... becoming famous:
There wasn’t a particular moment, it was quite gradual. There was a period in New York when my picture was everywhere. My picture was being used as the face of the music scene that was going on at the time. That struck me as: ‘Oh well, this means something now…’ It didn’t freak me out, I just got on with it.
(October 1, 2007)
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... famous fans:
A lot of musicians have said they're fans. I've been more surprised by some actors who have said they were fans. Who's that nutty Australian actor guy who’s really great? Russell Crowe! Him. He's a wonderful actor and said he was a fan and David Caruso said he was a big fan too, which threw me.
(October 1, 2007)
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... 'Necessary Evil':
Most of the songs in pop culture are usually about timely topics - politics, ecology or about personal neurosis, different problems. But really, most of the songs are about love or about relationships. That's basically what most of the topics are about on my record.
(June 6, 2007)
I just feel satisifed that I actually finished it! (Laughs) Of course when you're in the record business you have to do that commercial thing – you have to be part of the commercial world – and it's about marketing and selling music, but primarily I just enjoy figuring it out. That's the best part for me. Something I feel satisfied with.
(September 2007)
It's mostly songs about love in various forms. There's a social commentary song on there about scandal, too. I think we all enjoy a scandalous story, we all read those magazines. It was inspired by something that happened in America where a TV journalist nearly got someone executed. I thought that was going a little too far. When it comes to the law, you shouldn’t hang a person in the press.
(October 1, 2007)
"She's made the record for her fans and wants them to discover it and talk about it," says Allen Kovac, Harry's manager and CEO of 10th Street Entertainment. "We've planned a full-circle approach to getting the word out about the album."
(October 6, 2007)
I think I wanted to make a record that was a rock record, more of a rough-sounding record than a Blondie album. I wanted to do something that was a little more sparse, not as thickly layered as a Blondie album.
The people I chose to work with were introduced to me by the singer from the Toilet Boys, Guy Furrow. I started working on some music with them, I really enjoyed the way they worked, and I liked their personalities. It was a very relaxed, fun collaboration. Our relationship just sort of grew, and I'd love to keep working with them in the future. It was a really a lot of fun writing songs with them and recording.
I definitely wanted to get something heard and get something out there that would be very today and very compatible with contemporary sounds and possibly have radio play the record. At the same time, I wanted to do some sketching, a little bit of freak-show kind of stuff, a little more experimental. It's sort of a happy medium between going really far out and suggesting some kind of hints at something more abstract than usual.
(October 13, 2007)
I had some time off, and I had some ideas and found some people that I really enjoyed working with and sort of put together a few pieces. And it just turned into a package.
I would think I was referring to relationships and, you know, things that you find you can't live without, but they're not good for you. That kind of stuff.
It's not supposed to be all that deep. It's about love and all of its many forms.
Yeah, I wanted to make it an album that was just sort of light and entertaining and easy to listen to. And then, at the very end, I did a couple of things that were a little bit further out and a little bit, you know, sort of more challenging and unexpected perhaps. I'd like to in the future maybe do something that's a little bit further out even than that, you know. Just to do something that's really strange and really kind of just odd. Maybe a little bit more abstract. But for this one, I really was just having fun and trying to write some good lyrics and some kind of singable kind of stuff, you know. People like to sing along.
(October 14, 2007)
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... music she likes:
Debbie's iTunes playlist:
Missy Elliot - Get Your Freak On
Doris Day - Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Doesn't Love Nobody But Me)
Peaches - F**ck The Pain Away
The Ramones - Commando
Eminem - Lose Yourself
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
(March 28, 2006)
Because I listen to a lot of music but I don’t catalogue it and remember the artists' names. I've been listening to a lot of Brazilian music.
I like going to live shows. I like to have the full experience. I just missed Courtney [Love], because I was out of town. I'm going to see Justin [Timberlake] next week.
I really loved The Dresden Dolls. They’re so powerful and strong. They really are that way in person too
(August 14, 2007)
Deborah's music choice on 'Radio 1 Legends' :
Smashing Pumpkinks - Tarantula
CSS - Alala
Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs
Blondie - Rapture
Brazilian Girls - Jique
Madness - One Step Beyond
Hot Chip - Over And Over
The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
Leonard Cohen - Waiting For The Miracle
Calvin Harris - Merrymaking At My Place
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her
(September 19, 2007)
I have a list; Klaxons, MIA, Smashing Pumpkins, Bat For Lashes and Calvin Harris.
(October 1, 2007)
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... collaborations:
I've been collaborating for so many years with different writers and musicians that I’m used to the idea. It’s really fun. People who are used to working with other people, rather than holing up on their own, make for a good experience. You have a laugh.
