The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 Vinyl LPs 142: Debbie Harry

vinyl LP front cover

Cover Concept, Painting – H. R. Giger

album cover photo by Brian Aris

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Thirty-seven years ago, on July 31, 1981, Debbie Harry released her debut solo album Koo Koo in the U. K. It had already been released four days earlier in the U. S. by Chrysalis Records.

Koo Koo is one of those albums whose cover art snagged me immediately! The photograph by Brian Aris then rendered by H. R. Giger, who had designed the creature for the sci-fi/horror film, Alien, two years earlier, was a knock-out. How could it not! This entry is more about the album cover than the music!

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP back cover

Cover Concept – H. R. Giger

photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Giger created several variations of the cover (another of which is seen on the album's inner sleeve) in what Harry described as a combination of punk, acupuncture (Giger link below) and sci-fi.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP inner sleeve

sleeve concept, painting – H. R. Giger

inner sleeve photo by Brian Aris

photo of inner sleeve by Styrous®

Harry stated that the album title came to her after she saw Giger's completed work, and although she had misgivings about the conceptual ideas behind the artwork (as she did not identify either the album or herself as "punk"), she was suitably impressed to use it anyway.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP inner sleeve back

sleeve concept – H. R. Giger

photo of inner sleeve by Styrous®

For the promotion of KooKoo, Chrysalis Records planned to display large posters of the album cover in various stations of the London Underground. However, officials deemed the image of Harry with metal skewers going through her face and neck to be too disturbing.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP inner sleeve detail

sleeve concept, painting – H. R. Giger

inner sleeve photo by Brian Aris

detail photo of inner sleeve by Styrous®

I have four favorites from this album, The Jam Was Moving, Chrome, Inner City Spillover and Oasis; of the four, Oasis is my favorite.

Promo videos were made for the tracks Backfired and Now I Know You Know, both directed by Giger and filmed at his studio in Switzerland.Backfired featured a dark-haired Harry dancing superimposed over a backdrop of Giger's distinctive artwork, with Giger himself appearing in a semi-translucent face mask. Now I Know You Know featured Harry in a long black wig and a form-fitting bodysuit painted with Giger's unusual artwork, dancing around in a small set furnished with Giger's "bio-mechanical" design work (link to videos below).

KooKoo was one of three albums to be (co)written and produced by record producer, Nile Rodgers, and Bernard Edwards, of Chic, in 1981, the other two being the Chic fifth album, Take It Off and I Love My Lady, by Johnny Mathis, which remains unreleased.

Two singles were released from the album: Backfired, which peaked at #24 in Australia, #32 in the UK and #43 in the US in August 1981, and The Jam Was Moving which reached #82 in the US but failed to chart in the UK or Australia.

A third single, Chrome, was only released in some parts of Europe and also failed to chart. Another track, Jump Jump, was only released as a single in Peru.

Chrome was the flip/B-side of The Jam Was Moving only being issued in Germany as a single and in the USA as a 12" promotional single only.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP inner sleeve back detail

sleeve concept – H. R. Giger

detail photo of inner sleeve by Styrous®

KooKoo showcased the early fusion of funk, rock and dance music that would become the trademark of Rodgers and Edwards, and this style would later be evident on albums such as Let's Dance, by David Bowie, Notorious, by Duran Duran, The Power Station self-titled debut album, and the Robert Palmer album, Riptide.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP inner sleeve back detail

sleeve concept – H. R. Giger

detail photo of inner sleeve by Styrous®

Backing vocals were provided by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale of Devo; they are credited as Spud and Pud Devo.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

"Spud and Pud Devo"
vinyl LP back cover detail

Cover Concept – H. R. Giger

detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

KooKoo reached #6 in the UK and stayed in the charts for seven weeks, being certified "Silver" by the BPI for sales in excess of 60,000 copies. The album reached #25 in the US and was certified "Gold" by the RIAA for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

