p 12 | BIGISSUE.COM 09-15MARCH 2020
t 16 I was mostly smoking weed and trying to get
romantically involved with women. And I was
involved with the local band scene. I wasn’t much into
school. I have two daughters now and their school
seemsidylliccompared to mine. They don’t have teachers who
arefuckingpsychopaths like we did, teachers who shouldn’t have
beenaroundother people, let alone children. My daughter just left
middleschool and her friends were all crying because they’d loved
itsomuch.Tome that was such a crazy concept, because to me it
wasliketheninth circle of hell.WhenI was 12 myparentsgotmeaguitar.I’dbeenputtingout
thatIwantedone everybirthdayand Christmasthentheyfinally
gotmeone. At firstIwas justplayingalongwithrecords–Ilistened
to alotof jazzand filmsoundtracksbeforethemusic,likeWestSide
Story. Thatwasa hugeculturaleventinAmericain1961,a fewyears
beforetheBeatles.So for metheactualsongwritingstuff came
later,whenI metDebbie[Harry]andweformeda band.Itwasa
necessityinthemusicscene,weneededoriginalsongs.Ifyou mettheteenageChrisnow you’dfindsomeonepretty
awkward.Idon’t thinkIhad self-confidenceuntil later, whenI
wasinthebandscene.I wasa totalhippie,a weirdo.I wasexpelled
fromschoolbecauseofmyhair.Thatwasweirdandfascinating
’causeitshowshowstupidtheschoolswere.Thedeantoldme
andmyfriendhewasconcernedwe’dbecrossingthestreetanda
windwouldcomeandblowourhairinfrontofourfaces.Thatwas
hisexcusebutreallyhejustcouldn’thandleitbecauseitwastoo
sexuallyambiguousorwhateverthefuckitwas.I hadnobrothersorsisters.I hadlovelyparents.Theywere
bohemiansandtheywerereds.Mymotherwasa painter,a very
artisticandsmartlady.Myfatherdiedearlyon,whenI was16.That
wasa bigtragedythatsortofcaughtupwithmeandI wentpretty
crazywhenI was19.I justdidn’tprocessitwell.Anditmademe
a bitnuts.Hewasa sweetheart,hewasa goodguy,a frustrated
writer.I stillfeelI don’tknowanythingabouthim.Hecame
fromRussiawhenhewasa boyandwedon’tevenknowhisreal
birthday.Mykidsarereallycuriousaboutourfamilybackground
butI reallydon’tknowanythingatall.I knewearlyonthatI wantedtoalwaysbeinbands.WhenI was
17 I gottoopenupforTheVelvetUnderground.I hada friend,Joey
Freeman,whoworkedforAndy[Warhol].HeusedtogotoAndy’s
houseinthemorningandwakehimup,whenAndywasstillliving
withhismother.Joeyjustshowedupatmyhouseonedayand
saidtheopeningacthadpulledoutanddidwewanttodoit?So
wegrabbedourinstrumentsanddraggedthemontothesubway
tothisplaceuptown.TheVelvetUndergroundwereamazingthat
night,itwasveryexcitingforus.MaureenTuckerevenletususe
herbassdrum.LateronI gottoknowLou[Reed]prettywellandI
foundhimtobea sweetguy.WhenIfirstmetDebbie[Harry]Ijustthoughtshewas really
fantastic,musically. I thinkI justsawwhata lotofotherpeople
sawlateron.Shewasverycharismaticandbeautifulandallthat
stuff. Iwas atthefirstshowof herband The Stilettosand Ijoined
upshortlyafter. Then itallstarted.Whenyou’recaughtupinthe
momentit’ssometimeshardtoseeitfroma distance.Butitwasa
terrificperiod.Imean,Clem[Burke,Blondie’sdrummer]and me
talkingyearslaterrealisedweneversawSaturdayNightLiveinthe
earlydaysbecausewewerealwaysoutona Saturdaynight.The Britishpaperswere thefirstones to give usalotof coverage
outsideofthelocalNewYorkCitypapers.Thatwaskindofan
indicationthatwemightgetbig,whenMelodyMakerandtheNME
showedupandwrotefeaturesaboutthesceneandaboutus.Then
wecametoBritainandthepeopleweregoingkindacrazy.What
struckmewasthephysicalityoftheaudience.Therereallywasno
rock dancinginNew York. So whenwe cameover for our very first
showandeverybodystartedgoingcrazyandjumpingaround,that
waslikea revelation.I rememberplayingtheGlasgowApollo.TheA
Blondieguitarist,photographer
Chris Stein
Main
image:
Shepard
Fairey
Other
images
:Chris
Stein
Picture this: Keen photographer
Stein took thousands of images
documenting the NYC punk sceneIntimate pics of his Blondie
bandmate and then-partner
Debbie HarryStein captures Harry with
punk icons Joey Ramone
(left) and Iggy Pop