Fan Mail was the newsletter of the Debbie Harry Collector's Society. There were 15 issues between February 1988 to December 1993.
Please look below the Table of Contents for some excerpts.
|
Fan Mail was the newsletter of the Debbie Harry Collector's Society. There were 15 issues between February 1988 to December 1993.
Please look below the Table of Contents for some excerpts. |
| Cover photo by Chris Stein |
In This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 2
Debbie Harry's Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 2
New Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 5
New Recordings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 6-8
New Album: Debravation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Interesting Notes Regarding Debravation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Quiz Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 10
Interview Transcript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 10-11
New Singles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 11-12
Debravation Tour Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14
Bootleg CD's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 14-15
Blonde And Beyond!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Random Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 16-19
Information Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 19
Quiz Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 19
Tour Reports and New York Stories . . . . . . . . . . . 19-26, 31-33
-- Tracks - 20 September 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-20
-- A Visit with Chris Stein - 28 Feb 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21
-- In New York - 06 March 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
-- Washington Irving High School - 07 March 1993 . . .21-23
-- The Supper Club - 12 March 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24-25
Random Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .25
The Tunnel - Halloween Night 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31-33
Printed Material Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.26-31
-- International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . .27-29
-- U.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .29-31
Unconfirmed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 31
Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . .33
Forthcoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 33
Things That Didn't Happen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Last Minute Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 34
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .34
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .35
Here is an excerpt from the magazine for your reading enjoyment:
A Visit With Chris Stein - 28 Feb 1993 [BLK/GA]
We took a taxi to Chris's place which took a bit longer than expected because someone blew up the World Trade Center and traffic was worse than usual. On the way, we passed the "Ear Bar" which Chris had mentioned over the phone once. It would qualify to be called a hive of activity in an otherwise desolate area of Manhattan. Outside this place, they have a red neon sign that used to say BAR but actually says EAR because someone blacked out part of the B. We found this hysterical especially after joking about its funny name for a couple of weeks.
Chris's place had been rearranged quite a bit since my last visit, partially due to the collapse of a bookshelf! He had started on a model of some sort on a short, round table in the living room which now was home to the TV as well as the computer. Behind the couch, hanging on the wall, was the original Robert Williams painting Debbie Harry's Fears because it didn't fit in Debbie's place.
Chris had purchased a new 21" NEC monitor for his Amiga 2000 which was on a small table with wheels. He hadn't hooked it up because the cable was missing until we picked it up earlier in the day so we needed to roll the table out. There was a black rod of some sort about an inch or so in diameter in the way, so we picked it up and much to our surprise and amusement discovered it was a spear! About six feet long with a big shiny metal blade. We then figured out they had given him the wrong cable so we returned it for him the next day. Even the next cable turned out to be the wrong one, and it wouldn't be for another seven months that he'd get the right one. Chris was planning to move the computer downstairs into the front room (adjacent to the studio). Next to the computer was another shelf with CD's scattered loose around the top (an Alice Cooper title among others) and cassette tapes on the shelves below.
There were a lot of books around: H.R. Giger's Necronomicon on the shelf, something by H.P. Lovecraft, Gödel Escher Bach, and Gibson's Neuromancer to name just a few. A big German banner flag that had been paraded before Hitler hung on the ceiling. His two cats roamed freely around the house. One used to be called Hecate but has been renamed Black Back.
We stayed about an hour and Chris reminded us about the upcoming benefit show for the Wooster Street Theater Group. They were expecting to play about 20 minutes.
Chris had slept most of the day and was "fried" from staying up all night working with John Cage, a classical musician not unlike Philip Glass. They talked on the phone for a while at the beginning of our visit.
Chris said he thought there was a lot of potential for a device to transfer DAT data (recordings) across phone (modem) lines or email to another DAT machine as opposed to mailing the tapes.
In New York - 06 March 1993 [BLK/GA]
We called Roberta Bayley to invite her to tomorrow's benefit. She appreciated the invitation and wanted us to keep her informed about it, but didn't think she could make it. She has been very busy with school (studying in the field of public health) and even more so applying for scholarships. She has a year to go before getting her degree.
