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Debbie Harry keeps it 'fresh' with new album, Genesee show

Debbie Harry has never shied away from the camera. As one of the most photographed musicians of all-time, the Blondie frontwoman's modelesque good looks and tangible bravado became the fodder of countless magazines and album covers over the years. Even Andy Warhol and H.R. Giger created notorious portraits of the singer.

Yet, when rarely seen candids started to populate online in May, Harry had a surprising visceral reaction.

“It was almost like a chemical response, and very personal,” says Harry in a phone interview leading up to her Friday, June 10, show at Waukegan's Genesee Theatre.

Most of the images were from her reigning heyday as a '70s and '80s chanteuse. One shows her taking a drag from a cigarette over the shoulder of pal Joan Jett; another captures her as a failed housewife, dressed in a nightgown and holding a frying pan engulfed in flames.

The mementos are the handiwork of Blondie guitarist (and one-time love interest) Chris Stein, who trained at New York's School of Visual Arts in the late 1960s before meeting Harry and forming the iconic rebel pop band, all the while carting around his Nikon. He released the picture book “Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk” in 2014 and recently launched a new archival website (chrisstein.nyc) where he has expanded the collection with more photos of Harry as well as shots of The Ramones, Cherie Curie, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and all the other to-be-stars that were holed up together in CBGB and Max's Kansas City in New York.

“I think it's actually been really helpful to look through them,” admits Harry, who turned 70 last year. “It puts me back in that time, remembering what we were doing and feeling all those feelings again.”

The exercise seems to have rubbed off on the band, too. Harry, Stein and longtime drummer Clem Burke just wrapped up recording sessions for their 11th studio album, due out in early 2017, which Harry heralds as a return to form. “We wanted to bring it back to an earlier Blondie sound and really stuck to the original pop rock influence.” Unlike previous albums that relied heavily on machines, she says, “this album is very much live.”

Now 70, Debbie Harry says her band Blondie is returning to its original sound for an album due out next year. Courtesy of Alexander Thompson.

Blondie will be trying out the songs on a summer tour, which stops at the Genesee Friday, June 10.

The to-be-named album, which features a number of bonus collaborators from Charli XCX to Sia and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, comes 40 years after Blondie's 1976 self-titled debut that quickly established the group, putting them in the middle of New York's burgeoning punk and new wave scenes.

The band would later go on to experiment with a number of styles including reggae, disco, Latin pop, electro, even hip-hop. Yet, even all these years and releases later, Harry says, “It doesn't seem that difficult to keep it fresh.” She credits a genuine love of playing music and a very accepting fan base that has weathered all of Blondie's trials, including a 15-year hiatus starting in 1982 when she tried on a solo career and also helped Stein recover from serious health issues.

“It started off as a negative thing, but in the long run the break helped us calm down,” she says. “We were working the first seven years without pausing. Our original contract was for three albums a year, which was an impossible amount of work.”

Harry now makes it a point to advocate for young musicians, recently entering the heated discussion about YouTube royalties. “With all the changes going on with technology and the industry, it's a primary right of artists to be paid for their work and to be represented fairly in the marketplace,” she says, before widening the argument. (She also represents Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that works to keep waterways clean.)

“At my age, I look at all the things going on, all the problems that are driven by complete stupidity and ignorance and greed. It's always the same story. These things have to be fought for, so I just have to stick to my guns.”

That also includes standing by a commitment to her craft. “I think it'll be clear to me when I don't have the energy or stamina to do show after show after show and all the touring and traveling anymore … but not yet,” she says, waving off the idea of any imminent retirement plans. “Some people are able to envision a five-year plan for themselves, but I've always been taking it as it comes. I just enjoy being in the moment.”

Blondie

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 10

Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan,

geneseetheatre.com

Tickets: $53-73

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