I was never a huge fan of Blondie, although I did buy their first album (on Private Stock records, before they were signed to the big label Chrysalis. Not worth much on eBay, though.)  I’ve always thought Debbie Harry was cool and she’s certainly led an interesting enough life to make for a good memoir.  This book leads you through her very early music projects, the formation of Blondie, their chart successes, and her post-Blondie music and movie career.  She takes you back to the heady days of the New York punk scene, with the expected stories about CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City, although I was hoping to hear more about her punk contemporaries like The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, etc.  They only get very brief mentions.  She goes into pretty good detail about Chris Stein’s battle with pemphigus and just how sick he became before finally getting a diagnosis.  I read a lot of rock autobiographies, and I’ve definitely read many better ones, but she’s an interesting person and the book did keep my interest all the way through.  

“Face It” by Debbie Harry

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