A Nice Pair: Debbie Harry

It’s Sunday which means it’s time for A Nice Pair – book and music pairings that go together like the 80s and mass quantities of hairspray. Today we’re pairing the memoir Under a Rock by Chris Stein with the Debbie Harry album KooKoo.

Chris Stein’s Under a Rock is a candid, introspective look at his life beyond the spotlight – from co-founding Blondie to navigating turbulent relationships, illness, and the darker corners of fame. It’s part punk history, part personal reckoning, told with dry humour and emotional honesty. Stein peels back the layers of his past without glamorizing it, offering a thoughtful glimpse into what it means to survive both success and solitude.

KooKoo marked Debbie Harry’s first solo venture in 1981, and it was anything but conventional. Teaming up with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, she blended funk grooves with new wave flair, stepping outside Blondie’s sound to explore something more futuristic and dance-driven. The album’s striking cover by H.R. Giger, with its eerie biomechanical aesthetic, set the tone for a record that was daring, strange, and totally her own.