Chris Stein, the longtime guitarist for Blondie and boyfriend of Debbie Harry, is a real New Yorker, having been born and raised in the city, like myself. For that reason alone, I love this book. We're about the same age and he remembers his time growing up in a city that's disappeared much as I do. It's fun to hear him reference the same places I used to visit. He makes an interesting observation that I've long thought but never put into words--that the New York city of the late '70s was closer to a time 100 years before than it was to the 30 years to come. He's so on the money with that comment.

As for the story of his band Blondie, that's fun to read about also. Chris was a pure punk guy who did every drug known to man and lived the life of a hard rocker before he became rich and famous. His travels around the city with very little money harken back to a time that might not still be possible but, in my heart of hearts, I think it still is. Chris didn't exist on much and, if you're willing to live that type of wild life he did, I bet you still can do that.

Here's the crazy part. I read this book not long after reading Barbra Streisand's memoir and their early lives in the city mirror each other in some ways. She too didn't have a full time apartment. She took lived on the kindness of strangers while polishing her talent. And of course, she made it just as Chris did.

Creation stories are the best and my guess is, if you're even slightly interested in late '70s New York--the last unvarnished era of the city before social media and snarky behavior took over--you'll love this memoir as much as I do.

Blondie's album Parallel Lines was one of the first (if not THE first) albums I received as a kid and I wore it out on my little turntable so I was excited to be approved for this ARC. Unlike a lot of popular bands/musicians at the time, Blondie has only grown in stature and legend since its chart topping run in the late 70s, early 80s. It is often credited with having the first number one song to feature rap.

Chris Stein was a founding member and his long-term girlfriend was none other than lead singer/icon Debbie Harry. (If you're a Debbie fan please check out her amazing memoir, Face.) It's absolutely astonishing to me that Chris, drug-addled as he was most of the time, has such a sharp memory for his entire life, starting with his childhood in Brooklyn (I had no idea I live about 5 minutes from where Chris Stein grew up on Coney Island Ave! Hi neighbor!) and ending with his post-Blondie/present life.

The most interesting part for me was Chris and the band's poverty-filled grind living in the enormous, rat-filled lofts of 70s downtown NYC - lofts that now sell in the millions. It's a real snapshot of old school NYC with its burgeoning punk scene, composed of CBGB bands like The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith and Blondie. Blondie was considered the "joke" band- it has a sexy blonde girl lead singer and its songs were more ballad-y and accessible. It would go on to be the most popular group. The times are so tough that Debbie is r*ped by an intruder to their loft while Chris is tied up in another room. They are repeatedly robbed. People overdose and die. Their cats kill huge rats. All stuff that would have sent most people running back to the burbs and who could blame them? (A moment of silence for poor kitty Sunday Man, who disappears from Debbie's sister's house. I was worried about the 3 cats the entire book).

Sadly, like most bands, bad business decisions and drugs conspired to rob these creatives of their money and Chris Stein ended up basically broke (though I'm assuming he's not now? Hard to tell.)

Occasionally the book veers into continual name dropping (X came over, then Y dropped by, then Z said hello, and I ran into A on the street... etc) and I did not recognize the majority of the names. So I found myself skipping over various portions.

If you love Blondie, music, or the 70s NYC punk/New Wave scene, this memoir is required reading. I just reviewed Under a Rock by Chris Stein. #NetGalley

Thank you Chris Stein, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hoped we would get Chris Stein's memoir after his longtime friend and bandmate (& ex romantic partner) Debbie Harry's book No Exit was released in 2019. It's called Under a Rock and it's great. Chris is a quintessential New Yorker. He grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in the Lower East Side of Manhattan since the 60s. I loved hearing about the NYC of the 60s and 70s.
I think Chris knew everyone in the CBGBs scene in the mid 70s. There's lots of stories and encounters with people who hung around there.
There is also a lot of interesting stuff to do with the band: the people, the songs, recording, and touring.
There was also stuff about his relationship with Debbie. He also detailed his marriage and kids in the 2000s.
Chris is also well known as a photographer, there's a lot about that in here too.

I have been a fan since 1978 when I first heard Heart of Glass. Blondie remains my favorite band 45 years later. This book was incredible.! Thank you Chris Stein for allowing us a peek into your life and Blondie. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved Blondie as a kid in the 80's and still do all these years later and was very excited to be able to read an advance copy of Chris Stein's memoir.

A life well lived is always fascinating to me, and Stein’s memory for small details is incredibly impressive. The writing is fantastic and lends itself to allowing the reader to really visualize the experiences. Not all parts are easy to read, but I appreciated his forthcomingness.

