Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde by Cathay Che

Author:Cathay Che [Che, Cathay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, Autobiography, Music, Punk, Rock, Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781459661141
Amazon: 1459661141
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant
Published: 2013-05-12T23:00:00+00:00

DIVA

Much to his own surprise, as a one-time rabid fan who in his high school shop class once made an engraved plaque that said, ‘Debbie Harry, I’m going to getcha, getcha, getcha!’, Michael Schmidt ended up living with Deborah Harry for two years, from 1994 to 1996. He explains, ‘I was looking for a place to live and Debbie had this enormous apartment. She travelled a lot, so she was looking for someone who’d be there and look after the pets, so I moved in.’ It was during that time, waking up every morning with Harry’s Warhol portraits staring him down, that Schmidt began the rock nightclub SqueezeBox. As detailed in chapter 9, SqueezeBox became a vibrant, vital hang-out for Harry to get reconnected and re-inspired.

It was also through hanging out at downtown clubs like SqueezeBox and Jackie 60, and performing at the outdoor music festival Wigstock (also detailed in chapter 9) that Harry reinvigorated one of her most loyal fan bases – her gay following. Harry, like most intelligent women in entertainment, has always had an eye for talented gay men who have influenced and have helped her realize her personal style. Conversely, gay men have gravitated towards Deborah Harry, and have stayed loyal fans, even more so as she’s gotten older.

Paul Burston offers this theory: ‘It’s like they say in Follies, you’re a vamp, you get older and then you’re camp – it’s the progression of a diva. Gay men still get her, we always will. Like whenever Debbie Harry was on Top Of The Pops, all the straight boys would be like, “Oh, I’d like to give her one!”, and you felt like you and Debbie had a private joke between yourselves that these straight guys didn’t get. It was like a little conspiracy – she was using her sexuality to get them to buy the records, but we’re the real fans, and we’re the ones who really understand what she’s doing.’

Harry also widened her gay audience when she reinvented herself and Blondie with remixed dance tracks of such popular hits as ‘Heart of Glass’ and ‘Dreaming’. These remixes were particularly successful in gay discos around the world. Burston confirms, ‘The Blondie remixes were produced by Diddy, a gay producer who first did “Atomic” himself, which was just a massive song in the UK.’

Village Voice gossip columnist Michael Musto, who is often called upon to arbitor gay issues, says he thinks Harry’s movies really helped her turn a corner with the gay audience: ‘I think she was more of a gay icon once she was involved in John Waters’ films Polyester and Hairspray. But even prior to that, there was a kind of catty, drag queen quality to some of Blondie’s music, like “Rip Her To Shreds” and “Die Young Stay Pretty”. As a gay music aficionado myself, we seem to like two types – the fraught with neurosis, on the verge of emotional collapse Liza Minelli type, and then we like the opposite, the “I Will Survive” Gloria Gaynor type.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.