MISS GUY
DOES DEBBIE
FOR PUNK GLOBE
A Special 35th Anniversary
Interview With BLONDIE'S
DEBBIE HARRY
By: Miss Guy
(with additional questions from
Gus Bernadicou)
What’s there to say about Deborah Harry that hasn’t already been said a million times? She’s considered one of the most beautiful women in history, and she’s been called the Marilyn Monroe of Punk. She’s also been a Playboy bunny, a beautician, a waitress, a drug addict, a Jersey girl, a New York Dolls groupie, a Stiletto, a blonde Goddess, a hippie, an artist, a devoted girlfriend, a loyal friend, a pin up, a punk, a New Yorker, a downtown devotee, a number one multi-platinum selling pop star with her band Blondie, a chart topping solo artist, a style icon, a pre-Madonna (get it?), a freak, an animal lover, an avid music fan, an actress… and all of this has made her what she is today, a living legend.

She is definitely most well known as the lead singer of the wildly successful new wave band Blondie. In case anyone doesn’t already know, Blondie has had countless number one hits around the world including FOUR in America with Heart Of Glass, Call Me, Rapture and The Tide Is High. More recently, they’ve scored hits with Maria, Good Boys, and off their latest studio album Panic Of Girls, the song Mother, which is about one of her favorite nightclubs in New York. Blondie holds the record for having the most usage of its music in movies. Blondie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Their 1978 disco classic Heart Of Glass was recently voted #19 all-time greatest number one single. Blondie! Blondie! Blondie!

