I think the reason it wasn't successful is because Debbie Harry was so strongly associated with the Blondie brand and image that people just couldn't accept anything she tried to do solo. They wanted the sexy sassy Debbie who sang Heart of Glass and tide is high. Debbie has said that if her solo albums had been Blondie records they would have been big hits. But I'm not sure about that. Aside from a few nice moments she didn't have good songs and the programming seemed artificial.
Those were cool, sexy, and aggressive albums. I didn't care much for Autoamerican and didn't get The Hunter at all. I think Debbie and Chris felt they needed to prove themselves as downtown artists.
That they could be as weird and avant garde as Talking Heads. But they approached music from a totally different angle. They were from the street. Tough and in your face. Debbie was pretty old for a pop star. But apparently nobody else shared my appreciation for it. Me too. I thought "Jump Jump" could've been a great single.
Same with the album closer, "Oasis". Well, I just re-listened to this for the first time in years because of this thread and I have to say r3 is pretty on the money. I was very disappointed in it back in the 80s but it actually sounds pretty good now. I'm sure back then I, like a lot of other people, expected a more pop-ish, hook-filled Blondie-like album and it's very different.
And the final track "Oasis" is great! Listen to the first 30 seconds of each. I don't hear the similarities so much. But here's another vote for KooKoo being an under-rated gem. But the producers and Debbie had been churning out 1 hits for two years running up to the recording — "Good Times," "Le Freak," "Upside Down," "Call Me," "Rapture" — and nothing on the album came remotely close. It's curious; gotta be a story there.
I like the album. I play it now and again, which I definitely would not if it were bad. I love Debbie but her "Debravation" album was not good - the others are better. I love "Now I know you know". The chic songs on the album are fun but some of Chris Stein's songs are a bit heavy and dark "Chrome", "Oasis", "Inner city spillover".
People were expecting Blondie hits. Debbie was the best popstar ever but it was sad that her solo career never really took off. Actually, her solo singles collection might be out of print by now is probably a better representative of her solo career than the individual albums which were generally patchy affairs. Her solo stuff covers a variety of genres and collaborators as it ranges from straight-up dance pop to more avantgarde things.
If there was ever any doubt, it confirmed to me how versatile as a performer she really is. If I recall correctly, the poster featuring the cover for "KooKoo" was banned from the London subway system for being too "unsettling" got the general public. But I also saw it being displayed in a suburban Tampa mall record store in without any public uproar. I adore Koo Koo. Both were not promoted enough by the record company. Nile Rodgers doesn't mention Debbie or the making of this album in his memoir "Le Freak.
Her boyfriend- and co-founder of Blondie- Chris Stein developed a rare disorder around She took time off to care for him and lost momentum.
In the meantime Madonna ushered in the singer-who-dances, and though Debbie had glammed-up for a couple hit disco songs, she was most known for being a scruffy punk princess. The artwork on the album cover is a painting by Swiss artist H. Giger, who is probably best known as the designer for the creature of the SciFi film Alien. While visiting New York for one of his exhibitions, he met Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, who were big fans, and was asked by them to design the album cover for Debbie's upcoming solo album.
At the time, Giger was taking accupuncture sessions and that inspired him to incorporate the four spikes intended to represent the four basic elements: earth, air, fire, water into Debbie's head in the painting. Giger suggested. The inner sleeve of the album and its back cover depict more of the photography and artwork that you don't typically see unless you've got a copy lying around.
In the end, KooKoo and its singles didn't chart all that well. But the album seems to have stood the test of time and represents the results of some of the first collaborations Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards embarked upon. They continued to work with and produce other artists until Bernard Edwards' passing in , and Nile Rodgers continues to produce and collaborate with other artists even today.
Too bad everyone forgot to bring the songs. Harry 's stern delivery over the funky backing winds up sounding forced, with lyrics that are clumsy and limited. KooKoo has plenty of these clever and absurd moments that worked well when casually tossed about by Blondie , but they never based the whole song around them.
The album's overall cynicism would be easier to take if Harry offered some answers or at least a viewpoint. Only the inspired funk of "The Jam Was Moving" deserves any attention, with Harry finally sounding comfortable. AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy.
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