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KooKoo
''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. Background ''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 fif ...
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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 Miami, Florida, Harry was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey. 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. Harry co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City. The band released its eponymous debut album in 1976, and released a further three albums between then and 1979, including '' Parallel Lines'', which spawned six singles, including " Heart of Glass". Their fifth album, '' Autoamerican'' (1980), afforded Harry and the band further attention, spawning such hits as a cover of " The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", the latter of which is considered the first rap song to chart at number on ...
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Backfired
"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''. Song information "Backfired" peaked at number 32 in the UK, and number 43 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (though it remains Harry's highest-charting solo single in the US). It also peaked at number 71 on the US Hot Soul Singles chart, and number 29 on the Dance chart. The single also managed to become a hit in only a few other countries including Sweden and Australia. In an attempt to distinguish herself as a solo artist, Harry's image upon the single's release was quite different from her established image with Blondie. She had dyed her hair darker and had a new sci-fi-inspired look, as seen in the music video for the song directed by H.R. Giger, who appeared in the video wearing a mask and mimes the male back-up vocals on the song. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the Chic who had just produ ...
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The Jam Was Moving
"The Jam Was Moving" is the second single from Debbie Harry's debut solo album, ''KooKoo''. It was released in 1981 with no video and little promotion after Harry's debut solo single, "Backfired", failed to become a big hit. Background The single peaked at #82 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart in the US, but made no appearance on any other major chart. The 7" Mix of "The Jam Was Moving" (featuring additional guitars during the intro) appears on the Chrysalis Records/EMI compilation ''Most of All - The Best of Deborah Harry''. The original 1981 12" mix of "The Jam Was Moving" was also included as a bonus track on Chrysalis Records/EMI UK's 1994 CD re-issue of the ''KooKoo'' album, the extended version of the album track "Inner City Spillover" was released by Gold Legion Records in 2011 (the 30th anniversary of the album's release). In 1988, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein remixed "The Jam Was Moving" for inclusion on the Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation ''Once More into ...
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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 singles worldwide. He is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a three-time Grammy Award–winner, and the chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Known for his " chucking" guitar style, '' Rolling Stone'' wrote in 2014 that "the full scope of Nile Rodgers' career is still hard to fathom". Formed as the Big Apple Band in 1972 with bassist Bernard Edwards, Chic released their self-titled debut album in 1977, including the hit singles " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" and " Everybody Dance". The 1978 album '' C'est Chic'' produced the hits " I Want Your Love" and " Le Freak", with the latter selling more than seven million singles worldwide. The song "Good Times" from the 1979 album ''Risqué'' was a number one single on ...
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Chic (band)
Chic ( ), currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic, is an American band that was formed in 1972 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" (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. History 1970–1978: Origins and early singers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards met in 1970 as session musicians working in the New York City area. They formed a rock band initially named The Boys, but soon changed it to The Big Apple Band, and played numerous gigs around New York City. Despite interest in their demos, they never garnered a record contract. Both ...
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Rockbird
''Rockbird'' is the second solo studio album by American singer Debbie Harry. It was released in November 1986 by Geffen Records in the United States and Chrysalis Records in the United Kingdom. Background ''Rockbird'' was released four years after the split of Blondie in 1982. Harry had largely put her music career on hold during the mid-1980s in order to look after Blondie guitarist and boyfriend Chris Stein, who had been diagnosed with a serious illness. The album was produced by Seth Justman, a key member of the J. Geils Band. Released in November 1986, there were four variations of the album artwork with the lettering in either green, orange, pink and yellow (with slight variations due to printing techniques). A stylized version of the album's cover photo appears on the cover of select editions of the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. Critical reception ''Trouser Press'' wrote that the album "paves a pop path Harry can navigate, but the material is weak ...
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Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the American new wave scene of the mid-1970s in New York. Their first two albums contained strong elements of punk and new wave, and although highly successful in the UK and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the U.S. until the release of '' Parallel Lines'' in 1978. Over the next five years, the band achieved several hit singles including " Heart of Glass," " Call Me," " Atomic," " The Tide Is High," and " Rapture". The band became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles, also incorporating elements of disco, pop, reggae, and early rap music. Blondie disbanded after the release of its sixth studio album, '' The Hunter'', in 1982. Debbie Harry continued to pursue a solo career with varied results after taking a few years off to care for partner Chris Stein, who was diagnosed with pemphigus, a rare autoimmune disease of the s ...
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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 53rd greatest bassist of all time by '' Bass Player'' magazine. Biography Edwards was born in Greenville, North Carolina and grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, where he met Nile Rodgers in the early 1970s. At the time, Edwards was working at a post office with the mother of Rodgers' girlfriend. The two formed the Big Apple Band (active 1972–1976) and then united with drummer Tony Thompson to eventually form Chic together with singer Norma Jean Wright. With Chic (active 1976–1983), Edwards created era-defining hits such as " Dance, Dance, Dance", " Everybody Dance", " Le Freak", " I Want Your Love" and " Good Times". Edwards also worked with Nile Rodgers to produce and write for other artists, using Chic to perform everything mus ...
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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 Agency. History Early years In an interview for Jethro Tull's video ''20 Years of Jethro Tull'', released in 1988, Wright states "''Chrysalis Records'' might have come into being anyway, you never know what might have happened, but ''Chrysalis Records'' really came into being because Jethro Tull couldn't get a record deal and MGM couldn't even get their name right on the record". This was after the single " Sunshine Day/Aeroplane" was incorrectly credited to 'Jethro Toe'. Chrysalis entered into a licensing deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records for distribution, based on the success of bands like Jethro Tull, Ten Years After and Procol Harum, which were promoted by the label. Jethro Tull signed with Reprise Records in the United ...
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Rhythm And Blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations. The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this sty ...
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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 status and 73 making the ''Billboard'' charts. Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three recordings. Although frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes traditional pop, Brazilian and Spanish music, soul, rhythm and blues, show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, soft rock, blues, country music, and even a few disco songs for his album '' Mathis Magic'' in 1979. Mathis has also recorded six albums of Christmas music. In a 1968 interview, Mathis cited Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among his musical influences. Early life and education Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, on September 30, 1935, the fourth of seven children of Clem ...
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Take It Off (album)
''Take It Off'' is the fifth studio album by American R&B band Chic, 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. ''Take It Off'' was one of three albums written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in 1981, the other two being Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry's debut solo album '' Koo Koo'' and Johnny Mathis' ''I Love My Lady''. ''Take It Off'' was transferred to CD and re-released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1991. It was digitally remastered and reissued by Wounded Bird Records in 2006. Track listing All tracks written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. Side A #"Stage Fright" – 3:55 #"Burn Hard" – 5:12 #"So Fine" – 4:10 #"Flash Back" – 4:28 #"Telling ...
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