Five Minutes With Blondie

vogue.co.uk – 5th November 2014

By Julia Hobbs

VOGUE’s junior fashion features associate, Julia Hobbs, spent five minutes with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein to talk CBGBs, Justin Timberlake and that zebra print dress.

Where did you wake up this morning?

DH: At the One Aldwych hotel. Home is New York – I’m a Chelsea Girl.

What was the first thing you read today?

DH: The Sun. I had an early start at the BBC this morning. I’m ready to rock.

CS: A little bit of the new William Gibson book, The Peripheral, which is terrific.

Where do the pictures in the exhibition begin?

CS: With my old analogue Nikon camera – all the photos in the exhibition were shot on film. Nobody took pictures constantly then. When we would go to a concert, I’d have to decide between watching the show or taking pictures. I still think of the shows that I should have brought a camera to…

Is there one picture in the exhibition that stands out?

DH: This is a great picture – I’m wearing a Halston dress that Stephen Sprouse probably stole. Most of the best clothes I wore weren’t mine or Stephen’s to keep. This one had beautiful pale, flesh-coloured sequins.

You’ve described your early New York apartment as a “Bowery hellhole” – how bad was it?

CS: It was very run down, but a great space. We were just around the corner from CBGBs – [William] Burroughs lived down the block in the Bunker, some of the Talking Heads lived very near. There were a lot of individualistic types about.

If you could go back to any of New York’s original new-wave clubs tonight, which one would you pick?

CS: CBGBs or Jackie 60.

DH: The Palladium Theater on 14th Street – it was a beat-up old opera house before it became a club. That was a lot of fun. There was the Mike Todd Room up in the back, which was fantastic. I think the building is now an NYU dorm.

What is your favourite song to perform as Blondie?

DH: Lately, we’ve brought back an old song from the Eighties, “War Child”, and added the intro from Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. Decades on, the meaning is relevant again.

What about a favourite stage costume?

DH: [laughs] The zebra dress was a funny moment. I love the Sprouse look a lot. He was the closest thing to a personal stylist then and made me outfits. I also had a great leather-and-tartan outfit with chains made for a special outdoor New Year’s show in Glasgow.

What was the last book you read?

CS: I just finished David Cronenberg’s novel Consumed. It was very weird.

DH: The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer. I never thought much of Mailer until I saw [the artist] Matthew Barney’s film inspired by his novel Ancient Evenings.

What was the last live music show you saw?

DH & CS: Justin Timberlake.

Are you a cat or dog person?

CS: Cat, but I have a dog.

DH: I have a very cat-like dog – a Japanese Chin.

What’s your hidden talent?

CS: Knife-throwing. They make it look easy in the movies, but it’s very measured.

DH: I don’t know if I have any. I can sew and make clothes.

CS: She could be on Project Runway.

The Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and The Advent of Punk exhibition is at Somerset House, 5 November 5 – January 25

The book of the same name by Chris Stein (Rizzoli £35) is now available nationwide.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/blondie-debbie-harry-chris-stein-interview