Customer Reviews

Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In an age of media obsessing over the latest youthful talent, Deborah Harry stands as an aware, experienced individual who led a full life before even forming Blondie. In fact, Deborah Harry was over thirty years-old before Blondie started getting the attention they deserved. Unfortunately, this book only seems to scratch the surface of her talent and artistic contribution. Interview questions bounce all over the place with a kind of gushing, fan-club-president urgency, with no follow up or connection between them. Additionally, the author should have gotten more of the facts straight (it's Jayne County, not Jane) and do I really need clarification that dead lox = cured fish? Flaws aside, the book's somewhat superficial content might be what we are privy to, from the subject's perspective. Deborah Harry seems to be private about aspects of her life, and does not elaborate too much in certain areas. Chris Stein (artistic collaborator and longtime partner) is a master at directing an interview to ground he feels comfortable in covering. As one of her many fans, it would have been great to get more insight into her brilliance, instead of the interviewer trying to hold responses together with "but some of your old looks were really great, like ripped t-shirts and underwear with boots..." For a more fun jaunt through the roots and takeoff of Blondie, "Making Tracks: The Rise of Blondie" is a must read. Written by Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Victor Bockris, it is a more intimate picture of Debbie, told in her own words. Topics range from the creature feature she just watched and was inspired by on late-night television, to details on early band struggles. The entertaining narrative is brought to life by Chris Stein's documentary photography of not only Debbie, but the whole NY "scene" at that time. Most of "Deborah Harry" relies on reference from "Making Tracks" anyway, so why not take it straight from the source?

Cathy Che's book traces Harry's life from her birth in New Jersey to her becoming drummer and vocalist in the psychedelic group Wind In The Willows, singing with the Stilettoes, to Blondie, and beyond. However, she divides the book thematically, such as Harry as a movie actress, Harry's influence on music after Blondie's departure from the music scene, as an icon for gays, and on fashion. All this leads up to the Blondie reunion, which yielded the No Exit album and the accompanying tour.

The coverage of the CBGB's scene and the onset of Blondiemania is done well, and certain movie roles, i.e. Videodrome, Heavy, and Hairspray, have added detail, as they were starring roles for her.

The key content of the book are the series of interviews with Deborah Harry and the one with Chris Stein. Che does reveal at the outset that Harry despises idiotic questions like "how does it feel to be a sex symbol?" And that good manners and intelligent questions are a prerequisite to have a successful and interesting interview with her. Her answers are honest, open, with a twist of humour every now and then. However, what struck me was her belief that her accomplishments wasn't worth a full book. Even Chris Stein thinks Harry doesn't realize the influence she has had on pop culture, which is bringing the "movie starlet sensibility into rock."

What's important to emphasize, as Che does is that Blondie is all five members of the group, i.e. Harry, Stein, Clem Burke, Jimmie Destri, Gary Valentine, and as may have been apparent, Blondie became solely equated with Deborah Harry, an inaccuracy on one hand, but that's something that Chris Leeds, Blondie's manager from 77-79, fervently argues, that the men were "backing up this particularly beautiful woman." Leeds is portrayed as a controlling force and someone who had what it took to push Blondie in the spotlight, and he isn't portrayed too flatteringly here, perhaps justifiably so, as a clause in the exit contract gave him 20% royalties.

Another way to put it was 'Blondie' as Harry's onstage persona, a 70's Jean Harlow or Marilyn Monroe. As Harry said, "The initial idea was to be desirable, feminine, and vulnerable, but a resilient, tenacious wit at the same time." "For this reason, technically Deborah Harry both is and isn't Blondie." I can go for that.

The brief commentary by those influenced by her include Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Fred Schneider of the B-52's, whose new track "Debbie" on their Future Generation greatest hits is a nod to Ms. harry, Michael Stipe of REM, and Theo Kogan of the Lunachicks is quite rewarding to read. And Che also mentions Madonna, whose fiery independent, self-assured image was surely taken from Deborah Harry.

There is a series of photographs, including Andy Warhol's wonderful silk-screen portrait, a very interesting surreal painting by Robert Williams, and the usual bunch of photos.

Warm, accessible, and generous is how Che portrays Harry in this book, but Evelyn McDonnell's final words in the foreword sums things up pretty well: "When Blondie died Harry was able to go on living."

Didn't this exact book come out about a year ago by the same author? Has it just been reprinted by another publisher with a different cover? I found this book really disappointing. The author's bio says she writes for Time Out, which would explain the style-- silly, attempting to be hipper than thou, ultimately poor writing. Who took on this author? Terrible.

This is a poorly written book (chock full of typos and inaccuracies) that doesn't do justice to the very interesting subject of Harry's life. It's nice that someone aimed to write her biography, but if you're looking for something definitive, you'll have to keep waiting.

