Debbie Harry – KooKoo

This is an album. This was released by Deborah Harry (listed as “Debbie” still), a solo album in 1982, a year after Blondie’s “Autoamerican,” a few months before Blondie’s “The Hunter.” By then, Deborah was an icon. These songs were largely created by Deborah and Chris Stein, the songwriting force behind Blondie. This album was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, who were also already legends for their disco hits with Chic and Sister Sledge. As a big Blondie fan, even though I hadn’t cared much for their last two albums, I bought this album soon after it came out. So, these are all facts. Those facts are about all I have to relate about this album.

This is not good. I even played this album, twice, so I could write about it. I already don’t remember the songs. It would seem to make sense . . . Blondie was actually the first to cross rap over to the pop charts with “Rapture,” maybe this could be an expansion of that same sensibility. But it just doesn’t work. I don’t know why I never purged it. Maybe I thought someday I would get it. I don’t. I’ve kept it all these years, and yet I don’t ever play it, may never play it again except to remind myself that it’s not good.