Face It


Book Description

'I was saying things in songs that female singers didn't really say back then. I wasn't submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. My Blondie character was an inflatable doll but with a dark, provocative, aggressive side. I was playing it up, yet I was very serious.' BRAVE, BEAUTIFUL AND BORN TO BE PUNK DEBBIE HARRY is a musician, actor, activist and the iconic face of New York City cool. As the front-woman of Blondie, she and the band forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. The scope of Debbie Harry's impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life - until now. In an arresting mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals that includes never-before-seen photographs, bespoke illustrations and fan art installations, Face It upends the standard music memoir while delivering a truly prismatic portrait. With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail, Face It recreates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Following her path from glorious commercial success to heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy, and Blondie's break-up as a band to her multifaceted acting career in more than thirty films, a stunning solo career and the triumphant return of her band, and her tireless advocacy for the environment and LGBTQ rights, Face It is a cinematic story of a woman who made her own path, and set the standard for a generation of artists who followed in her footsteps - a memoir as dynamic as its subject. g mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals that includes never-before-seen photographs, bespoke illustrations and fan art installations, Face It upends the standard music memoir while delivering a truly prismatic portrait. With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail, Face It recreates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Following her path from glorious commercial success to heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy, and Blondie's break-up as a band to her multifaceted acting career in more than thirty films, a stunning solo career and the triumphant return of her band, and her tireless advocacy for the environment and LGBTQ rights, Face It is a cinematic story of a woman who made her own path, and set the standard for a generation of artists who followed in her footsteps - a memoir as dynamic as its subject. s dynamic as its subject.




Deborah Harry


Book Description

Written with Deborah Harry's co-operation Platinum Blonde was the first portrait of the original Rock Goddess. With her unapologetic sexuality and perfectly aggressive pop, Ms Harry has remained a lasting icon of cool, synonymous with New York City attitude and the intersecting worlds of punk, rock, rap, art, film and fashion.




The Essential Guide to Blondie and Deborah Harry


Book Description

Blondie -- the most successful band of the punk/new wave movement -- have sold over 40-million records worldwide.The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-inductees effortlessly cross genres such as pop, rock, disco, reggae, rap, jazz and dance -- as evidenced by their #1 hit singles Denis, Heart Of Glass, Sunday Girl, Atomic, Call Me, The Tide Is High, Rapture and Maria, and their entries on Billboard's pop, rock, adult contemporary, R&B and dance charts. Fronted by the striking Deborah Harry, Blondie have achieved 26 certified records and a 34-year span of hit albums, with 1978's Parallel Lines remaining one of the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed albums of all-time.




Point of View


Book Description

A new collection of unseen photographs of New York City's 1970s punk heyday, by one of the icons of the city's golden age of new wave, Blondie's Chris Stein. A new collection of unseen photographs of New York City's 1970s punk heyday, by one of the icons of the city's golden age of music, Blondie's Chris Stein. For the duration of the 1970s - from his days as a student at the School of Visual Arts through the foundation of the era-defining band Blondie and his subsequent reign as epicenter of punk's golden age - Chris Stein kept an unrivaled photographic record of the downtown New York City scene. Following in the footsteps of the successful book Negative, this spectacular new book presents a more personal and more visceral collection of Stein's photographs of the era. The images presented here take readers from self-portraits in his run-down East-Village apartment to candid photographs of pop-cultural icons of the time and evocative shots of New York City streetscapes in all their most longed-for romance and dereliction. An eclectic cast of cultural characters - from William Burroughs to Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol to Iggy Pop - appear here exactly as they were in the day, juxtaposed with children playing hopscotch on torn-down blocks, riding the graffiti-ridden subway, or cruising the burgeoning clubs of the Bowery. At once a chronicle of one music icon's life among his punk and New-Wave heroes and peers, and a love letter to the city that was the backdrop and inspiration for those scenes, Point of View transports us to another place and time.




