KooKoo | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 27, 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Studio | Power Station, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 42:27 | |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Producer | ||||
Debbie Harry chronology | ||||
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Blondie chronology | ||||
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Singles from KooKoo | ||||
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KooKoo is the debut solo album by American singer Debbie Harry,released on July 27,1981,by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards 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.
KooKoo was recorded while Harry and boyfriend Chris Stein were taking a break from the band Blondie. The album was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the R&B band Chic,who had just had major success working with Diana Ross on her 1980 album Diana . 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' 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's Notorious ,the Power Station's self-titled debut album,and Robert Palmer's Riptide . Backing vocals were provided by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale of Devo,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 (RIAA),denoting shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.
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. In May 2023,a deluxe edition was released,consisting of the original album and a bonus disk of remixes pressed in transparent vinyl,and a lenticular cover.
The cover art for the album was created by Swiss artist H.R. Giger,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. [2]
For the promotion of KooKoo,Chrysalis Records 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.
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",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.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [5] |
Sounds | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
In The Boston Phoenix,Ken Emerson gave the album a mixed review,writing that "Harry comes across on KooKoo as inaccessible,invulnerable,and creepy. The congealment of her character that began with the success of Heart of Glass is now complete:she’s an ice-cold icon. ... [T]hough KooKoo lacks the playful energy and innocence of Parallel Lines (1978),Blondie’s best album,it’s far more accomplished and fully realized than either of the band’s subsequent LPs. ... You may dislike the destination,but KooKoo knows exactly where it’s going." [7] Rob Sheffield wrote in the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995),"KooKoo is disappointingly diffuse,and it's easy to hear what went wrong:while Harry meekly imitates the suave funk of Chic's classic Real People ,Rodgers reverts to his true roots in European art-rock." [1]
In 2021,Rich Wilhelm described it as a flawed but beguiling experiment that paved the way for Let’s Dance and Like a Virgin. [8]
Side A:
Side B:
Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue UK 1994
Bonus Track CD Re-Issue US 1999
Bonus Tracks CD Re-Issue 2011
Bonus Tracks Vinyl Re-Issue 2023
Side A:
Side B:
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada) [19] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [21] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide.
Blondie is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1974 by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the American new wave genre and scene of the mid 70s.
Bernard Edwards was an American musician, songwriter 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 53rd greatest bassist of all time by Bass Player magazine.
"Rapture" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their fifth studio album Autoamerican (1980). Written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and produced by Mike Chapman, the song was released as the second and final single from Autoamerican on January 12, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Musically, "Rapture" is a combination of new wave, disco and hip hop with a rap section forming an extended coda.
"The Jam Was Moving" is a 1981 song by the American singer Debbie Harry. It was the second single to be released from her debut solo album, KooKoo. Released with no video and little promotion, after Harry's debut solo single, "Backfired", failed to become a big hit, "The Jam Was Moving" fared even less well, peaking at #82 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and failing to chart at all in the UK.
"Backfired" is the debut solo single from American singer and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry. Released in 1981, it was taken from her debut solo studio album, KooKoo.
"Chrome" is a song by the American vocalist Debbie Harry, featured on her debut album KooKoo in 1981. The song was issued as an advance 12" promo in the United States with the album track "Under Arrest" as the B-side but it never had a commercial release. A 7" single was, however, released in Germany, though this failed to chart.
We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music" and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album. In 2013, NME named it among the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie is a greatest hits album released on March 4, 1991, by Chrysalis Records. It contained all of Blondie's highest-charting singles such as "Heart of Glass", "Sunday Girl", "The Tide Is High", "Atomic", and "Call Me", as well as some of Deborah Harry's solo singles, including the UK top-10 single "French Kissin' in the USA".
Chic, currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic, is an American disco band founded in 1972 mainly by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " (1977), "Everybody Dance" (1977), "Le Freak" (1978), "I Want Your Love" (1978), "Good Times" (1979), and "My Forbidden Lover" (1979). The group regarded themselves as a rock band for the disco movement "that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom". In 2017, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eleventh time.
Once More into the Bleach is a remix album released in December 1988 by the band Blondie and Debbie Harry. The 13-track compilation contains remixes of Blondie songs and material from Harry's solo career. It was the first compilation to include non-album singles "Rush Rush" and "Feel the Spin".
Most of All: The Best of Deborah Harry is a compilation album of recordings by Deborah Harry, released by Chrysalis Records in 1999.
King of the World is the final album by French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion, released on June 27, 1980. The album which was both written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of American R&B band Chic includes the hit "Spacer" which reached No. 18 on the UK charts in early 1980 and was a Top 10 hit in most of Europe, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide. The album displays some elements unusual in Chic productions, such as prominent guitar solos in place of the breakdowns that were normally a staple part of the Chic sound, and some unusual lyrical subject matter, such as the sci-fi themed "Spacer" and a humorous song about credit cards.
Soup for One is the soundtrack album to the movie Soup for One by American R&B band Chic et al., released by Mirage Records in 1982. The album reached number 168 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and number 42 on the R&B chart. Besides three previously released tracks, Chic's "I Want Your Love" from 1978 album C'est Chic, Sister Sledge's "Let's Go On Vacation" from 1980s Love Somebody Today and "Jump, Jump" from Debbie Harry's KooKoo, the album contains five songs specifically written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers for the movie.
Take It Off is the fifth studio album by American band Chic. It was released on Atlantic Records in November 16, 1981. It includes the single "Stage Fright", which reached number 35 on the US R&B chart, but was the first Chic single failing to enter the US Pop charts, and this album only proved to be moderately successful as well, stalling at number 124 on the US albums chart and number 36 on the R&B chart.
Live at the Budokan is a live album by American band Chic, released on Nile Rodgers' label Sumthing Else in 1999.
Heart on a Wall is a solo album by Blondie keyboardist and composer Jimmy Destri, released on Chrysalis Records in 1981. It remains unreleased on compact disc.
Deborah Ann Harry 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 No. 1 on the US charts between 1979 and 1981.
Up All Night is a compilation album by Nile Rodgers and The Chic Organization, released in 2013. It contains recordings written, played and produced by Rodgers and Bernard Edwards for various artists including Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Sheila & B. Devotion, Deborah Harry, Norma Jean Wright, Carly Simon, Johnny Mathis and their own group Chic. In its original form, the album included every UK Top 40 hit single produced by Chic, excepting remixes. The Johnny Mathis track was widely publicised as being previously unreleased, though it had in fact appeared on Mathis' own Ultimate Collection CD in 2011.
Alfonso "Fonzi" Thornton is an American vocalist, songwriter, producer and vocal contractor. In a career spanning 40 years, Thornton has sung backing vocals for top artists across many genres of music. His vocal credits can be found on the recordings of Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Chic, Diana Ross, Garth Brooks, Ray Charles, Mariah Carey, Steely Dan, David Bowie, Robert Palmer, Patti LaBelle, Al Jarreau, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Phoebe Snow, Scritti Politti, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga and many others. In 2008, Thornton joined the musical entourage of Aretha Franklin as backing vocalist and vocal contractor and continued to accompany her in concert, on recordings and TV until her death in 2018.