As the lead singer of Blondie, Debbie Harry became one of the world's most recognisable pop stars, a punk rock icon who continues to inspire generation after generation of musicians. Blondie weren't an overnight success, existing for five years before they released their multi-platinum debut album Parallel Lines, and they weren't Harry's first band either, the singer having previously been signed to Capitol Records as a member of psych folk rock band The Wind In The Willows.
It would be fair to say that The Wind In The Willows didn't set the world on fire, disbanding after releasing their self-titled album in 1968. Officially a seven-piece band from the New York area, fronted by Wayne Kirby (vocals, double bass, piano, harpsichord, organ, vibes) the group also had an additional member - known only as Freddy - who is credited on their self-titled debut album as being their 'Spiritual Advisor'.
In a 2012 interview with Westchester Magazine, Harry described The Wind In The Willows as "a ‘baroque folk’ kind of thing with a small orchestra and weird instrumentation".
'It was actually one of my best friends from high school, her husband started the band, Paul Klein," Harry revealed during an interview with Rolling Stone's Music Now podcast in 2019. "He wrote all of the material I believe [Actually a number of the band's songs were co-written with either Wayne Kirby or lead guitarist Peter Brittain]. And originally I just started singing harmonies and back-ups, and it was very casual, and then it evolved into a recording situation... Artie Kornfeld, who was one of the people who started Woodstock festival, he was our producer. It was a smaller world."
