Music for Lovers: Debbie Harry
Do you guys know about Debbie Harry’s first solo album, Koo Koo? If you didn’t, that’s ok, because from what I hear, the record didn’t shake too many tailfeathers when it came out. Like … everyone really hated it. It was a fervently anticipated collaboration between two mega-stars: Debbie Harry, then at the apex of Blondie fame, and Chic’s Nile Rodgers, who, despite the waning popularity of his band, was a storied and respected producer. Add to this mix, if you will, album art designed by visual mind-fucker H. R. Giger – the person responsible for any nightmare you’ve ever had about Alien – and you have a pretty batshit record on your hands. PS: It was 1981, and music was just like, “Whaaa?”
Seriously?
H. R. Giger directed Debbie in two videos: “Backfired” “Now I Know You Know.” I couldn’t decide which one to post – the videos are equally bizarre and the songs are equally … um … out of it? – so I am posting both! Yay!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uJNp4uwDFA]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTvdW1WkEw0]
Hmm, what fashion comments to make about these? I am sooo into the wig and printed bodysuit in “Now I Know You Know”, but the cyborg headband and ballet-neck tank in “Backfired” are killer too! Above all, though, I loved the murky green-black palette that pervades throughout both videos – one that can also be seen in the diaphanous confection that Debbie sports in the video for “Heart of Glass.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUG0GjdoGHE]
You know we love neutrals here at Listopad, and this is inspiring me to further explore the greener, smokier end of the neutral spectrum – earth tones and what have you. Also, I’m pretty sure I want Debbie’s haircut.