Face It - Debbie Harry

 

Of course, I've been a fan of the band Blondie since their debut release knocked me out with their mixture of 60's sounds and 70's punk/new wave combined with Debbie Harry's delivery and incredible looks. I read Chris Stein's book not too long ago and when I discovered that our library had this 2019 book (the internet says it was co-written by journalist Sylvie Simmons, which makes sense, although I don't see it listed on my digital copy), I checked it out.

Adopted at just a few months old into a loving but somewhat restrictive family, Debbie had early dreams of being someone, somehow, and to escape the staid suburban life that she grew up in. After school, she moves to NYC and 5 years fly by, working in head shops, Max's Kansas City, the Playboy Club and more, singing in Wind on the Willow, many sexual escapades and lots of other tales. 

She'll move back'n'forth from personal experiences to band formation and evolution to (randomly) various fan art inclusions and more, with some time-travel, especially with certain subjects (living spaces, in particular) and not always a lot of detail about things like the band (she doesn't even mention bassist Fred Smith being poached by Television, although everyone knows that story by now).

There’s plenty of tales of all sorts - recordings, tours and relationships. Obviously, she was with Chris Stein before and throughout the band’s original career but before and after that, she had plenty of dalliances. For instance, I had no idea that she dated Penn Jilette - for a gorgeous woman she sure has odd taste in men looks wise!

Of course, she details her solo career as well as the reunions and the complicated band relationships. They actually had much more later success than I ever imagined.

An interesting story, for sure, although Debbie is not the greatest writer - a great singer, performer and lyricist but prose is not her strongest asset.

Still, worth reading especially for fans. Try to find it at the library though!