Brunette
July 1, 2012 10:12 AM Subscribe
Debbie Harry's first solo album Koo Koo featured iconic artwork by artist H. R. Giger. He also directed the videos for 'Now I Know You Know' and 'Backfired'
Seems the cover art was the best thing about the whole project.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 10:40 AM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 10:40 AM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Despite seeing tons and tons of Giger artwork over the years and even flipping through some of the gigantic fancy coffee table books, I never really knew that much about him or his motivations and I always think it's pretty strange that he seems to have no trouble with his dark, heavy visuals being used as the basis of night clubs or being danced around without any apparent context by Debbie Harry. It forces me to assume he's probably alot more chill of a guy than you would expect from someone who relentlessly paints ultra-complicated space dicks and bleak desert vagina planets.
posted by SharkParty at 10:43 AM on July 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by SharkParty at 10:43 AM on July 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
Last time I saw any footage of him he was just this chill guy kinda talking about stuff.
...then if you read the subtitles he was saying penis or vagina seriously about once a sentence.
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
...then if you read the subtitles he was saying penis or vagina seriously about once a sentence.
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Thanks for posting this! ah, firing off long-dormant memory cells is one of the great things about the internet. I had the 45 of "Backfired"! (I was 11 and loved "Rapture" and "The Tide is High".) My 2¢ about Giger + Debbie is that it probably seemed like a good match at the time? maybe? But I'm finding a big disconnect between watching the video now and the music that's coming out of my speakers.
Agreed though that the artwork was the most memorable thing to me — those big needles through the head on the cover of the 45 freaked me out! — except for the tagline of the chorus: "Backfired, in your face." For some reason, that one line echoed through my head when I saw this post. (I thought I'd have a rush of memories flooding back upon youtubing the B-side, "Military Rap", but no such luck; I retained no memory of having listened to that side of the 45 over and over again.)
(My mom, whenever she saw Debbie Harry on TV, was convinced that she was completely spaced-out on drugs. "Look at her eyes! She's just staring off into space!")
posted by not_on_display at 11:03 AM on July 1, 2012
Agreed though that the artwork was the most memorable thing to me — those big needles through the head on the cover of the 45 freaked me out! — except for the tagline of the chorus: "Backfired, in your face." For some reason, that one line echoed through my head when I saw this post. (I thought I'd have a rush of memories flooding back upon youtubing the B-side, "Military Rap", but no such luck; I retained no memory of having listened to that side of the 45 over and over again.)
(My mom, whenever she saw Debbie Harry on TV, was convinced that she was completely spaced-out on drugs. "Look at her eyes! She's just staring off into space!")
posted by not_on_display at 11:03 AM on July 1, 2012
Giger always seems to come over as this friendly cherubic Euro... then you read stuff like this and it's yeah, er.. ok.
It's Debbie's birthday today btw...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:12 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's Debbie's birthday today btw...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:12 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Sorry about that.
Guh? What part of "promo video" don't you understand, EMI?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:26 AM on July 1, 2012
Sorry about that.
Guh? What part of "promo video" don't you understand, EMI?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:26 AM on July 1, 2012
Giger always seems to come over as this friendly cherubic Euro... then you read stuff like this and it's yeah, er.. ok.
They were like Feida Carlo and Deigo Garcia with more skeleton dongs. They should have had two desperate houses with a penis bridge between them.
posted by Artw at 11:34 AM on July 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
They were like Feida Carlo and Deigo Garcia with more skeleton dongs. They should have had two desperate houses with a penis bridge between them.
posted by Artw at 11:34 AM on July 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
H.R. Giger also designed a custom guitar for Blondie guitarist Chris Stein.
posted by metaman livingblog at 11:44 AM on July 1, 2012
posted by metaman livingblog at 11:44 AM on July 1, 2012
Despite seeing tons and tons of Giger artwork over the years and even flipping through some of the gigantic fancy coffee table books, I never really knew that much about him or his motivations and I always think it's pretty strange that he seems to have no trouble with his dark, heavy visuals being used as the basis of night clubs or being danced around without any apparent context by Debbie Harry.
Giger suffers from night terrors; he uses the artwork for inspiration, as well as a coping mechanism.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:31 PM on July 1, 2012
Giger suffers from night terrors; he uses the artwork for inspiration, as well as a coping mechanism.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:31 PM on July 1, 2012
Behind the Movies interviews H.R. Giger (not really)
posted by billyfleetwood at 12:47 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by billyfleetwood at 12:47 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Those videos prove that as a video director, Giger is a great set designer.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:15 PM on July 1, 2012
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:15 PM on July 1, 2012
Okay, Debbie was already past her prime when Koo Koo was released. However, people who tout Madonna & Lady Gaga don't recall how iconic Debbie Harry was in the 70s. Here was a woman who fronted a band, had a sly sense of humor, and oozed rock 'n' roll sexuality.
Whenever I bother to notice the calculated outrage du jour of the pop music mannequins, I miss Debbie.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 3:19 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Whenever I bother to notice the calculated outrage du jour of the pop music mannequins, I miss Debbie.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 3:19 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Alex Kozhanov - some really quite cool Geiger inspired art.
posted by Artw at 3:22 PM on July 1, 2012
posted by Artw at 3:22 PM on July 1, 2012
Parallel Lives: Blondie by Dick Porter and Kris Needs - review
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:07 AM on July 5, 2012
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:07 AM on July 5, 2012
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posted by SansPoint at 10:30 AM on July 1, 2012