Debbie Harry, also known as Deborah Harry (born July 1, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known as the lead singer of the new wave and punk rock band Blondie. She recorded several number one singles with Blondie and is sometimes considered the first rapper to chart at number one in the United States as well, due to her work on “Rapture”. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990’s she recorded and performed with The Jazz Passengers. Her acting career spans over thirty film roles and numerous television appearances. (More from Wikipedia)
Holly Ramos wrote all but one of the songs for the Fur CD. The exception is “X Offender”, a track from Blondie’s first album, Blondie that was written by Gary Valentine and Deborah Harry. This song was also released as Blondie’s first single in June 1976, on Private Stock Records. This single did not chart, though two others from their first album did.
The title of “X Offender” is a double entendre; the reference is not to an ordinary ex-offender but to a sex offender. Fur’s version of the song is rougher and has somewhat lower production values, though I prefer it to the original. “X Offender” fits like a glove into the Holly Ramos songs that make up the remainder of the album, so I suppose you could say that Fur sounds like a punkier Blondie in their original incarnation.
(June 2013/2)
Later, Deborah Harry in Blondie and Chrissie Hynde in Pretenders led two of the most successful rock bands of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The above record covers illustrate the difference in the way the women appeared within their groups, with Deborah Harry standing out among the men, though frankly, it could hardly have been any other way. Chrissie Hynde though is often regarded as being of equal status with the male bandmembers; what’s more, Hynde was also a guitarist in the band, whereas Harry primarily sang. This is a stance that alternative rockers would take later on, such as identical twins Kim Deal and Kelley Deal in Pixies and the Breeders.