"Spud and Pud Devo"
vinyl LP back cover detail

Cover Concept – H. R. Giger

detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Debbie Harry ~ Koo Koo

vinyl LP, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Jump Jump, written by Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 4:02

A2 - The Jam Was Moving, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers - 2:58

A3 - Chrome, written by Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 4:16

A4 - Surrender, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers - 3:36

A5 - Inner City Spillover, written by Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 5:02

Side 2:

B1 - Backfired, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers - 4:52

B2 - Now I Know You Know, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers - 5:31

B3 - Under Arrest, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 2:56

B4 - Military Rap, written by Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 3:48

B5 - Oasis, written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers, Chris Stein, Debbie Harry* - 4:55

Personnel:

Debbie Harry - vocals
Nile Rodgers - guitar, vocals on "Backfired"
Bernard Edwards - bass guitar
Tony Thompson - drums
Robert Sabino - keyboards
Raymond Jones - keyboards
Nathaniel S. Hardy, Jr. - keyboards
Chris Stein - guitar
Vinnie Della Rocca - horns
Ray Maldonado - horns
Sammy Figueroa - percussion
Manuel Badrena - percussion
Roger Squitero - percussion
Spud Devo - backing vocals
Pud Devo - backing vocals
Gordon Grody - backing vocals
Fonzi Thornton - backing vocals
Chuck Martin - dog bark

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Chrysalis Records
    Copyright (c) – Chrysalis Records
    Recorded At – Power Station
    Mixed At – Power Station
    Published By – Rare Blue Music, Inc.
    Published By – Easy Aire Music, Inc.
    Published By – Chic Music, Inc.
    Produced For – Chic Organization Ltd.
    Mastered At – Atlantic Studios

Credits:

    Art Direction – Peter Wagg
    Cover [Concept], Painting – H. R. Giger*
    Engineer – Bill Scheniman    Engineer [Second] – Jason Corsaro
    Liner Notes [Quote] – Poe*    Management – Alive Enterprises, Inc., Denny Vosburgh, Shep Gordon
    Mastered By – Dennis King
    Photography By – Brian Aris    Producer – Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers

Notes:

Issued with custom inner sleeve with additional image and credits. Some credits are marked with special characters ( ⃰, †, ⃰ ⃰) in the credit list on inner sleeve but no special character is associated to any track either in the tracklist (back cover, inner sleeve) or on labels.
℗ 1981 Chrysalis Records

On back of jacket:
Made in U.S.A.
℗ & © 1981 Chrysalis Records
On spine: Printed in U.S.A.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode (Text): 0 7558-51347-1
    Barcode (Scanned): 075585134716
    Matrix / Runout (Label A): (CHR-1347-AS)
    Matrix / Runout (Label B): (CHR-1347-BS)
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A variant 1): 15 CHR 1347-̶6̶ AS ⑥ SX ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K. B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B variant 1): O CHR-1347-8 BS ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A variant 2): 15 CHR 1347-2[scratched]-AS ② SXT E4 ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B variant 2): IT CHR 1347-9 BS ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A variant 3): 15 CHR 1347 - ̷2̷ -AS ② A 3 ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A variant 3): 15 CHR - 1347 - ̷2̷ BS - ② ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K. S A19
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A variant 4): 15 CHR 1347-4[scratched]-AS 4(in a circle) ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B variant 4): 15 CHR 1347 - ̷5 -BS 5(in a circle) ATLANTIC STUDIOS D.K.
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Rights Society: BMI

Debbie Harry* ‎– KooKoo
Label: Chrysalis ‎– CHR 1347
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 27 Jul 1981 in the U,S.
Released: 31 July 1981 in the U.K.
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Funk / Soul
Style: Synth-pop, Disco

Viewfinder link:

Debbie Harry articles/mentions

Net links:

H. R. Geiger ~ Debbie Harry & acupuncture
Diffuser ~ When Debbie Harry Went Solo with 'KooKoo'