so did she want to make feminism sexy?
“Yeah, in a small way,” Debbie smiles. “Lyrically, I wasn’t interested in taking the position of the underdog.”
Chris adds, “Think of Janis Joplin’s song titles. She was such a strong forceful figure, yet all her songs were about victimisation of women.”
Debbie looks good in her recent video for Mother and looks even better in the flesh. Is that important to her?
“Hanging in?” she asks. “Absolutely. It makes me feel good. I went into a sort of decline for a while and had to fight my way back, working with a trainer getting conscientious about my health.”
Was plastic surgery a big step to take?
“No,” she chortles. “I might be ready for some more soon. It’s part and parcel of modern living and being in showbusiness. The way to do it is to have something done and not look like you’ve had it done, don’t demand too much.”
As if she would.
● Blondie play T In The Park, Sunday; Kew Gardens, Monday; Somerset House, Wednesday. The album Panic Of Girls is out now.
