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Out now: Chris Stein’s New Book of Photography Chronicles Extraordinary Collaboration with Debbie Harry and H.R. Giger

Chris Stein’s New Book of Photography Chronicles Extraordinary Collaboration with Debbie Harry and H.R. Giger for Harry’s 1981 Album KooKoo

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

Special, Limited Edition Deluxe Re-Issue of Debbie Harry’s Debut Solo Album KooKoo Out 5th May

Chris Stein, renowned musician, photographer, and co-founder of the legendary band Blondie, has curated an impressive collection of photographs that capture the extraordinary collaboration between himself, Debbie Harry, and innovative artist H.R. Giger for Harry’s groundbreaking 1981 debut solo album KooKoo. Titled H.R. Giger: Debbie Harry Metamorphosis: Creating the Visual Concept for KooKoo, this striking book offers a captivating behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this iconic album. It is out now via Titan Books.

When the visual artist H.R. Giger, best known for his biomechanical creature and set design for seminal 1979 sci-fi-horror film Alien, encountered Debbie Harry, the punk icon and lead singer of globally successful band Blondie, the results were sublime. The artwork for Harry’s 1981 debut solo KooKoo album cover was deemed so frightening it was originally banned on the London Underground. The fantastical videos for two of the tracks on the album, ‘Backfired’ and ‘Now I Know you Know,’ featured Giger himself piercing an Egyptian sarcophagus and a newly brunette Harry reimagined as a xenomorphic Giger creature. And Chris Stein was there every step of the way, collaborating with Giger and Harry on the overall concepts, and capturing the electrifying moments with his camera lens.

With H.R. Giger: Debbie Harry Metamorphosis: Creating the Visual Concept for KooKoo, Stein takes readers on a visual journey through the creative process that brought KooKoo to life. His stunning photographs and accompanying stories beautifully document this iconic creative partnership in a stunning hardback book of art. Complementing Stein’s wealth of original photography of on-set filming in Giger’s studio in Switzerland alongside candid behind-the-scenes shots and Polaroids, the book also includes fascinating notes and sketches from the Giger archive, offering an extraordinary behind-the- scenes insight into the processes of this incredible project.

In conjunction with the book release, KooKoo – produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards – is being reissued as a 2023 Deluxe Edition on May 5th, with only a limited 6,000 copies being sold. The album will be presented on double 180g Crystal Clear vinyl, and includes a bonus 12” disc with extended versions and remixes plus a reproduction Chris Stein Art Print all housed in a special lenticular-effect sleeve. It is available to pre-order now at https://debbieharry.lnk.to/KooKoo2023.

About Chris Stein:

Chris Stein is the co-founder, songwriter and guitarist of the iconic punk band Blondie. The band’s 11th studio album, Pollinator, was named one of Rolling Stone‘s 20 Best Pop Albums of 2017. Chris’ photographic work has been featured in galleries and press around the world, and published in the successful books: Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk (Rizzoli), and Point of View: Me, New York City, and the Punk Scene (Rizzoli). Beyond his era-defining music with Blondie, he has collaborated with a host of artists over the years, including Andy Warhol, Basquiat, William Burroughs, Devo, Glenn O’Brien, and Shepard Fairey.

About Blondie:

For the last four decades, Blondie has become and still remains a true global icon; one whose influence both shaped and continues to inform the worlds of music, fashion and art. From an irreverent Lower East Side punk outfit to bona fide international ambassadors of New York cool, Blondie will forever be synonymous with that punk spirit that lives somewhere in all of us. Their chart-topping success, fearless spirit and rare longevity led to an induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and more than 40 million albums sold worldwide to date. As we look back at the band’s storied career, it makes Blondie’s current vibrancy that much more stunning after 40 years of entertaining all of us.

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