Debbie Harry Sings in French


Book Description

Johnny's had kind of a tough life so far, and he's always been a bit of a freak. His goth look usually includes black nail polish and a little mascara.When he discovers Debbie Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, he not only likes her music but realizes that he kind of, sort of, wants to BE her. He'd like to be cool and tough and beautiful like her. He'd like to dress like her. He's not gay, at least he doesn't think so. So what does it mean? And what should he tell his amazing new girlfriend? This wise, hip novel introduces shades of gray into the black-and-white ideas of sexuality and gender. Anyone who has ever wished they could be a little bit tough and a little bit glamorous will recognize themselves in Johnny.




Picture This


Book Description

A startling and energetic visual record of the band that spawned power pop at the peak of their success and their sultry-cool lead singer, now in paperback Blondie were the most successful rock act to emerge from New York's seminal and anarchic downtown punk scene of the mid-1970s. Their beautiful, multi-talented lead singer, Debbie Harry, became the most photogenic and photographed rock performer of all time. Mick Rock lived and lensed cutting-edge culture like no other in the 1970s, and their collaboration yielded iconic photos that transcended and transformed the public perception of rock'n'roll imagery. This book explores in depth, both visually and verbally, the unique natural charm and charisma of Debbie's "punk Marilyn Monroe" persona in its prime, and her successful reinvention of that persona for Blondie's glorious comeback of recent years. Mick Rock provides a vivid, memorable account of his larger-than-life adventures behind the camera; revealing, like no other book, just what made Debbie Harry and Blondie so distinctive.




Making Tracks


Book Description




Chris Stein / Negative


Book Description

INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards -- 2014 Finalist On the occasion of Blondie’s fortieth anniversary, Chris Stein shares his iconic and mostly unpublished photographs of Debbie Harry and the cool creatures of the ’70s and ’80s New York rock scene. While a student at the School of Visual Arts, Chris Stein photographed the downtown New York scene of the early ’70s, where he met Deborah Harry and cofounded Blondie. Their blend of punk, dance, and hip-hop spawned a totally new sound, and Stein’s photographs helped establish Harry as an international fashion and music icon. In photos and stories direct from Stein, brilliant writer of hits like "Rapture" and "Heart of Glass," this book provides a fascinating snapshot of the period before and during Blondie’s huge rise, by someone who was part of and who helped to shape the early punk music scene—at CBGB, Andy Warhol’s Factory, and early Bowery. Stars such as David Bowie, the Ramones, Joan Jett, and Iggy Pop were part of Stein’s world, as were fascinating downtown characters like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hell, Stephen Sprouse, Anya Phillips, Divine, and many others. As captured by one of its greatest artists and instigators, and designed by Shepard Fairey, this book is a must-have celebration of the new-wave and punk scene, whose influence on music and fashion is just as relevant today as it was four decades ago.




Deborah Harry


Book Description

''I was hugely influenced by Debbie Harry when I started out as a singer and songwriter. I thought she was the coolest chick in the universe' Madonna. Written with Deborah Harry's cooperation, this book celebrates the life of the original rock goddess as boldly as she's lived it. The Blondie frontwoman has remained a lasting icon of cool, synonymous with New York City attitude and the intersecting worlds of punk, rock, rap, art, film and fashion. Fully revised and updated for 2013 to include new studio and live albums, numerous world tours and Blondie's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and including three exclusive interviews with Deborah, as well as contributions from her friends, fans and contemporaries, this book is as close to official as it gets, and is a tribute to a truly unconventional pop star, who is still influencing a new generation of female pop icons.




And I Don't Want to Live This Life


Book Description

“Honest and moving . . . Her painful tale is engrossing.”—Washington Post Book World For most of us, it was just another horrible headline. But for Deborah Spungen, the mother of Nancy, who was stabbed to death at the Chelsea Hotel, it was both a relief and a tragedy. Here is the incredible story of an infant who never stopped screaming, a toddler who attacked people, a teenager addicted to drugs, violence, and easy sex, a daughter completely out of control—who almost destroyed her parents’ marriage and the happiness of the rest of her family.