Face It: A Memoir

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Your enjoyment of this book will increase with each one of the following criteria you can answer “Yes”: Early in her new memoir— Face It, written in collaboration with Sylvie Simmons—Debbie Harry recounts an anecdote from her childhood: “One visit, when I was a baby, my doctor gave me a lingering look. And then he turned in his white coat, grinned at my parents, and said, ‘Watch out for that one, she has bedroom eyes’.”

Face It by Debbie Harry | Waterstones

Because I’m so ancient [laughs], I don’t think posters came in until much later. My parents were into big bands, so I started listening to pop music on the radio and paying attention to DJs, because I was too young to go to concerts – and my parents were definitely not going to go because they did not appreciate it!Debbie, you were ahead of your time when you became famous and yet you appear to have been a supremely confident woman in what was arguably a man’s world. Where did that confidence come from? DeborahGeller This isn’t a question, but in 1978 or 1979 I was a very closeted trans kid watching Blondie on Top of the Pops with my friends. The inevitable question arose about who would like a date with you. I drew a deep breath and said: “I want to be Debbie .” There was a stony silence as I outed myself. I finally came out as trans three years ago so I owe you a lot … rachaeltyrell meh. Debbie Harry is 74 and I'm sure she's lived a colorful and interesting life, but the only real interesting parts of this seem to be made up (she claims to remember being three months old, as a child she "had bedroom eyes" and always "received a lot of sexual attention", she says she was almost kidnapped by Ted Bundy--which has been debunked several times, she's claims to be psychic, she was raped at knifepoint but it didn't really bother her because she was more worried about their stolen equipment, etc. I'm sure there were more, but I can't think of everything right now.

Debbie Harry: ‘It wasn’t a great idea to be as Blondie’s Debbie Harry: ‘It wasn’t a great idea to be as

Blondie was always a different type of band – their look and attitude screamed at you from every album cover. They were never as loud and fast as the Ramones or as influential as Patti Smith, but their music was irresistible. Early in the book, Debbie talks about the difficulties that Blondie had in getting a record deal. Seymour Stein from Sire Records had seen Blondie dozens of times, but didn’t consider them for Sire. In his memoir, he confesses that he didn’t think Blondie could write good songs. Of course, within a few years Blondie had become a veritable powerhouse of hit songs that topped the charts around the world.

CONS: just about everything else. Probably 1/4 of the book consists of 'fan art' of Debbie, most of it without any context. they were sexy and playful and so much fun,” she writes. “I figure now that what attracted me so much to their shows was that I wanted to be just like them. In fact, I wanted to be them. I just didn’t know exactly how to get it rolling.”

Debbie Harry shares secrets to youthful looks after comparing Debbie Harry shares secrets to youthful looks after comparing

I expected something cool and fierce, instead this is dull and unengaging, told in a rambling monotone. Regardless of whether DH is talking about her house burning down, being stalked and raped Blondie splitting up or throwaway waitress jobs, there's no change of pace or tone and only the merest superficiality of detail. A few cameos of Bowie, Warhol and Basquiat add some brief interest but blink and they're over. So, fans of Debbie Harry, those who will brook no criticism of her, maybe you’ll want to skip this review. I can seem judgmental, more so with a memoir than with a biography written by a third party or a ghost writer. I’m very flattered. I can imagine how heart-rending and difficult it is to make that stand. The people who do this are very brave and I have tremendous feeling for them and for all of us, because otherwise it’s a denial of the human race. And while reading this book, I couldn't believe that it's already been 20+ years since Blondie regrouped in the late 1990s and recorded the album No Exit (an album that now appears to be out of print). Time flies when you're sleepwalking through life in pointless meetings and unsatisfying relationships. (Thankfully, one of those scenarios has changed over the years. Hint: It's not the pointless meetings.)Which projects that got away – such as the offer to sing the James Bond theme For Your Eyes Only or the chance to appear in Blade Runner – haunt you most? McScootikins Some of Blondie’s most celebrated recordings are cover versions, such as The Tide Is High or Hanging on the Telephone. My favourite [cover of a Blondie song] is Ride’s interpretation of Union City Blue with vocals by Alex Taylor from the Motorcycle Boy. Is there a Blondie cover that you are particularly fond of? VerulamiamParkRanger Nevertheless, I was enchanted by her girlhood in New Jersey and somehow making the decision after high school to become an artist (of a genre to be determined) in New York in the 1960s--and, despite all odds, actually accomplishing it. I felt moved by her losses over the years and about her coming to terms with childhood trauma. I was entertained by her storytelling and (sorry, Debs!) her inherent nerdiness (comics and the space program, oh my), something you would never think possible in the life of an Icon of Cool like Debbie Harry. I felt pride in her inherent, unapologetic Americanness, a quality as post-modern Americans we dismiss too easily. She was and is one of the most recognizable stars in the world and makes no apologies about taking advantage of her looks throughout her career. She also doesn’t spend a lot of time complaining about the “boy’s club” mentality of the music business, but her determination and drive show clearly throughout the book. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and she worked really hard to accomplish her goals. To me – that is the underlying secret of Debbie Harry and her success. There are some good stories here, though you may have heard a few of them before. Drawing on a series of exclusive interviews with longtime music critic Sylvie Simmons, Face It covers much of the same ground as Cathay Che’s 1998 Deborah Harry: The Biography, a book based on interviews Harry did with Che in the 1990s. Che’s bio includes more detailed accounts of recording sessions, film appearances, and the 1970s downtown scene, along with some of the same anecdotes that crop up in Face It.

Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry | Goodreads

Harry is a survivor. There isn’t much she would have done differently, she says. “We all make mistakes, but the thing is to learn from them. And make different mistakes.” There is certainly more that I want to know--more details about Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat, Blondie's two best albums (in my opinion) from the Early Era; more details about the transition from Eat to the Beat to AutoAmerican, which seems drastic even now, although it was probably something completely normal in the evolution of the band; more of her thoughts on the reaction to KooKoo, which even now seems mixed, despite it being something of a quirky, musical milestone in pop history. More, perhaps, about what she likes to read and listen to and whether she still paints. And some pics of her dogs would not be amiss.I enjoyed this a lot because I can answer yes to all of these questions. I was pretty young in the 1980s so I did not get into that scene during its heyday. But, in the 90s, my friends and I were all about late 70s and 80s alternative music. I listened to a lot of Blondie and many of the other acts she talks about in this book. I regret that I never got to see CBGBs or witness the late 70s music scene in New York – even though it sounds like it was not an “if” but a “when” I would have been mugged or beaten up! It is amazing how harrowing and interesting day to day life was for Harry as she spent her formative years in New Jersey and New York City – and she mentions several times that this was before they cleaned it all up. I think it's the same as having a flu shot basically, another way of looking after yourself,” she wrote in her memoir Face It.