Track Listing

1. Jump Jump
2. The Jam Was Moving
3. Chrome
4. Surrender
5. Inner City Spillover
6. Backfired
7. Now I Know You Know
8. Under Arrest
9. Military Rap
10. Oasis
11. Backfired (Dance Version)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107051 in Music
• Released on: 1999-01-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued

Customer Reviews

Relive the KooKoo-ness
KooKoo is an album that had me and the masses very confused in 1981 - after the enormous success of Blondie and the latest album 1980's Autoamerican, Debbie went solo and at the time it was a bit of a disappoint for a great number of people. Listening to it all these years later, I can't believe how overlooked this album can be. Utilizing Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, Debbie went funk and at the time I didn't understand it, but now, boy do I get it.

A deeper more urban version of Diana Ross' Diana ("Upside Down", "I'm Coming Out") which Chic had done a year earlier. Debbie kept her New York cool and her attitude, and most importantly her delivery of strange and etheral images. Sure there's a few lackluster numbers, the closing number "Oasis" does remind you of a Sci fi film soundtrack but so did "Europa" from Blondie's Autoamerican album.

The production is minimal but that's the Chic brilliance, funk guitars, a few horns and a lot of Debbie's cool voice at the forefront. "Backfired" is still one of her best solo songs while my favorite the funk/rock fusion of "Under Arrest" and the uber fabulousness of the rap/white funk/hippity hop "Military Rap" is so humorous it's completely serious.

Debbie's first solo album maintains Blondie's golden standard
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WSFG44VASAV1 My name is Jeremy Gloff. I am a musician and retro music enthusiast. If you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my Amazon user profile to check out my other reviews. I am always up for making new friends and discussing the music I love!!! Blondie is one of one of my favorite bands and Deborah Harry is one of my fave singers/writers.

A very Chic Debbie Harry!
These days, it is practically de rigeur for stars like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Madonna or Gwen Stefani to hook up with Timbaland, or Pharrell or will.i.am, but back in 1981, it wasn't common for an established white star to hook up with a black music producer, especially one from a punk rock group. That was exactly what happened when Blondie front woman Debbie Harry decided to release her solo debut. After the success of her band's last album "Autoamerican" (which had two US #1 hits in "Rapture" and "The tide is high"), Debbie gave Chic frontmen Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards a call and the result was "Koo koo".

The album comprised ten songs, four written by Rogers & Edwards, four written by Harry and her Blondie partner Chris Stein, and two written in collaboration with Rogers and Edwards. The cover art was an attempt to ditch her Blondie persona and was rather startling; a brunette Harry with giant metal skewers drilled through her face, and that was just the front cover. The inner sleeve photo looked even more alien with some robotic textures to her skin. I just knew I had to hide the record from view each time my mum went past, or else she would have taken righteous delight in destroying that "demonic record".

And the music? An attempt at the sonic variety Blondie had experimented with on "Autoamerican" but with an emphasis on dance/funk. The songs penned by Rogers & Edwards were the scratchy disco/funk Chic were known for; lead-off single "Backfired" a #43 US hit (and featuring a rap by Rogers, well before anyone else was doing it), the incredibly funky hand clap filled "The jam was moving" #82 in the US (and telling the funny story of a quest by the F.B.I. to find out just what it was in the music that had people all over the nation dancing, set to a skeletal bassline), "Surrender" (with a wicked guitar solo at the end), and the beautiful jazzy ballad "Now I know you know" with crystal clear vocals by Harry in her upper register (and a lovely guitar/sax coda). I've always loved Rogers & Edwards brilliant ballads like "Savoir faire" (Chic), "Now that you're gone" (Diana Ross) and "I'm a good girl" (Sister Sledge) to mention a few, and this is along those lines.

The four co-written with Stein included the opening razor sharp pop/funk "Jump jump" (a silly tale about her little doggie set to an incredibly groovy bassline), the slow chugging rock of "Chrome", the reggae "Inner city spillover" (again, with very silly abstract lyrics about a lady who had a brick fall on her bed while in bed, but with an incredible dub bassline), and the horrid "Military rap" (another attempt at Rap by Harry after "Rapture" which was very good and groovy).

The pair written with Rogers & Edwards comprise the brief rock burst "Under arrest" and the Middle Eastern tinged "Oasis" (the title of the album was taken from the lyrics of this song).

There was a reluctance by radio to play songs off the album which Nile Rogers ascribed to racism, but the album managed to be certified Gold in the US and hit #28 in the US and #6 in the UK. I loved this album and was rather worried I wouldn't be able to get in on CD but what do you know, here it is with two bonus extended versions of "Backfired" (rather redundant in my opinion) and "The jam was moving" (now, this I like, as the original ran just under 3 minutes).

Critics usually slag off this album but hey, what do they know. After this, Nile Rogers would go on to produce more pop and rock acts like Madonna ("Like a virgin"), The B-52s ("Cosmic thing"), Duran Duran ("Notorious") and David Bowie ("Let's dance") among others.