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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Blondie's Chris Stein presents "Hell in the City of Angels" photo exhibit


West Hollywood CA (West Hollywood Today) 8/10/2013

Photos & story by Karen Ostlund

left, drummer Clem Burke, Debbie Harry, Joan Jett & Rodney Bingenheimer
 at
 Morrison Hotel Gallery
“Hell in the City of Angels” is Blondie’s guitarist Chris Stein new photo exhibit  featuring Stein's photography of some of the most classic rock n' roll icons in history including Debbie Harry, lead vocal in Blondie, Richard Hell, Sting,  Iggy Pop, and The Ramones.
Many of the images are related to Los Angeles.
 
 
 
 
 
 
"I'm excited to be putting my pictures up at Morrison Hotel Gallery in LA. This is my first show since the 80's!” said Chris about the exhibit.

Chris Stein
The preview was yesterday, and Chris Stein got support from rocker Joan Jett, Rodney Bingenheimer, Debbie Harry & Clem Burke also featured in his photos taken in the late 70’s.
Joan Jett was this year's SSMF honoree, and played live at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood. She got help on stage by KROQ's Rodney Bingenheimer on guitar.
The exhibit is open to the public today Saturday, August 10th, and located at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood , 1200 Alta Loma Road.

 

Christ Stein started taking photographs in 1968. During his last years at the School of Visual Arts in NYC he began hanging out in the early downtown rock scene. In 1973 he met and began working with Debbie Harry and together they founded the band Blondie.
KROQ's  DJ Rodney Bingenheimer in front
of Stein's photo of him from the late 70's
 

The band was a pioneer in American new wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s. Their first two albums contained strong elements of these genres, and although successful in the United Kingdom and Australia,

Their debut album "Blondie" (UK No. 75 & AUS No. 14) was issued in December 1976.

In September 1977, Blondie bought back its contract with label Private Stock,  and then signed with Chrysalis Records. The first album was re-released on the new label in October 1977

 

 

Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in 1978. By 1981, the band had achieved several hit singles including "Call Me", "Atomic" and "Heart of Glass" and became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles incorporating elements of disco, pop, rap, and reggae, while retaining a basic style as a new wave band.

Poster of Blondie in the late 70's
 Chris was always taking pictures of the milieu that surrounded Blondie and was lucky to be on the inside and mingle with many of the pioneers of the new wave and punk music scenes. His intimate photographs of Debbie Harry have helped establish him her as an international icon.

Co-owner of Morrison Hotel Gallery at Sunset Marquis Timothy White said, “Chris Stein is rock and roll royality in every aspect of that word. He was at the forefront of a movement. He and Debbie Harry were a part of a movement that created some of the best music of the decade, but what he created as a photographer, with her as his muse, really stands out with as important imagery, which we identify with for that period of time and the people associated with it. It’s a big piece of music history and an exciting part of the exhibit.”

Sting w Debbie Harry and Ramones, Chris Stein photos
So what happened after Blondie’s brake-up,  
after the release of their 6th studio album “The Hunter"  in 1982?
Deborah Harry continued to pursue a solo career with varied results after taking a few years off to care for partner Chris Stein, who was diagnosed with pemphigus, a rare autoimmune disease of the skin.

The band reformed in 1997, achieving renewed success and a number one single in the United Kingdom with "Maria" in 1999.

Blondie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and is still active together today.

Their ninth studio album, Panic of Girls, was released in 2011, and "Ghosts of Download",  is to follow to be released this fall 2013.
 
Morrison Hotel Gallery at Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood is open 7 days a week, 10am-10pm.

 

 

 

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