Blondie has been established for more than forty years, and the core characters have entered the twilight of life. They have influenced countless musicians, and they have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2006, and now they can retire and enjoy their old age.
But they refuse to stand still, perhaps because music is not only a career for them, but also a life. Next, she will share with us her recent thoughts on cooperation, environmental protection and politics.
Text: Drill dog
Editor: Joy
Whether it's punk, reggae, or disco, blondie always draws nourishment from different genres and turns it into her own.
Jean-michel basquiat and Jean-michel basquiat appear in the mv of Blondie's Rapture, and they are mentioned in Harry's lyrics.
Back in 1977, Debbie and her boyfriend Chris Stein were introduced to the rap show for the first time in their lives.
"A lot of rappers, including members of mobb deep, have said it's the first rap song they've ever heard." She said, "I'm honored about that. ”
Clock-shifting back to 2019, Blondie covered Lil Nas x's "Old Town Road" on tour. "Even though the song was supposed to be a country song, we added a bit of rock 'n' roll to the rap tone of the song."
Two years ago, Kanye called her to ask if she was interested in cooperating. "We did discuss with Kanye, and she confirmed it, "and he was very sweet." I forgot what the song we were going to work on was called, but I liked it. Although there was no result in the end, we had a great time working together. "Will there be any cooperation in the future?" "Probably not, but who knows?"
Harry said that the hardest thing to write about was the time between '82 and '85—we weren't doing well.
The band breaks up suddenly, Stan is diagnosed with pemphigus (a rare autoimmune disease, and the hospital nurses think he has AIDS and therefore refuse to enter his ward) and we are all numbing ourselves by heroin in order to reduce the double pain of body and mind.
Although the band sold 40 million copies, they were so heavily taxed by poor management that the IRS did not even take over the couple's house.
"When you comfort yourself by reminiscing about hard times, your past experiences are forgotten. Everything will be much easier with the distance of time. ”
Although Harry and Stan broke up on the day of Andy Warhol's death in 1987, the two remained close, and she was also the godmother of Stan's two adolescent daughters (he married in 1999) And in 1998, after the reorganization of several core members of the blondie, the band returned to the top with the hit single Maria.
If someone were to make their biopic in the future, this scene would be the climax of the film. While there have been very popular rock biopics lately (Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody are both high-grossing), she's less interested in bringing Blondie's story to the big screen.
Debbie Harry and Chris Stan in 1973
"I don't think I'm too interested in these," she says, "sometimes the films are just superficial", she thinks the band stories presented in these types of films are mostly the same: "A bunch of people started from scratch, and then they succeeded, and someone hung up — or everybody was still alive." You swap Elton John for someone else, and you can fit into this story. ”
The last time blondie toured england, Harry wore a cape that said 'Please be kind to earth'. She supports environmental protection, anti-Trump.
She was inspired by the fight against extinction: more people realized the importance of environmental issues, and children could participate in discussing issues that concerned the fate of humanity. I admire the Swedish girl who insists on not going to school for environmental protection. Maybe she really hates going to school too! She smiled. Then again, it takes a lot of courage to do that, and that's the point.
"What else can I say? We have no choice, or we're doomed. It may not be too late to join environmental protection activities, but we can also save the planet and save ourselves. ”
The band seems to have become more politicized in recent years. When it comes to politics, they are more adept at using the band's unique humor and satire than at commanding. The band's most recent involvement in politics was when they were singing Bond's theme song "From Russia with Love" when a screen behind them threw a picture of the U.S. presidential seal.
Stan remembers how Trump and Harry met: The future 45th president told her, 'You're too short for me.' But Harry said it wasn't the case: "He didn't talk to me, that's fine." ”
"I was with Payne and Taylor actor Payne Gillett, who was a guest on Flying Yellow. We ran into Trump at a show launch, and for a split second, he didn't notice me. We've toured with Cyndi Lauper, who has also been on Flying Yellow, and she says Trump has been trying to persuade her to give up her charity — because it's an LGBTQ charity.
"So..." she pouted euphemistically, "he's really weird enough." ”
It's already 2019, and Creem magazine still only regards her as a past star. She hasn't stopped working on it, and she's currently working on Blondie's twelfth album — the first album after Pollinator in 2017 — which will be produced by John Congleton in December or next December.
Johnny Mull will also follow "My Monster" and the band to continue the frontier. This year, Madonna claimed to have been criticized for being over sixty years old, and age discrimination has reignited the debate. Did Harry feel the same way? Is this the ultimate barrier that the pop music world needs to be broken?
"Yeah, I think we've made progress on that." She said: "If you are a musician, whether you want to continue to do it is your own business. But there is age discrimination in the industry, which is related to the survival instinct of human fittest. At the same time, I also feel that the public's perception of age and life is also changing, because we now live in better conditions and people live longer.
Harry said that when she first started writing songs, she hated the girl group's romance songs: "Women have become victims of love, and I don't want to portray women as victims."
Blondie's hit "x offender" is the best proof. The song continues the cheesy but playful dramatic style of Shangri-La Orchestra, but her creation is more urban and tells the story of a policeman who falls in love with a sex worker.
The theme of the song that refuses to solidify the female figure is also more or less her self-description, after all, she was also a "victim" of the relationship: in the early 70s, she and her boyfriend met a rogue on their way home, who had a verbal altercation with Stan and subsequently raped Harry. In the end he snatched the camera and guitar from the two.
"To be honest, I didn't feel particularly frightened." "I'm glad AIDS wasn't discovered at that time, or I would have been scared to death," she wrote. In the end, it was the loss of the guitar that made me even more distressed. ”
Debbie Harry (third from right) and friends in Studio 54
This cold and heart-stopping passage is a shock – her narrative is sloppy and straightforward, and there is no mention of the psychological shadow left on her by the incident.
"I feel like it did have an impact on me," she said, "but for better or worse, my desire to survive is stronger." Things tend not to be as bad as you think. I think people have to learn to look at things with relative eyes. Excessive fear will only hurt yourself. I realized early on that fear is harmful."
"That's one of my life principles, and it keeps me alive and looking ahead."
In her autobiography, Harry mentions that she considers herself a psychic medium. She discovered this at a very young age, for example when she found that the fireplace would talk to her. Most of the characters involved in this book have passed away, as one of the few people who are still alive in the 1970s, can she still feel their presence?
"It's not the same as that" "To me, it's more like predicting what's going to happen, maybe it's logical, or it's just some wishful thinking." Chris and I went to see a psychic medium a few years ago— her name is Ethel Myers, and she's supposed to predict the future. She discovered her special abilities after she was widowed. I didn't have that experience, but I still believe that there are many things at the level of consciousness that cannot be explained by science.
She inspired artists to embark on the path of music. Does she still have anything she aspires to achieve? "Aside from interstellar travel, I can't think of anything else I haven't done. Then there are the thrilling little things like driving a sports car or skydiving. ”
In the end, she concluded: "My life is very fulfilling. I've been lucky to live this life. ”