The glamour girl of New Wave

By KATHERINE TULICH

They might call their new album The Curse of Blondie, but the original members of Blondie are feeling pretty blessed. "I never thought I would still be doing Blondie after all these years," smiles the still blonde Deborah Harry. Guitarist Jimmy Destri adds, "We have actually been together longer this time around than we were the first time."

Blondie - Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, Destri and Clem Burke - are in a studio in lower Manhattan, only blocks from the loft they all shared in the late 70s before they became one of music's hottest sensations with a string of hits, In the Flesh, Heart of Glass, Rapture, One Way or Another, to name but a few.

But as quickly as their success flamed, it extinguished. By 1982 the band dissolved with contract and money disputes and fighting that tore the members apart.

"We weren't talking to each other. We didn't even want to be in the same room together," says drummer Burke, who went on to play for the Eurythmics and Bob Dylan once Blondie disbanded.

Then Harry and Chris Stein, who had formed the band and were long-time lovers, suddenly disappeared.

Stein became gravely ill with a rare genetic skin disease and Harry was at his hospital bedside for six months. By the late 80s Stein was fully recovered and although their relationship ended, Harry and Stein remained close while Harry, a former Playboy bunny, pursued a solo singing and acting career.

"We are celebrating our 30th anniversary ... that's how long we have known each other," says a grey-haired Stein.

And Harry adds, "One of the luckiest things in my life was meeting Chris. We have this intuitive connection in friendship and in work."

When a Blondie remix album was released in 1995, Stein, who had spent his non-Blondie years producing independent New York bands, planted the seeds for a Blondie reunion.

"I really thought he was crazy when he suggested it," says Harry. But once the members got back in a room together, they found the chemistry still there.

The band released their reunion album No Exit in 1999 and toured the world.

"I really felt it was the right time. The nostalgia thing was happening and I found a lot of kids who had never seen Blondie really wanted to hear the band play," says Stein.

While fans may have been glad they were back, Harry, who had always been the glamorous frontwoman of the band, was given a rough time by the media for not looking young and svelte.

"I think they expect you to be cryogenically frozen and then you come back," says Harry, who turned 58 this year. Since their last tour she has been on a health regime to get her weight down.

"I was much heavier when I started back in Blondie and it was harder for me to be taken seriously, but I am back to the right physical fitness and shape, so I'm much keener to perform now," she says.

Still, ask Harry about the blondes who have followed her in the music business and there is a distinct note of disdain. "These days they look like they have 10 stylists following them.

"A stylist didn't even exist when we started. I discovered peroxide when I was 13 and started dying my hair. I still do it myself. I guess what I felt I brought visually to the pop world was the screen image of a movie star, and glamour into the band."

"Debbie's image certainly got us through the day, but I think there is an honesty and integrity in what we do. People realise that it's not contrived," says Burke.

With a new single, Good Boys, and a new album, the members say the creative juices are flowing.

"In some ways it's a lot easier to write songs now," says Harry. "I feel much clearer about what I'm writing and having all that experience. I don't feel pressured - I look forward to it now."

The band begin their world tour in Australia and New Zealand next month. But Stein will not join the group until October.

At 53 he has become a first-time dad with his new wife, actress Barbara Sicuranza. Their daughter, Akira, was born 11 days ago.

"I was really conflicted because I have never, ever missed a gig, but I felt it was more important to be home," he says, adding with a smile, "besides they all really come to see Debbie anyway."

* Blondie play at the Civic on Thursday August 21.