Despite the fact that Che had access to Harry and Chris Stein, she came up with no new revelations, and doesn't even tell the story of Harry's life; she simply focuses on Harry's sex appeal and stardom, and doesn't even delve into that too critically. Pass on this one.

Before Gwen Stefani, Madonna and Courtney Love, the original and premier rock blonde of the world was Deborah Harry. So it's a given that she would be adored as an icon of rock, punk and pop music -- but does Cathay Che have to adore her quite so much?

"Platinum Blonde" is a useful, interesting look at the life and work of Debbie Harry -- adopted at three months into the New Jersey Harry family, Debbie later went on to the legendary Max's Kansas City, and then to become the frontwoman of the hit punk band called Blondie. (Contrary to legend, SHE is not Blondie herself) Later, when the band broke up, Debbie embarked on a solid solo career as a singer and actress.

Biographies are always a lot better when the subject goes along with it, or even helps. Debbie Harry did both, and that means that the details are plentiful and the background is as well-researched as it possibly can be. In addition, Che has some very exclusive interviews with Harry and her bandmate Chris Stein. These interviews are intelligent, insightful, and give a great deal of insight into Harry, her career, and her band, and are without a doubt the best part of the book.

What is more, the book has a great deal of other input on Harry and Co., most of which add to the overall "feel" of the book. (Except for one mildly icky story about a photographer getting a naughty glimpse in one of his photos). And Che has a great deal of enthusiasm for her subject, and the impact Blondie and Harry had on the world.

The main problem is Che's rosy lenses -- it's understandable that a fan would get a bit adoring of Harry, especially after interviewing her in person for this. However, it gets a bit tiresome to be told repeatedly what a great band Blondie was, and what a flawlessly amazing human being Debbie Harry is, and so on and so forth. I adore Harry too, yet not quite that much.

However, Che's excellent research and solid writing make up somewhat for the gushy tone; most die-hard fans can't write anywhere near this well. "Platinum Blonde" has one major flaw, but is otherwise an excellent biography of one of rock's first ladies.

I love Deborah Harry. She is a genuinely interesting artist. The author relies too heavily on Deborah's own book Making Tracks. I could have saved my money and just reread Making Tracks.

...okay fans and friends, not to make this review section a (contest) let's just say I have seen Debbie perform at least 30 times since '78 in all forms, with Blondie, Jazz passengers, to recorded track solo gigs, with Tiger Bomb, to guest vocals with the Ramones. (....)I learned nothing more insightful about the great singer/writer/performer/actress then I have read in people magazine over the past 25 years. (...) (...)

Other reviewers have written about the book, I shall just say this is a decent book, and Blondie fans will like it.

such is the thesis of this book. Now I have no trouble with this thesis because on a subjective level I agree with the author--the "girls" in the band who have followed Harry are but a footnote to her. That said, however, the book becomes a repitious ode to Harry. We learn from the beginning that Harry is/was beautiful and that her look enabled her to play with both musical and popular culture conventions. But we don't learn much more. At times the author offers pertinent insights and thoughtful commentary on Harry's career, image and influence. But the writing is sometimes poor and badly in need of editing. The quotations have no references, leaving the reader to wonder if they come from the oral interviews done from the author or if they are culled from written sources. We do gain some limited insight into who Harry is: a nice person who cares about the people in her life including her fans. We also learn that she is a smart performer who has been able to avoid the boring self absorbed and destructive behavior that have lead some of her predessors to turn into caricatures of themselves. The author offers us nuggets of critical insight and attempts to place Harry within her historical moment, but we must continue to wait for a biography that will contain the type of focused anaysis of Harry that will ultimately establish Harry as "the girl" of her time and place.

In a world where female rockers are now the norm, the media and the public have forgotten the time when only a few existed, but leave it Cathay Che to save the day! DEBORAH HARRY pays the highest tribute to the one and only platinum blonde diva, and it's about time. For die-hard fans, the book may not offer too much critical information pertaining to the wonder that is Deborah Harry, but it is told from a fan's point a view, all the words we try to express about her that never complete the full picture. Harry may be famous for her Blondie days, and with the exception of 1984, she has released new musical material every year since 1976, most of it unnoticed by the media and the public. From Brazilian chants, dance floor mega-mixes, and dreamy solo albums to Spanish ska and cutting edge jazz, Deborah Harry has done it all. And this book takes note of that, as well as painting the picture of a highly diversified woman who is still as cool as she was twenty-five years ago when she wore & ripped a thrift store wedding dress to shreads on stage! For anyone who wants true insight on the makings of an icon and a star, look no further, this book is for you!