While "Bondie," Deborah Harry, was born in Miami, she has New Jersey roots!

Deborah Ann Harry was adopted by Catherine Harry and Richard Smith, who owned a gift shop in Hawthorne New Jersey.  She graduated from Hawthorne High School in 1963. She also attended Centenary College in Hackettstown. 

Before starting her recording career, "Blondie" moved to New York City in the late '60s, where she worked as a secretary for BBC Radio for a year. She was a waitress at "Max's Kansas City." Later, she was a Playboy Bunny, and some sources state that (earlier) she was a go-g0 dancer at a  Union City New Jersey disco.

While Deborah Harry's music career started in 1968 with the folk group "Wind In The Willows," Harry achieved fame with the band "Blondie," formed in 1974, with longtime boyfriend Chris Stein.  The band's name came from the the term "Blondie," that fans would yell at Harry during on-stage appearances.  "Blondie," the band, would struggle for a few years.  With her two-tone bleach blonde hair, Harry was often seen at "Studio 54," plus, the band was a part of the "video revolution" of the late '70s and early '80s. The album "Parallel Lines," released in 1978, contained Jersey's Favorite Hits: "Heart Of Glass" (#1, 1979) and "One Way Or Another," and gave "Blondie" international superstar status. "Dreaming," "Call Me" (#1, 1980), "The Tide Is High" (#1, 1981), and "Rapture" (#1, 1981), would follow.

What is "Blondie" up to now? Click here and here!

So, the next time you hear "Blondie" on New Jersey 101.5, turn up your radio, and smile! Deborah Harry is one of our own!

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