Debbie Does The Mammas & Pappas
Scott Coblio | West Hollywood, CA United States | 01/21/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"A young Debbie Harry offers the only real interest here, and chances are, if you found this CD and are bothering to read this, you already knew that. Blondie guitarist Chris Stein called this a "folkie baroquey" group, and that pretty much sums it up. Debbie was less charitable when "High Times" asked in '77 if Wind in the Willows was "easy listening". Debbie replied "Depressing listening." And indeed, it's about as far from Blondie as you could imagine!
Apparently aspiring to do something along the lines of a woodsier Mamas & the Pappas, The Wind in the Willows badly missed their mark, with weak songwriting the primary culprit. The lead singer--was it Paul Klein?--can't sing. He should have handed the vocals off to the other male vocalist who only sings on "Park Avenue Blues"--his voice is much nicer but alas he only gets the one song . Debbie's voice, while not yet exciting, is noticeably pleasing in the background harmonies and in two songs where she gets to sing lead (Djini Judy and She's Fantastic and She's Yours). She sounds rather like a choir girl in "Djini", very pure and pretty, but in the latter song we hear a hint of the campy irony that would later characterize her singing in Blondie.
The two singles were "Moment Spent" (a dirge, again complicated by Klein's bad singing) and "Uptown Girl"--a cheesy attempt at hippy-vaudeville (ick!) complete with kazoos, no less!
Still, if you love Debbie Harry it will be interesting to take this musical stroll with a 23 year old girl who sings with a touching conviciton that is more than the songs deserve, and think about the fact that Harry's "lost years" began right after this recording was made. What exactly happened is still shrouded in mystery. Apparently the drummer, who was Harry's boyfriend, died of a drug overdose, and when the band broke up, Harry thought her musical career through. Even she doesn't seem to remember what she did for the next few years ("I was crazy--completely out of my mind. I wanted to blank out whole periods of my life. I used to cry and cry.").What is known is that she took drugs to "self medicate", worked as a Playboy Bunny for awhile in New York, then ran off to California with a multi-millionaire ("these forty year old guys with guns and infections all over their bodies..."), ran back home after a month, and--apparently in emotional tatters-- moved back in with her parents where she did battle with her drug dependency and paralyzing fears about trying again.
As we all know, the story has a happy ending. Less than a decade later, she beats her demons and dramatically metamorphasizes into Blondie, kicking off a career that continues to this day. Think of this CD as a chance to peek inside her young head for clues to the mystery."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1