Nigel Harrison (born 24 April 1951) is an English musician. Harrison spent several years as the bassist of the American rock band Blondie during the 1970s and 1980s.

Life & career

Harrison grew up in

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, a small town in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

. He was the bassist for the local band Farm, and later recorded and toured with

Silverhead Silverhead were a British glam rock band formed in early 1972, fronted by the singer/actor Michael Des Barres. The other members of the band were: Robbie Blunt (guitar), Rod Rook Davies (guitar, percussion, vocals), Nigel Harrison (bass guitar ...

(fronted by

Michael Des Barres Michael Philip Des Barres (born 24 January 1948), the 26th Marquis Des Barres, is an English actor and rock singer. He appeared as Murdoc in the original ''MacGyver'', Nicholas Helman, Murdoc's mentor, on the new reboot of ''MacGyver'' (2016) ...

) from 1972 to 1974. On August 11, 1974 he played bass for "Murder of a Virgin",

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

's first solo performance. He was also an uncredited session bassist for

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

debut album when producer and manager

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

refused to have Runaways bassist

Jackie Fox Jacqueline Louise Fuchs (born December 20, 1959) is an American attorney and former musician. Under her stage name Jackie Fox, she played bass guitar for the pioneering all-girl teenage rock band The Runaways. She is the sister of screenwrit ...

perform on the record. He was recruited to Blondie from

Nite City Nite City (Also known as Ray Manzarek's Nite City) was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, United States in 1977 by former Doors member Ray Manzarek. The band consisted of lead singer Noah James, bassist Nigel Harrison who later achiev ...

(former

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

' keyboardist

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965. Manzarek was induct ...

's short-lived band) in 1977, after the band recorded their second album ''

Plastic Letters ''Plastic Letters'' is the second studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in February 1978 by Chrysalis Records. An earlier version with a rearranged track listing was released in Japan in late December 1977. Overview This is ...

'' without a regular bass player, and stayed until the band split after Tracks Across America Tour '82. During his time with Blondie, Nigel Harrison contributed as a songwriter to every album he played on and also co-wrote several

hit singles A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

with

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 ...

, such as "

One Way or Another "One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which ...

", "

Union City Blue "Union City Blue" is a song by the American New wave music, new wave band Blondie (band), Blondie. The song was featured on their 1979 studio album ''Eat to the Beat''. Written by Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison, the song was inspired lyrically by ...

" and the band's last single with their original line-up, " War Child", released in 1982. From 1982 to 1984 he was a member of the band Chequered Past, which also included two of his former bandmates: Des Barres, from Silverhead, Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols and

Clem Burke Clement Burke (born Clement Anthony Bozewski; November 24, 1954) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer for the band Blondie from 1975, shortly after the band formed, throughout the band's entire career. He also played drums f ...

, from Blondie. They released an eponymous album in 1984. Harrison was also music supervisor/producer for the soundtrack to the 1988 comedy ''

Tapeheads ''Tapeheads'' is a 1988 comedy film directed by Bill Fishman and starring John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Sam Moore and Junior Walker. The film was produced by Michael Nesmith, who briefly appears as a bottled water delivery man. Plot After losing th ...

''. In 1991, he had a small part in a British film

Young Soul Rebels ''Young Soul Rebels'' is a 1991 British coming-of-age thriller written by Derek Saldaan McClintock, Isaac Julien and Paul Hallam, and directed by Julien as his second narrative feature film. The film examines the interaction between youth cultu ...

as 'Cid Man'. When Blondie started to talk about re-forming in 1997, Harrison was initially asked to rejoin the group. He recorded demo tracks with the band for the album ''

No Exit ''No Exit'' (french: Huis clos, links=no, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play begins with three characters who find themselves waiting ...

'' (1999), but was dropped from the band before the record was finished. He and another excluded former member,

Frank Infante Frank Infante (born November 15, 1951) is an American guitarist and bassist best known as a former member of the new wave band Blondie. Early career and Blondie Infante began his music career playing guitar in hard rock and electric blues ...

, brought a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

over the dispute, but were unsuccessful. Harrison was an A&R Executive at

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

and also did A&R work for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Harrison later became the bass player for The Grabs, whose album ''Sex, Fashion And Money'' was released in November 2005. In March 2006, Blondie, following an introductory speech by

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and di ...

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

, were inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

. Seven members were invited to the ceremony, which led to an on-stage spat between the extant group and Infante, who asked during the live broadcast of the ceremony that he and Harrison be allowed to perform with the group, a request refused by Debbie Harry. Harrison continues playing with various acts, including The Rua on the 2015 album ''The Essence''.

References

External links

Nigel Harrison
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

*
www.myspace.com/thegrabs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Nigel 1951 births Living people English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English songwriters Blondie (band) members Humble Pie (band) members People from Princes Risborough People from Stockport Nite City members