She told us that Legs McNeil and John Holmstrom from Punk magazine had just come out with a new magazine called Nerve which was replacing Reflex. She told us Debbie was at a party for the creation of the magazine about a week and a half ago or two weeks ago; Legs said it was at The Grand. Roberta was having brunch with the director of the (hopefully) forthcoming Johnny Thunders film tomorrow (he had been in Europe for a while).
She told us about a picture she has of Chris flipping Debbie over and kissing her right outside the Boburn Tavern when they were doing the LP cover for Eat To The Beat with Norman Seeff.
The theater group told us that 1200 tickets had been sold so far.
Washington Irving High School - 07 March 1993 [BLK/GA]
Today Debbie and Chris were scheduled to perform at the Washington Irving High School (on Irving Place between 16th and 17th Street), along with the Roches and John Kelly sometime after 8:00. We got there around 4:30 and there were people going in and out occasionally. There were two equipment vans outside: one without a car alarm, and one with; ironically, the one with the alarm had the right front window completely smashed out.
The only advertisement for the show that we saw was just outside The Performing Garage at 33 Wooster Street; it said that William Dafoe would be hosting it. Chris said Dafoe's wife had asked Debbie to perform at the gig. Tickets were $25.00 and you could pick them up at 6:30. We had four and didn't use any! These tickets were generally needed to get into The Grand, which had a cocktail reception afterward.
We called Chris around 4:00; he had been up all night working with John Cage again and wasn't fully awake yet. We called again at 5:45 and he asked us if we had a car (we did!) and he said be here in half an hour. When we arrived, there were two people outside we met later, making sure no one took anything out of the open trunk of the car Debbie was driving. They told us to go in and we managed to hear Chris in the studio.
Downstairs on the way, we passed another large, red Nazi flag with a big black swastika, made our way through piles of wooden-framed gold records leaning against the walls and doorways, and past the open door to the closet with all Chris's master tapes. Chris and Debbie were in the studio and said "Hi" while trying to gather up their equipment.
Debbie left shortly and Chris went upstairs to get ready while we carried his stuff up to the top of the narrow wooden staircase. When he was done, we loaded the car and drove off.
In the car Chris was drinking some kind of juice in a can and asked us if we had researched John Cage yet, we said we didn't find out anything about him so far, then Chris started tapping on the steel can and said he sounds like that! We saw the full moon on the way which really pleased Chris. He told us it was also equally powerful at new moon, and nearly so a few days before full too. Somewhere along the way I hit a pothole half the size of my car and did enough damage to the suspension that had I turned it in, the insurance company would have totalled it. But it worked fine in New York which is all that mattered! When we got to the venue, we parked the car right outside, grabbed Chris's stuff, and went inside. Chris identified himself and said we were his assistants. We walked down the inclined auditorium floor to the low stage, went up four stairs at the edge and followed Chris's directions for setting up. Debbie was already there.
After a couple of minutes, Chris said I had to pay attention and take notes because he was wanted me to set him back up before they went on! Unfortunately, they were on first so I didn't get the opportunity, but the intent was a great honor nonetheless.
Debbie was looking for some water to drink (someone directed her to the dressing room where she found it) and Chris needed 9-volt batteries (which Gunter ran out and got for him). It's great to be useful!
Next (at 7:20) was the soundcheck. Chris had two guitars to test, his black Steinberger and a small one he called a slide that he played with a small cylindrical metal bar. He was sitting in his chair adjusting the electronics while Debbie got her microphone set up, and she sang a couple of seconds of "The Hunter" a few times. After a while they did the whole song! We stood along the side of the stage watching, absorbed by Debbie's magnetism, entranced by the music, and unable to fully comprehend what was actually happening.
Afterward, Chris tested the Steinberger and someone tested the keyboards which were much too loud (Debbie kept motioning "down" with exaggerated hand motions that were really funny). This wrapped it up and John Kelly came out to do his soundcheck after everyone went backstage. Debbie also took off her coat to show the four or five people there her dress. At 7:57, I went back at to Chris's place to pick up Melissa while Debbie and the band went out for a drink down the street: Chip, she was the percussionist; Pete, the guitarist, played both acoustic and electric; and Joe, the keyboard player. He had previously played with the Ramones and Psychedelic Furs. He had a Rolling Rock beer and everyone else had vodka with orange juice. After the diversion, back in the dressing room, Debbie had a thing that looked sort of like a log but it could be shaken to make noise. She used it for sound effects on Calmarie and kept commenting later that it was phallic! I saw one for sale about a year later, they had called it a "rain stick." They're from northern Chile and are made from a dried cactus into which the cactus spines are driven, and little pebbles (sealed inside) flow down through the spines and make an interesting sound.
