Chris Stein

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Chris Stein was born in Brooklyn in 1950 and is an American guitarist and songwriter, a co-founder of the new wave band Blondie. He grew up in the Midwood neighbourhood and was expelled from his high school because of his long hair. In 1973 he became the guitarist of the Stillettoes, where he began a relationship with the singer Debbie Harry. In the summer of 1974 Stein, Harry and the rhythm section left that group to start their own band. That became Blondie, a fixture of the punk and new wave scene around CBGB and Max's Kansas City. At the end of the 1970s the group achieved international fame.

Music and breakthrough

Stein wrote many hits with Debbie Harry, including Heart of Glass, Dreaming, Island of Lost Souls, Rapture and Rip Her to Shreds. Sunday Girl he wrote alone. From 1978 to 1982 he presented the public-access TV programme TV Party. Blondie split up in 1982 and reunited in 1997. He also produced and played on the soundtrack of the hip-hop film Wild Style in 1982 and wrote the music for the 1980 film Union City. Between 1982 and 1984 he ran the label Animal Records.

Influence

Stein is also a photographer. He documented the early punk scene of New York, with Debbie Harry and Blondie, and worked with artists such as Andy Warhol and H.R. Giger. His book Negative appeared in 2014. His guitar playing and songs connect punk, pop and disco, and with Wild Style he also stands at the cradle of early hip-hop film.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1998Wild Style Instrumental Beats
• 2004Bettie Page: Dark Angel Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)