(October 1, 2007)
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... other jobs:
Working in a shop. Long hours. It was a housewares boring shop in the suburbs back when I was in high school. It was very boring.
(October 1, 2007)
Is it true that you worked as a secretary for a short while? - Yes, for nine months.
(September 2007)
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... filesharing:
Well, I understand why people don't want to spend a lot of money on music when you can get it for free. I mean, free is a nice thing. But we all like to get paid for our work, you know? It's funny because a lot of people think, "Oh, anybody can write a song," but that's really not true. So, I want to get paid for what I do, but I understand how record companies really blew it by not being on top of the technology and going into the future, and sort of being righteous about it. That's where I'm standing on it; I guess I don't really have a firm decision on it. I can see it both ways, but I still want to get paid for what I do.
(October 13, 2007)
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... allergies:
I'm really allergic to feathers and they have big feather pillows in my hotel.
(September 2007)
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... pets:
Back home I have dogs and a cat. Well, one of the dogs just died so I feel kind of sad about that. I gave her a nice send off, and a beautiful gold circular memorial.
(September 2007)
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... human rights:
I think it's always important. I don't know if there's been a decline in rights, really. It seems to be more of an accelerated awareness. It seems like there are so many important issues to deal with now, and more people are knowledgeable about them, with the Internet. With the computer age, information is so accessible. All of these issues are much more obvious and much more part of our daily lives.
(June 6, 2007)
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... becoming a style icon:
I just kind of fell into that style icon thing by needing to dress in a way that fit in my economic situation. I was very interested in the '60s kind of look, especially the French New Wave cinema and sort of a mod look. I also had a connection working with Steve Strauss, and we both shared a kind of fondness for the slim-lined look of the '60s. This, coupled with the fact that I was buying a lot of second-hand clothes and everything was retro anyway. Somehow, the whole thing kind of evolved as a means to an end economically.
(October 13, 2007)
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... working with Chris Stein:
I love working with Chris. I have two tracks of his on Necessary Evil. I would have had more, but he has two young children and he's a hands-on parent, so he's very busy with that right now. I think when his kids are a little bit older and in school, he'll have more time to devote to music. I really love working with Chris, he's one of my favorite people in the world. I feel lucky that I got two songs out of him!
(October 13, 2007)
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... acupuncture:
I had acupuncture for a lot of things. I totally believe that it works. I can't do that while I'm away but being back at home I'd have another acupuncture for my current exhaustion.
(July 25, 2007)
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... food:
I'm a normal eater. Okay, I'm picky but actually I eat everything if the quality is right. Gladly salads and vegetables.
I think it's different for women and men. Men obviously need much more food. *imitates a dark male voice, belonging to one particular member of Blondie* "The guys in my band only want to eat. Especially Leigh, the bass player. It's not that he's talking about food all the time. But as soon as we arrive in a restaurant he attacks the food like a shark its victim. Yeah, he is a shark.
Sometimes I don't get my salad, just because there is no salad in some countries. Then I have to eat something else. But there's vegetables everywhere. I have to admit that I become a bit nervous occasionally when I have to eat in a foreign place. I had food poisonings a few times. That sensitizes you. Especially with sea food you have to be careful. Not all countries have such a thorough food inspection as Germany or the US.
That [bio food] is especially popular in California. But also my little supermarket in New York has a little corner with bio food. The New Yorkers more and more discover bio chickens for themselves. The quality of food in New York is very good in general, I think.
(July 25, 2007)
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... cooking:
Do you like to cook at home? - Sometimes. Mostly when friends are around. I sometimes cook for myself but that's pretty boring.
When I have guests I usually make salads - that doesn't take long - and I love to eat it.
(July 25, 2007)
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... the closing of CBGB:
I felt a bit nostalgic, of course. A lot of things came back that made me a little sad. But then - it's no longer a place that means something in my life now.
I occasionally met Hilly Kristal, the owner. The reason we were involved was more about its philosophy that CBGB stood for. The place itself is a hole.
(July 25, 2007)
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... New York:
Oh yeah, the city energizes my art. In New York everything comes together: I can see all my friends, it has an exciting night life - it's the city of communication. When I was a young girl I wanted to move there. I knew it was my place.
Have you ever lived somewhere else instead of New York? - Not really for long. I occasionally went to Los Angeles for longer stays - for a couple of months. I also lived in London for a while. In Chelsea. I'm a Chelsea girl. In New York I also live in Chelsea. I really liked it in London but then I went back home.
(July 25, 2007)
Yeah. I think it's a great place. It's a challenging place to live, but it's also, you know...there's so much going on. It's really exciting.
Yes, it has changed a lot, hasn't it? I don't know. There are still certain aspects of it that will never change and people are attracted to. And it is a place where you can come and see a lot of different things and meet a lot of different people. And I think that that's one of the draws...that it's a great magnetic place for communications. You know, people want to communicate. They come here, and it's all around you all the time. So, it's very exciting--very vital.
