9/81 NY Times compares Bella Donna to Debbie Harry's 'KooKoo'

[ricohv]

Originally Posted by brad975

I grew to love Debbie and Stevie around the same time. And still do!

But BellaDonna is by far the better solo debut than KooKoo.

Stevie had saved up a backlog of great songs, while Debbie Harry/Chris Stein had run out of songwriting juice generating an album a year from 1976-1980. KooKoo's producers, Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards, also seemed to be running on empty after producing/writing for multiple artists in addition to Chic.

I like parts of KooKoo, but "Rapture" was a fluke. Debbie is a little too stiff/detached to be funky. Her subsequent attempts at rap (from "Military Rap" on KooKoo to "Shakedown" on The Curse of Blondie) have generally been embarrassing.

It's interesting that Giorgio Moroder first offered the "Call Me" track (called "Mechanical Man") to Stevie. Based on her work up to that point, why would he have thought she'd be a good fit for that kind of dance rock? Granted, she pulled it off a few years later with "Stand Back" (but not so much since).

I agree-KooKoo seemed like everyone just hit a brick wall creatively. AND...I always wondered if it was a myth that Stevie had been offered "Call Me" first. Other than the fact that she was pretty hot at that time-and I'm sure they thought they had a hit on thier hands-it certainly doesn't have a Stevie sound, especially Stevie at that point in time.
*Ricoh*