''KooKoo'' is the debut solo album by American singer

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

, released on July 27, 1981, by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

. Produced by

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

and

Bernard Edwards Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the ...

of Chic, the album was recorded whilst Harry took a break from her band Blondie. It was a moderate commercial success, reaching number 25 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart.

Background

''KooKoo'' was recorded while Harry and boyfriend

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...

were taking a break from the band Blondie. The album was produced by

and

of the R&B band Chic, who had just had major success working with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

on her 1980 album ''

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

''. Harry and Stein first met the pair at the Power Station recording studio in New York while Blondie were recording their 1979 album '' Eat to the Beat'', and they remained good friends in the intervening years. ''KooKoo'' was one of three albums to be (co)written and produced by Rodgers and Edwards in 1981, the other two being Chic's fifth album '' Take It Off'' and

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

' '' I Love My Lady'', which remained unreleased until 2017. ''KooKoo'' showcased the early fusion of funk, rock and dance music that would become the trademark of Rodgers and Edwards, and this style would later be evident on albums such as David Bowie's '' Let's Dance'',

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

's ''

Notorious Notorious means well known for a negative trait, characteristic, or action. It may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Notorious'' (1946 film), a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Notorious'' (1992 film), a TV film re ...

'', The Power Station's self-titled debut album, and

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful, soulful voice and wikt:sartorial, sartorial elegance, and his stylistic explorations, combining Soul music, so ...

's '' Riptide''. Backing vocals were provided by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale of

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

, credited as Spud and Pud Devo. ''KooKoo'' reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and spent seven weeks on the chart, being certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments in excess of 60,000 copies. The album reached number 25 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), denoting shipments in excess of 500,000 copies. Originally only available on vinyl album and cassette, ''KooKoo'' was digitally remastered and re-issued on compact disc with two bonus tracks (the 12″ versions of "Backfired" and "The Jam Was Moving") by EMI in the United Kingdom in 1994, and by Razor & Tie in the United States in 1999, this time with just one bonus track. The album was reissued again in the US by Gold Legion.com in 2011 (the 30th anniversary of the album's release). This reissue includes three bonus tracks (both of the aforementioned 12″ versions, and also the rare extended mix of "Inner City Spillover") as well as extensive liner notes.

Promotion

The cover art for the album was created by Swiss artist

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

, known for his design work on the 1979 sci-fi/horror film '' Alien''. Based on a photograph of Harry taken by the renowned photographer Brian Aris, Giger created several variations of the cover (another of which is seen on the album's inner sleeve) in what Harry described as a combination of punk, acupuncture and sci-fi. Harry stated that the album title came to her after she saw Giger's completed work, and although she had misgivings about the conceptual ideas behind the artwork (as she did not identify either the album or herself as "punk"), she was suitably impressed to use it anyway.Debbie Harry radio interview 1981
/ref> For the promotion of ''KooKoo'',

planned to display large posters of the album cover in various stations of the London Underground. However, officials deemed the image of Harry with metal skewers going through her face and neck to be too disturbing. A television ad campaign went ahead, however. Promo videos were made for the tracks "Backfired" and "Now I Know You Know", both directed by Giger and filmed at his studio in Switzerland. "Backfired" featured a dark-haired Harry dancing superimposed over a backdrop of Giger's distinctive artwork, with Giger himself appearing in a semi-translucent face mask. "Now I Know You Know" featured Harry in a long black wig and a form-fitting bodysuit painted with Giger's unusual artwork, dancing around in a small set furnished with Giger's "bio-mechanical" design work.

Singles

Two singles were released from the album: " Backfired", which peaked at number 24 in Australia, number 32 in the UK and number 43 in the US in August 1981, and " The Jam Was Moving", which reached number 82 in the US. A third single, "

Chrome Chrome may refer to: Materials * Chrome plating, a process of surfacing with chromium * Chrome alum, a chemical used in mordanting and photographic film Computing * Google Chrome, a web browser developed by Google ** ChromeOS, a Google Chrome- ...

", was only released in some parts of Europe, but failed to chart. Another track, "Jump Jump", was only released as a single in Peru. "Chrome" served as the B-side to "The Jam was Moving", only being issued in Germany as a single and in the US as a promotional 12-inch single only.

Track listing

Side A: # "Jump Jump" ( Deborah Harry,

) – 4:04 # " The Jam Was Moving" (

) – 2:59 # "

" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 4:17 # "Surrender" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 3:37 # "Inner City Spillover" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 5:04 Side B: # " Backfired" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 4:54 # "Now I Know You Know" (Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers) – 5:39 # "Under Arrest" (Bernard Edwards, Deborah Harry, Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein) – 3:03 # "Military Rap" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 3:51 # "Oasis" (Bernard Edwards, Deborah Harry, Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein) – 4:59 Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue UK 1994 * "Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23 * "The Jam Was Moving" 12" Mix – 5:03 Bonus Track CD Re-Issue US 1999 * "Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23 Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue 2011 * "Backfired" 12" Mix – 6:23 * "The Jam Was Moving" 12" Mix – 5:03 * "Inner City Spillover" 12" Mix – 5:58

Personnel

* Debbie Harry – vocals *

– guitar, vocals on "Backfired" *

– bass guitar * Tony Thompson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Robert Sabino –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Raymond Jones – keyboards * Nathaniel S. Hardy, Jr. – keyboards *

– guitar * Vinnie Della Rocca – horns * Ray Maldonado – horns *

Sammy Figueroa Sammy Figueroa (born November 16, 1948, The Bronx, New York) is an American percussionist. At 18 he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raíces. Selected Discography percussion *

Manolo Badrena Manolo Badrena (born March 17, 1952, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music. B ...

– percussion * Roger Squitero – percussion * Spud Devo – backing vocals * Pud Devo – backing vocals * Gordon Grody – backing vocals * Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals * Chuck Martin – dog bark

Production

* Nile Rodgers –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

for Chic Organization Ltd. * Bernard Edwards – producer for Chic Organization Ltd. * Bill Scheniman – sound engineer * Jason Corsaro – second engineer * H. R. Giger – cover concept and painting *

Brian Aris Brian Aris is a British photographer who began his career as a photojournalist. Initially, he was a front line photographer of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the plight of Palestinian children in Jordan, the civil war in Lebanon, famine in Af ...

– photography * Peter Wagg –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* Dennis King – mastering at Atlantic Studios * Recorded and mixed at The Power Station, NYC

Background

Promotion

Singles

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Further reading