(October 14, 2007)
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... Blondie:
We represented some kind of rebellion. It was pretty tough then to make a radio station play your music. It was a completely different world - today communication is much easier. And the audience is more open-minded.
(July 25, 2007)
Blondie is a pop group from the early to mid 1970s from New York, who were part of the punk scene which has sort of been misconstrued over the years. Then we evolved through a lot of small label deals to eventually be signed with Chrysalis, which brought us into the British empire and we started having massive hits and became part of the recording world. We started traveling around the world and it was a sort of mega success story. We got there and did what we did before anyone really knew what was happening and laid a llot of groundwork for other bands to follow.
(September 2007)
I think we were trying to be a band, and everybody in the band brought their own interests and style with them so that when we tried to fuse that all together we ended up with what Blondie is. And it wasn't like we all came together because we only liked one thing. We came together because we liked different things. And I think that that really is a cool way of forming a band.
(October 14, 2007)
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... Lil' Kim:
I heard about that trial against her and I felt sorry. I can understand her dilemma: If she says the truth she'll betray her friends. If she lies she'll get problems with the law. She decided to stay loyal to her friends - and went to prison. That was a tough but also courageous decision. So she's either extremely stupid or has a big heart. That's exactly what I wanted to write a song about.
(July 25, 2007)
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... longevity:
Harry says it's a longevity helped by absence; in 1982, at the height of the band's popularity, Blondie disbanded when Chris Stein, the guitarist, fell seriously ill and Harry, his then girlfriend, resigned to look after him. The band didn't work together again until 1997. "In a way it was providential - it went in our favour because people were copying us and there was nothing I could do about it, and then when we came back we had taken on this status as being something legendary, or some ridiculous thing. By then I just felt flattered by it. It's interesting to see what becomes style and what becomes acceptable."
(September 15, 2007)
Maybe I have the stubborn streak that propels me, you know...that I'm curious. I have a curiosity, and I have a stubborn streak. And I feel like I've worked hard to become good at what I do and don't really want to stop. I feel privileged that I've gotten to have a career in music, and I don't know...the whole age thing seems kind of preposterous to me in a way. I came into music from wanting to be a painter--from wanting to be an artist. And when you look at an artist's career, I mean, it goes through a lot of different phases, and usually they have quite a bit of longevity. You know, like the greatest painters...their work is considered better and better and better as they get older. And it's only in pop culture that, as you say, it seems disposable. So, I don't know. Somehow or other, I have that kind of state of mind where I think that--like with jazz musicians or with blues artists--you know, longevity is key.
(October 14, 2007)
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... movie remakes:
That's a general problem with the American movie industry: they constantly produce remakes instead of promoting the original movies which are often better. Why not push a classic movie instead? I don't mean 'Hairspray.' I speak of French originals that didn't become any better with their remake.
(July 25, 2007)
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... her best show:
Oh there were quite a few nights over the past years. I think I can answer that question about certain venues. There are certain venues that have a special atmosphere - for instance the Paradiso in Amsterdam. I'd have to look at a list of venues... but there are quite a few. In Edinburgh we played in an old castle. It was pouring and it was really cold and yet more than 6000 people had come and had a great time. It depends on the stage.
(July 25, 2007)
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... autographs:
I collect autographs, as well. I ask people for it.
(July 25, 2007)
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... collecting memorabilia:
All of my clippings and memorabilia and pictures. It's in danger of getting destroyed and kind of fragile, so I'd like to preserve it and organize it as much as possible and then just sort of be done with it. I'm working on a book, which is what inspired me to get the archives organized. The book is going to be autobiographical stories -- vignettes, a collection of little moments in my life.
(February 2006)
I had never been interested in that very much. But after having lived together with a photographer - that was like a curator had stepped into my life - things changed. They always want to save and document everything. That was a whole new concept for me. And it convinced me. Today I think: I wish I had started earlier. I'm lacking a lot of images.
(July 25, 2007)
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... touring:
The traveling is very tiring. But playing music is never, never a bad thing. It always picks you right up.
(October 14, 2007)
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... books:
I read a new Murakami book. And I didn’t like it as much as some of his older stuff.
What I'm reading right now is Thomas Wolfe – The Web and the Rock and it's an older book. It's set in New York and it's just fascinating.
(August 14, 2007)
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... her roots
She reveals for the first time that the names on her birth certificate are Scottish. - The two names I've discovered are Trimble and MacKenzie. I haven't done any research into these names yet, although I may do in the future.
(July 2007)
Her birth name, she reveals, was Angela Trimble.
(September 2007)
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