Backfired Explained

Backfired
Cover:	Debbie Harry - Backfired.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Debbie Harry
Album:	KooKoo
Released:	July 1981
Recorded:	1981
Genre:	New wave dance-rock
Label:	Chrysalis
Producer:	Nile Rodgers Bernard Edwards
Next Title:	The Jam Was Moving
Next Year:	1981

"Backfired" is the debut solo single from American singer and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry. Released in 1981, it was taken from her debut solo studio album, KooKoo.

Background

"Backfired" peaked at number 32 in the UK, and number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (though it remains Harry's highest-charting solo single in the US). It also peaked at number 71 on the US Hot Soul Singles chart,^[1] and number 29 on the Dance chart.^[2] The single also managed to become a hit in only a few other countries including Sweden and Australia.

In an attempt to distinguish herself as a solo artist, Harry's image upon the single's release was quite different from her established image with Blondie. She had dyed her hair darker and had a new sci-fi-inspired look, as seen in the music video for the song directed by H.R. Giger, who appeared in the video wearing a mask and mimes the male back-up vocals on the song.

Written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the Chic who had just written and produced a huge hit album for Diana Ross, "Backfired" further developed Harry's experimentation with dance music as seen in some of Blondie's material (the Chic-inspired "Rapture" having been a No. 1 hit for them earlier the same year), this time delving more into funk music.

The 7" edit of "Backfired" appears on the Chrysalis Records/EMI compilation . A remix of the track by Bruce Forrest and Frank Heller was included on the 1988 Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation Once More into the Bleach. The original extended 12" mix from 1981 appears as a bonus track on both the 1994 and 2005 CD re-issues of the album KooKoo.

Critical reception

In his "singles review" prior to the album's release, David Hepworth of Smash Hits was disappointed by the song by saying that "if this is the best that KooKoo has to offer then Debbie Harry's solo career is going to be short".^[3]

Track listing

• 7-inch single

1. "Backfired" (7″ edit) (Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards) – 3:34
2. "Military Rap" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) – 3:47

• 12-inch single

1. "Backfired" (12″ mix) (Rodgers, Edwards) – 6:23
2. "Military Rap" (Harry, Stein) – 3:47

Charts

Chart performance for "Backfired"! Chart (1981)! Peak
position

Australia (Kent Music Report)^[4]	23
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles^[5]	39

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 247.
2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 118.
3. Hepworth. David. David Hepworth. Debbie Harry: "Backfired". Smash Hits. Peterborough. EMAP National Publications, Ltd.. 3. 15. 26. 6–19 August 1981. 0260-3004. 11 November 2022. World Radio History. https://web.archive.org/web/20221111202606/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1981/Smash-Hits-1981-08-06.pdf. 11 November 2022. live.
4. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. St Ives, N.S.W.. Australian Chart Book. 1993. 134. 0-646-11917-6.
5. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending September 19, 1981 . . December 22, 2020.