H.R. Giger: Debbie Harry Metamorphosis: Creating the Visual Concept for KooKoo

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Stein documents, most often in evocative black and white, an urban landscape filled with detritus yet teeming with life, from the avenues of midtown to the boardwalks of Coney Island. The name Debbie Harry evokes many images: seminal rock-n-roll figure, complex songstress, incandescent front woman, actor and fashion icon.

Renowned as the co-founder and guitarist of the iconic new wave band Blondie, Chris Stein’s photography is as poignant and powerful as the songs he wrote. Harry continued to appear in independent films throughout the 2000s, including Deuces Wild (2002), My Life Without Me (2003) and Elegy (2008). The Against the Odds 1974 – 1982 collection will contain three dozen previously unreleased recordings. He offers a local’s view of the far-from-gentrified East Village neighborhood where he lived, and where the punk movement emerged.With all the grit, grime and glory recounted in intimate detail, FACE IT recreated the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. The book chronicles the making of the cover — which featured a brunette Harry with spikes through her face looking out in the middle of a lightning storm — and videos for “Backfired” and “Now I Know You Know.

Dismissed for decades by the mainstream art scene for Giger’s popular status in Hollywood, Alien indeed made Giger famous just as Giger made Alien famous. Yet if the album art was one thing, then the music videos were when Giger and Harry went full-blown expressive. The band re-formed in 1997, achieving renewed success and their sixth number one single in the UK with "Maria" in 1999, exactly 20 years after their first UK No. Outside of music, Debbie has also engaged in a successful acting career with over 30 film and television roles to her credit (including Videodrome, Hairspray, and Heavy to name a few).R. Giger took home the Oscar for his groundbreaking sci-fi horror designs on Ridley Scott’s movie Alien. The band became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles, also incorporating elements of disco, pop, reggae, and early rap music.

Documenting New York from the seventies to today, he’s lived through the streets and the streets live on through him: from the city’s early punk scene to the landmarks long lost, Stein has captured cultural moments like none other. After KooKoo , Blondie regrouped and recorded 1982’s The Hunter , which would be the last album of their initial run. One of my fave music acts is Debbie Harry/Blondie and I really love Debbie's solo album Koo Koo which Giger also was involved with visually, so this book was a must for me with a load of rare and previously unseen photos and background story of Debbie's look while making this great album.Harry continued to pursue a solo career with varied results after taking a few years off to care for partner Stein, who was diagnosed with pemphigus, a rare autoimmune disease of the skin. And Chris Stein provides a new look at it from the perspective of two Americans living with Giger there for a few weeks in 1980. R. Giger, acclaimed for his designs for Ridley Scott’s movie Alien in 1979, had superimposed needles on a portrait of Debbie’s face taken by photographer Brian Aris.