Debbie Harry - KooKoo (1981)
Tracklist front / back album covers
Side A
"Jump Jump" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 4:04
"The Jam Was Moving" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 2:59
"Chrome" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 4:17
"Surrender" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 3:37
"Inner City Spillover" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 5:04
Side B
"Backfired" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 4:54
"Now I Know You Know" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 5:39
"Under Arrest" (Bernard Edwards, Deborah Harry, Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein) – 3:03
"Military Rap" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 3:51
"Oasis" (Bernard Edwards, Deborah Harry, Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein) – 4:59
Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue UK 1994
"Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23
"The Jam Was Moving" 12" Mix – 5:03
Bonus Track CD Re-Issue US 1999
"Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23
Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue 2011
"Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23
"The Jam Was Moving" 12" Mix – 5:03
"Inner City Spillover" 12" Mix – 5:58
Debbie Harry Band Members / Musicians
Debbie Harry – vocals
Nile Rodgers – guitar, vocals on "Backfired"
Bernard Edwards – bass guitar
Tony Thompson – drums
Robert Sabino – keyboards
Raymond Jones – keyboards
Nathaniel S. Hardy, Jr. – keyboards
Chris Stein – guitar
Vinnie Della Rocca – horns
Ray Maldonado – horns
Sammy Figueroa – percussion
Manolo Badrena – percussion
Roger Squitero – percussion
Spud Devo – backing vocals
Pud Devo – backing vocals
Gordon Grody – backing vocals
Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals
Chuck Martin – dog bark
Nile Rodgers – producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
Bernard Edwards – producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
Bill Scheniman – sound engineer
Jason Corsaro – second engineer
H. R. Giger – cover concept and painting
Brian Aris – photography
Peter Wagg – art direction
Dennis King – mastering at Atlantic Studios
Recorded and mixed at The Power Station, NYC
KooKoo is the debut solo album by American singer Debbie Harry, released on July 27, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, the album was recorded whilst Harry took a break from her band Blondie. It was a mild commercial success, reaching number 25 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart.
Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Her recordings with the band reached No. 1 in the US and UK charts on many occasions from 1979 to 2017.
Born in Miami, Florida, Harry was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey. After attending college, she worked various jobs, including as a secretary (including at the BBC in New York), dancer, and Playboy Bunny, before breaking through in the music industry. Harry co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City. The band released their eponymous debut album in 1976, and released a further three albums between then and 1979, including Parallel Lines, which spawned six singles, including "Heart of Glass". Their fifth record, Autoamerican (1980), afforded Harry and the band further attention, spawning such hits as a cover of "The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", the latter of which is considered the first rap song to chart at number one in the United States.
In 1981, Harry released her debut solo album, KooKoo, and, during a hiatus of Blondie, embarked on an acting career, appearing in lead roles in the neo-noir Union City (1980) and in David Cronenberg's body horror film Videodrome (1983). She released her second solo album, Rockbird, in 1986, and subsequently starred in John Waters's cult dance film Hairspray (1988). Harry went on to release two more solo albums between then and 1993, after which she returned to film with roles in a John Carpenter-directed segment of the horror film Body Bags (1993), and in the drama Heavy (1995).
Blondie reunited in the late 1990s, releasing No Exit (1999), followed by The Curse of Blondie (2003). Harry continued to appear in independent films throughout the 2000s, including Deuces Wild (2002), My Life Without Me (2003) and Eulogy (2008). With Blondie, she released the group's ninth studio album, Panic of Girls, in 2011, followed by Ghosts of Download (2014). The band's eleventh studio album, 2017's Pollinator, charted at number 4 in the United Kingdom.
Debbie Harry Discography Full
1981 KooKoo
1986 Rockbird
1989 Def, Dumb & Blonde
1993 Debravation
2007 Necessary Evil
Compilations and other albums
1988 Once More into the Bleach (Debbie Harry and Blondie)
1991 The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie (Deborah Harry and Blondie)
1998 Deborah Harry Collection
1999 Most of All: The Best of Deborah Harry
