KooKoo, The Hunter and 'Videodrome' 

After Blondie's breakup in 1982, Deborah Harry's career in music continued, but not as a member of a band. Deborah Harry's solo work never achieved the level of success that she had found with the band; that special mix of talent and trouble that seemed to work magic. Deborah's image that is associated with her first solo effort, KooKoo, was an attempt to break away from the Blondie persona that had been associated with Harry since the success of Blondie. The KooKoo album cover was a grotesque H.R. Giger creation that showed a severe, dark-haired Deborah whose visage was impaled with long needles. The videos for the two singles from KooKoo were directed by Giger and in them Deborah is represented as she never had been in Blondie, with long black hair and an ethereal "witchiness" that seemed suited for a horror film. It's not surprising then that during 1981 Deborah did in fact make a horror movie, 'Videodrome,' with cult director David Cronenberg. In the film Deborah has dark red hair. It was obvious from 'Videodrome' and the image put across with KooKoo that Deborah Harry was trying to make a metamorphosis into a new creation and rid herself of the punk Monroe character of Blondie. Debbie was expressing herself artistically in new pathways, somewhat more disturbing than Blondie's path had been. In the 1979 film, 'Union City,' Debbie's character finally expresses her true self to her husband when she bleaches her mousy brown hair (a blond epiphany!). However, Nicki in 'Videodrome' is different, her blood red hair symbolizes her masochistic obsessions. Nicki exists in a dark netherworld that the character of Blondie would never dare venture. 

Blondie reunited for their final album, The Hunter, in 1982. The Hunter album cover has a blond Debbie on it but it's obviously not a bleached Debbie; this time out Debbie Harry is wearing, quite obviously, a wig. Some of Debbie's TV appearances to support the album also had her sporting a long, white-blond wig. Why not make a TV appearance to sing a Blondie song with blood red 'Videodrome' hair? It seems preposterous that Debbie would feel it necessary to don a blond wigin order to promote a Blondie album, but it shows how deeply ingrained the public perception of Debbie as Blondie had become and how Debbie felt obliged to live up to their expectations. Deborah would feel that it was out of character to appear on the British 'Top of the Pops' program as a redhead or a brunette to sing a Blondie song. On a David Letterman appearancein 1982, Debbie did appear with her red hair and a man in the audience yells "I thought she was a blond?" Debbie slyly replies, "Oh, do you feel ripped off?" Again here, the character of Blondie is starting to become baggage. It's something that Debbie can't seem to throw off, at least not as a member of a band whose name was based upon that particular character. This identity problem, although on the surface it may be only one of hair color, had to do specifically with the character of Blondie as Deborah had created her. David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust and Deborah Harry gave us Blondie. Now the problem that Deborah would have to face as Blondie's breakup approached was how to continue the career without the character.... 
 
Click here to view the whole chapter

Click here to go to the next page