William Dafoe introduced the show and told everyone that Debbie would be first. Chris was still on stage checking his amp when they began their set which consisted of rather extended versions of "Calmarie" and "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game", Bob Dylan's "Black Crow Blues" from his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, and "Memo From Turner" (by Mick Jagger and Ry Cooder) from the 1970 film, Performance. (A review of this film called the song "remarkable", and said the movie was rated X but today would have to be spiced up a bit to guarantee an R).
Debbie wore a brown South-American hat; her hair was brown and fairly short, and she had on an outfit with leopard spots.
After the show, Chris was trying to steal the doorknob from the dressing room! Gunter said there were screws in it and Chris looked and said "no you stupid fuck it's dirt!" which was hysterical. Sometime backstage Chris again said it was a full moon.
April Kincaid was talking to Debbie in the hall when someone from the school came up and said to them "you can't smoke in the auditorium, it's a school". April was quick to defend Debbie and said, "you can't tell Debbie Harry she's not allowed to smoke in here!" After she again said "you have to get rid of the cigarettes", they both started puffing really fast to get rid of them! Both these things were so funny, everyone around was nearly on the floor laughing!
There were about 15 people waiting near the backstage area for autographs when a person from the venue went up to Deborah as she entered the dressing room, and said excitedly "There are about 50 people wanting autographs Deborah, have you got a gun?" She said "No, but I've got some safety pins!" and then went out and signed their things. Then we packed up Chris's stuff and (along with about six other people) carried Debbie's stuff out the side door and around the building to the car and loaded it into the trunk! I carried a small drum-like thing about 30" long.
At one point we were alone in the dressing room with Debbie and Adam, chief engineer at Electric Lady who does freelance work (and did some for Debravation). We were talking to him and he said he was her entourage, and she said so were we! We were particularly ecstatic when we looked that up in a dictionary later, and it said "those in attendance of a superior"!!!!
Debbie, Chris, Melissa, Adam, and Pete got into the car Debbie was driving, and we followed her down to Chris's place. I cut off all the traffic and the taxis that were trying to get around or otherwise screw her over along the way! She avoided a red light near Chris's house by driving around to the side street (where it was green) and didn't have to stop so I did that too. It was really great fun watching her parallel park that big car into the space outside Chris's. Everybody else I know would certainly have hit something in the attempt. We then all unloaded the car into his studio.
Chris didn't want to go out; Debbie asked us if we were going to The Grand. Gunter said "only if you are?" and that was a yes. So we went outside, deciding on the way that we should take both cars so Debbie wouldn't have to drive us back. We asked if we could follow her and she said yes, then she joked "you can't follow me". She waited for me to pull out (so I didn't get lost), then we drove off, getting stuck briefly in some kind of emergency.
When we got to The Grand we stopped behind her so she could parallel park again, then took the next spot. Everyone got out and there was a big pile of people waiting to get in (she wondered why they hadn't let them in). Adam arranged our passage with a bouncer while she talked to a few people she knew. She also met Andrew from Kid Creole and the Coconuts (they exchanged phone numbers later). When we went in, there were about 100 people in so far. We got drinks (free) and Debbie sat in the back of a booth designed for about three people but at one point we briefly had like seven in there (with me next to Debbie)! Most of the time we stood by; a few people came around in the next hour for autographs but mostly the people we met were friends of Debbie or friends of today's band who were all there. When Debbie's drink got empty I asked her if she wanted another; she accepted and wanted an orange juice. I went to the side of the bar where no one was and nearly had to grab the bartender to tell her Debbie wanted a drink which worked remarkably well. Being able to do something for her is just incredible. There just are no words to describe it.
Various friends were there. Michael Schmidt was there off and on, and a few others - some we knew and some we didn't. Adam was always there; he told us most of the record was recorded at Electric Lady, some in England, and none in Canada. After about an hour or so, Debbie was ready to leave so we said goodbye and walked side by side in front to make a path for her to reach the side exit. We followed her most of the way to her car then departed.
