Rockbird


Rockbird is the second solo album by American singer Debbie Harry, released in November 1986 on Geffen Records in the United States and Chrysalis Records in the United Kingdom.

Album information

Rockbird was Harry's second solo album, and came four years after the split of Blondie in 1982. Harry had largely put her music career on hold during the mid-1980s in order to look after Blondie guitarist/boyfriend Chris Stein who had been diagnosed with a serious illness. The album was produced by Seth Justman, a key member of the J. Geils Band. Released in November 1986, there were four variations of the album artwork with the lettering in either green, orange, pink and yellow.
A stylised version of the album's cover photo features on the cover of some editions of the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Promotion and reception

The album peaked at #31 in the UK, and remained in the charts for 11 weeks. Although one of her lowest charting solo albums in the UK to date, it was actually the highest selling and was certified "Gold" by the BPI in January 1987 for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album was far less successful in the US, peaking at #97 on Billboard's album charts.
Three singles were released from the album, "French Kissin' in the USA", which reached #8 in the UK, and is Harry's only solo top 10 single in that country, as well as "In Love With Love" and "Free to Fall", which reached #45 and #46 respectively. "French Kissin'" also reached #57 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #3 in Australia.

Track listing

Side A:
  1. "I Want You" – 4:28
  2. "French Kissin' in the USA" – 5:14
  3. "Buckle Up" – 3:46
  4. "In Love with Love" – 4:34
Side B:
  1. "You Got Me in Trouble" – 4:18
  2. "Free to Fall" – 5:31
  3. "Rockbird" – 3:09
  4. "Secret Life" – 3:46
  5. "Beyond the Limit" – 4:37

    Personnel