H.R. Giger: Debbie Harry Metamorphosis: Creating the Visual Concept for KooKoo

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Afterward, he worked with harder-edged bands, including Celtic Frost, Carcass, Danzig, and Triptykon. She now has over 30 film and television roles to her credit, including "Union City" (1980), "Videodrome (1983)", "Hairspray" (1988), "Body Bags" (1993), and "Heavy" (1995).

And he shares previously unpublished images of such iconic figures of the era as Debbie Harry, his musical partner in Blondie; Andy Warhol; Iggy Pop; David Bowie; and the Ramones. The band became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles, also incorporating elements of disco, pop, reggae, and early rap music. Later this summer, the band will put out a box set that covers their history, from the band’s origins to the release of The Hunter .Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, who is also a photographer, captured the process and has been holding onto his behind-the-scenes photos for decades. Though he didn’t know the group–Giger pre­ferred to lis­ten to jazz–he agreed to the cov­er and to the pro­mo videos, even direct­ing when the orig­i­nal direc­tor didn’t show. R Giger's contribution to Debbie Harry's first solo project and possibly her most ambitious of the five albums she has recorded. Chris’ photographic work has been featured in the press and in galleries around the world, most prominently in a 2017 exhibition at London’s prestigious Somerset House that drew a reported 60,000 visitors.

Perhaps Harry and her team wanted to cash in on the popularity of Giger following the success of Alien. However, Giger was a fan of jazz rather than pop music, so he didn’t know much about Blondie, Harry, or their sonic output. One of the most amazing painters of 20th century was Hans Rudolph Giger, who had a tremendous influence on computer game developers, he is also worshipped by fantasy lovers.

If Har­ry had made an album clos­er to Danielle Dax, for exam­ple, then we might have seen one of the odd­est mid-career shifts in ‘80s music. In fact, he was clutching an Oscar for Visual Effects the night he met Debbie and Chris at an exhibition of Alien paintings in New York. KooKoo was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic and marked Harry’s first foray into the music industry without the rest of Blondie.

Debbie’s chart-topping success, fearless spirit and rare longevity - including more than 50 million albums sold worldwide and acclaimed solo projects - have cemented her as a vibrant global force and a shaper of pop culture. One of my fave music acts is Debbie Harry/Blondie and I really love Debbie's solo album Koo Koo which Giger also was involved with visually, so this book was a must for me with a load of rare and previously unseen photos and background story of Debbie's look while making this great album. After attending college, she worked various jobs—as a dancer, a Playboy Bunny and a secretary (including at the BBC in New York)—before her breakthrough in the music industry. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. It was in one way a throw­back to Giger’s oth­er famous record cov­er, the one for Emer­son, Lake, and Palmer’s Brain Sal­ad Surgery.

You can see how Harry’s album fit into the history of the marriage between rock and sci-fi, especially seeing its legacy a few years later when Anjelica Huston would dress as another Frankensteinian, beautiful cybernetic being in Michael Jackson’s 3D rock movie Captain EO.