A few days later, Chris told us the details of the next show, scheduled at Poops disco night, Friday 12 Mar 93 which is also a fashion show for Michael Schmidt (who asked Debbie to do some songs). This place is actually called The Supper Club (you can have expensive dinner there) until around 11:00 pm when it becomes a dance place. Tickets were $12.00 (none sold in advance), and although you could enter around 10:00, Debbie wasn't expected to play until around 1:00am. The prices of drinks were astronomical!
* * * * *
The Supper Club - 12 March 1993 [BLK/GA]
Today's band was only four: Debbie, Chris, Chip (percussionist), and Pete Min (guitarist). Joe (keyboard player) wasn't there. They apparently dropped him because he played far too wild and really got carried away during his solo at the benefit concert!
We had the good fortune of being permitted to help set up for the soundcheck, and the incredible privilege of watching it! Due to traffic, we actually arrived a little before the band did. Debbie had driven Chris (in the front), Chip, and Debbie's little dog Chi Chan. She told us a neat little story about how when she goes to the fruit stand, the Korean guy there weighs her dog in the fruit scale. Currently, she weighs 4 lbs. 5 oz.!
The soundcheck went really well, everyone was really friendly, and Debbie (wearing a tight black outfit) looked and sounded great. At one point, she jumped down off the stage to check out the sound! They did the complete set but in a different order: "Heart Of Glass", "Calmarie", "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game", "Out Of Time" (a cover of the 1966 Rolling Stones song), and "Memo From Turner".
Debbie was again playing with the log thing, which I first thought was full of seeds because when you turn it end to end it makes a sound like that.
Debbie sang "you're the fox that I was after" during "The Hunter" at both shows and the soundcheck today. She kept starting over the last song from the second chorus. Once she said "you can turn me down a bit" which we thought was really funny.
Toward the end of the soundcheck Debbie said she would need a music stand and since we heard this we said we were her insurance policy which she liked. You can bet it was there for the show!
After the soundcheck Debbie put us on the guest list which was really thoughtful. Outside, she had to pay $5 for parking (yuck!). She invited us to come with her and Chip in the car since we were all heading downtown! What a lovely drive!!!!
Debbie was really talkative and happy and we were treated to her wonderful laugh a few times in the car, not to mention an exquisite view of her eyes in the rearview mirror from where we were sitting in the back seat! She said she wanted to drive up to visit her parents (past Albany, about a five hour drive) because it's been snowing all the time and she wasn't able to recently. She also said about the rain in Australia, and since she was planning on showing it off tonight, she recalled to us her dream of wearing the Michael Schmidt razor blade dress - lying in a pool of blood!!! We should tell Giger!
Debbie said she got up early and was going home for a Disco Nap but that "sometimes she wakes up crabby." The Disco Nap made for much humor the rest of the way (the rest of the year too)! She even sang the Log Song when we got to talking about Ren & Stimpy! I managed to find someone with all the episodes a few weeks later, which I copied for her simply because she liked them. Debbie was really happy about the tape, but could anything compare to this drive?... I don't think so!
The 13 March show was supposed to start at 1:00am but Michael Schmidt's fashion show didn't start until 2:20am. It lasted about 20 minutes, after which he came out and gave Deborah an excellent introduction that was followed by two light beams and smoke at the stage.
Debbie came out wearing a blonde wig and long-sleeved black outfit under a tight fitting dress intricately constructed entirely of double-edged razor blades which early on prompted a warning "Don't Touch Me!" At one point during the set, someone guessed "The Tide Is High" and Debbie replied "not that one". The set list was: "Calmarie" (Debbie had the log); "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game"; "Heart Of Glass" (she had the small metal shaker; Chris was very enthusiastic on the black guitar); "Out of Time"; and "Memo From Turner". Debbie had a few lyric sheets which sometimes ended up on the floor.
After the show, a bunch of people went upstairs to try to see Debbie. This place was really different, because instead of ridiculous security, the guy who was at the gate (it was one of those big red velvet ropes like in a movie theater) said "hold on, I'll see if she's ready" and a few minutes later came back and said "Free For All" and let everybody in!