Debbie was nice enough to take a minute out of her hectic schedule to talk to me exclusively for Punk Globe as she prepares for her tour with Devo this September. Besides calling her a bitch, I also call her my friend, and I wanted to talk to her about the obvious things people want to know as well as ask her some more offbeat questions that let you inside the mind of this cool rock bird.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Hi Debbie! A Blondie and Devo tour is so exciting, is this your first tour together?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Hi Guy! Yeah, this is our first tour with Devo.
Punk Globe-Guy:
I know you and Chris are big Devo fans, when and where did you first see them?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I’m not sure when we first saw them, New York somewhere, maybe at Max’s with Anya (Phillips). Chris and I also went to Akron, Ohio and saw them shoot the Satisfaction video in an old theater.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Wow, that’s amazing. Let’s talk about your look, you and Stephen Sprouse did so much together, is there another designer you've collaborated with as much as you did with Stephen?
DEBBIE HARRY:
No, I haven’t worked with anybody as long as I did with Steve, but I did work with Anya Phillips quite a lot years ago. Recently I’ve been working with Todd Thomas. I've also worked with Michael Schmidt a lot over the years.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Being well known for your style as much as your music, do you prefer music or fashion?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I think music comes first, it’s very natural to me but I’ve always loved fashion, it’s just more of a learned thing.
Punk Globe-Guy:
It's obvious when you perform that you love being on stage, is that your favorite thing about being in a band?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I guess showing off comes naturally so being on stage makes it seem useful in some way and making music is, in my view, very important.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Are you proud of the character you invented that has paved the way for so many artists in the last 30 plus years? Do you have a love/hate relationship with your persona at all? Do you sometimes just want to go out the front door and know that you'll be completely unrecognized or not be noticed?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I think over the years I’ve been in various stages of acceptance and rejection of who I am and what I think I am, or who I think I am. Oh fuck, I guess just like most people I am sometimes sick of myself and at other times I think I’m the coolest.
Punk Globe-Guy:
What does fame mean to you? Was it more important to you before you were famous? If you weren’t famous, would you still want to sing on stage?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Fame means different things to each person I think. For me, fame meant acceptance. Being in the spotlight was a real love hate thing at first but now it’s more natural for me and I love performing so I guess I’d sing even if I wasn’t famous.
Punk Globe-Guy:
You’ve acted in some incredible films, what’s most fulfilling about being in a movie?
DEBBIE HARRY:
The best thing about being in a movie is suspending belief. Becoming another person without having to deal with life’s responsibilities is pure indulgence. Working with a great director is a wonderful feeling for me. To establish this kind of understanding and trust in a creative situation is very fulfilling.
Punk Globe-Guy:
When are you going to give us another solo record? I love your solo music.
DEBBIE HARRY:
Thanks, I’ll be doing one soon I hope. Working on a new Blondie record too.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Would you ever consider doing an all covers record? Do you think that would that work better as a Blondie or solo project? I’ve always thought you guys chose great covers.
DEBBIE HARRY:
I don’t think I’d do an entire collection of covers with Blondie or solo.
Punk Globe-Guy:
You still love the nightlife, what is it that you like most about going out to clubs?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Clubs and nightlife are like food to me. Like a nice meal or a delicious drink, it just makes me relaxed and happy and I love seeing people, watching a show or hearing what’s going on.
Punk Globe-Guy:
What's your favorite TV show, past or present?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Breaking Bad, Raising Hope, 30 Rock to name a few.
Punk Globe-Guy:
I love Raising Hope! Martha Plimpton is genius. What are a few of your all-time favorite movies?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I just saw one the other day called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. It’s a Korean film with fierce photography and images.
Punk Globe-Guy:
I thought you’re favorite movie was Curly Sue?
DEBBIE HARRY:
No honey, that’s your favorite movie not mine!
Punk Globe-Guy:
Are you interested in space travel at all?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Space travel would be nice in a ship that hasn’t been designed yet. Sci-fi ships would be alright but today’s rockets are too small for a long trip.
Punk Globe-Guy:
This summer marks the 50 year anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's untimely death, do you think she was murdered?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I was wondering how you would get her into this interview!
Punk Globe-Guy:
I got a one track mind.
DEBBIE HARRY:
I don’t know if she was murdered physically or metaphorically. She lived the impossible dream and, as with many stars who claim the heights that she did, she became increasingly isolated. I think she knew too many people who each knew one small aspect of her personality.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Why do you think she has remained so important after all these years?
DEBBIE HARRY:
She was a consummate actress on screen and off I think. It’s a variable world when you grow up without relatable adults to pattern yourself after so I think this was her great strength but also her weakness. She has stayed with us as a delicious movie star on screen leaving us all entertained and lovingly breathless. Her strength and ambition are hardly measurable. Marilyn is a true icon.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Well Debbie, I know everyone reading this will agree when I say that you too, like Marilyn, are a true icon. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview and dealing with my silly questions.
DEBBIE HARRY:
Piss off!
Punk Globe-Guy:
Oh wait, I have a few questions from the Punk Globe gang.
DEBBIE HARRY:
Hi to Ginger!

Punk Globe-Gus:
Who is “Rip Her To Shreds” about?
DEBBIE HARRY:
It’s about a lot of girls and some queens too. It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular. I was just poking fun at a few people as well as myself.
Punk Globe-Gus:
Do you feel that Mike Chapman took the band to a commercial level, for the American market, and hid the band’s “punk” ideology?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Punk, for Blondie, wasn’t necessarily a musical style but more of a political stand which at the time was aggressive and anti-social. Chapman made our music more commercial in that it had the sound radio would and could play, not necessarily the right lyrical content but a good radio sound.
Punk Globe-Gus:
When Blondie was said to have “taken punk to the masses” do you feel that you took the same kind of New York punk that Jayne County and Johnny Thunders offered?
DEBBIE HARRY:
Obviously not! The bands then had their own sounds and styles, and punk as a sound hadn’t arrived.
Punk Globe-Gus:
Is punk even a relevant term or was it a fad?
DEBBIE HARRY:
I think historically punk represents a time period, the same as grunge or glitter, and within these periods some kinds of social relevance are reflected in the music and songs. The technology of those same periods allow for specific sound recognitions that then take us directly to those times, indeed, time travel through sound.
Punk Globe-Guy:
Wow, that was a really hot three-way interview! You can catch the Whip It To Shreds Tour this September in a city near you. For dates please visit www.blondie.net and while you’re at it, check out www.missguy.net just for the hell of it! Kisses from New York! xx