Most everyone was talking to each other in a big room for an hour or so. Pete said Chris didn't stay because there were too many people. Debbie had to record tomorrow (Saturday) but there was a blizzard! The whole upper east coast got several feet of snow, more than in the last hundred years! Debbie also said the record's title still wasn't finalized but so far was expected in mid-June. As it turned out, they ended up using the same title they were thinking of since at least June 1992. [BLK/GA]
Random Notes
One day we were going back to the apartment Gunter was renting during his 8-week visit, and a witch cast a spell on us in the elevator!
That blizzard was the second worst in the city's history... there was almost no traffic on any street. We went out during the day (it was still snowing when we got up at 2:30) to get food. Gunter's toe was hurting him so he wore clogs... outside... in 15 inches of snow! I had these giant waterproof boots on, so I got to watch as he kept falling, and inevitably he slid all the way down the steps to the subway entrance because the clogs had slick rubber bottoms. Unfortunately all funny things must come to an end so when they filled with snow we had to run back up to the 22nd floor where I gave him a pair of those ridiculous boots. I still looked funnier because of a stupid 15-year-old fluorescent orange hunting hat! We went out to discover a city worker barricading up our subway entrance just as we got there, but we eventually got food, then roamed around literally in the middle of the streets. After it got dark, and quit snowing, we went out in those boots and wrote DEBORAH HARRY in giant letters in the snow. The words were nearly a whole block long! That night, it froze rain and dropped 20 degrees, so my car (having been plowed in) became imbedded in a 7-foot tomb of ice which took us nearly a whole day to excavate.
The next weekend after the blizzard we watched some guy trying to get his car out of a parallel parking space by carefully and cautiously moving it slowly back and forth seven or eight times then suddenly freaking out and flooring it, smashing into the parked car in front so hard it knocked the trunk open!!!
Watching too much TV in New York can also uncover some weird stuff: Bill Boggs (of Upstairs At Xenon infamy) is now a reporter for channel 4 in New York. Jack Cafferty (who did an interview for channel 5 just before her Valentine's Day 1981 Saturday Night Live appearance) is now on channel 11.
Hanging in Chris's bathroom upstairs are several Robert Williams paintings, including one with a likeness of Debbie with monsters called Appetite For Destruction. Chris has an extensive Robert Williams collection, consisting mainly of signed prints.
Debbie had a case with three microphones, one lettered "Circus-Shure" something and "Debbie Harry 1979". One of Chris's cats was climbing in the open foam-lined box and trying to figure out how to sleep in there. We learned that Debbie also has two cats.
Other New York Visits [BLK]
On 26 Jun 93, I went into the Ear Bar for the first time. It was a nice place; I had drinks; the people were friendly. There are crayons at the table to draw on the tablecloth, so I wrote "Support Debbie Harry" and "Celebrate July 1st" on the table.
Chris said that a black cat got into his house and they couldn't get him out for three days!
Chris showed me a plastic Alien toy that was worth $120; you push something and it opens up at the mouth like the original Alien did!
On the wall opposite the bed, I asked him about something that looked like a mummy.... It was a mummy - a mummified falcon.
On the Deborah Harry roadie case downstairs was a black Blondie T-shirt with the photo they used for the cover of the Lester Bangs book.
In mid-August, Chris said he just got his guitar (the one that's half guitar,
half bass) reconditioned.
Fan Mail was published approximately four times per year (as news is available and circumstances allow) as the newsletter of the Debbie Harry Collector's Society, 124 South Locust Point Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-9709, U.S.A. It is not available in electronic format and it is no longer available.
The photographs included in this publication are copyrighted by their respective photographers (as credited), and may not be duplicated by any means without prior written permission. The remaining text in Fan Mail, as long as it remains intact and unmodified, is released to the public domain, and may be copied, quoted, translated, or otherwise distributed without restriction.
The Debbie Harry Collector's Society is a non-profit organization and operates solely for the purpose of providing support to Deborah Harry and her collectors and fans; we do not engage in merchandising of any sort. It is not a "fan club" in the traditional sense: it is a network of fans and collectors operating with permission, but otherwise independently of the artist and management. There are no membership dues or requirements. Electronic correspondence is strongly encouraged. If you have an email address, please send it (along with any other correspondence) to Barry L. Kramer [email protected]