A veritable who’s who from music and art in New York, Under a Rock is wildly engaging. This is a must read memoir that will keep readers turning the pages (I’m also confident that it will be excellent in audiobook form).


*Some of my own favorite Blondie songs include ‘Dreaming’, ‘Out in the Streets’, ‘Will Anything Happen’, ‘Atomic’, ‘Union CIty Blue’, and ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ (also, the very first 45 my husband picked out and got as a kid was ‘Heart of Glass’).


Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

Chris Stein, a founding member of the late '70s new wave band Blondie, reveals a large part of the his life as well as providing insight into the early history of the band in his autobiography Under a Rock. The book opens the reader's mind not only to Stein's personal experiences but also into a period of time in American pop culture that influenced the direction of music, fashion, and the art world. In many ways, also, a time that influenced the medical treatment of people addicted to narcotics, a veritably new field for medical professionals then.

There are moments in Stein's book where the reader is so engaged in the narration that it is like actually being there. His descriptions about growing up in Flatbush, Brooklyn with his parents, who then relocated to Midwood in Brooklyn, is relatable to readers who underwent growing pains through their youth. His challenges, with both his parents and school mates, expose a human side to him. His perceptive nature and poignant observations about the people around him personalize his story. Really giving the reader insight into the person Chris Stein is and became.

His telling of his experiences while living as a hippie in the communal collectives and drug dens that riddled San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood during the period of 1966 to 1968 is both creepy and revealing. Stein, at times, will ramble about the people he encounters inside the art world during his time, living and roaming through the Manhattan neighborhoods of Cooper Union, Greenwich Village, Soho, and the Lower East Side during the late '60s and early '70s. Oftentimes losing or overwhelming the reader with the various threads of information he presents to the audience.

He shares with the reader several artists who shaped the direction of music, fashion, poetry/the written word, and art during this renaissance period of pop culture. Such notables in his narration include Vivienne Westwood, Andy Warhol, Halston, Stephen Sprouse, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Robert Fripp, and the Ramones, to name a few. Many times, Stein pressumes the reader knows who he is talking about, when he mentions people that were popular while his fame was rising. It is a different time, and some readers will need to look up these figures on their own because Stein does not explain what made these figures popular.

It is not until half way into the book that reader's discover how Stein met Debbie Harry, and they formed the world acclaimed, popular art rock/punk pop/new wave outfit Blondie. He shares his experiences with the band he founded with Harry, explaining them in a gritty form that shows the time was both stressful and fun. He imparts his wisdom about how he learned to identify con artists, and what is the criteria that helped him to make smart choices for himself.

Under a Rock is a whirlwind read that will open the reader's eyes to a world so unlike the one in present day. But also shows links that readers will discern connect modern day to the heyday of Blondie. Stein's autobiography allows him to step into the spotlight, permitting audiences to connect to him and not just be known as the guitarist in Blondie. He shows he is more than simply the guitarist, part-time bass player and co-writer of songs in the iconic Blondie. His story is very revealing and oftentimes very engaging on a human level.

Founded in 1974 by Chris Stein and Debbie Harry, Blondie was in many ways one of the bands that defined my growing up years as a disabled weirdo with a unique body, larger than life emotions, and a desire to express myself.

"Under a Rock" is Blondie co-founder Stein's memoir, a nothing-spared autobiography that takes us through Stein's early life, through his early creative years, the founding of the band, the band's ascension to the heights of punk/pop/new wave success, and the hazards of having experienced that success.

Stein, who in many ways, probably most ways, was the architect of Blondie's sound, is a natural storyteller with an almost jarring yet always sincere matter-of-factness and naturalness that leaves you occasionally thinking back about a story and being struck by its depth and poignancy and emotional resonance.

Until "Parallel Lines," the band's third album, Blondie was mostly an underground success. While Stein infuses "Under a Rock" with familiar names long before this point, it's about the time that Blondie catapulted to #1 and sold 20 million copies of "Parallel Lives" that we begin to realize the dizzying yet chaotic world in which Blondie lived. Song's like "Heart of Glass," "Rapture," and "One Way or Another" filled households and dance clubs like Studio 54. Throughout all of this time, Stein and Harry with both lovers and best friends whose lives intersected in just about every way. While they would eventually part ways romantically, they remain closest of friends and collaborators to this day even as Stein continues to record with the band yet stopped touring in recent years due to health issues.

For those who grew up during this period, the names will be enchanting from Bowie to Basquiat, Warhol to Ramone. Stein tosses these names out during his storytelling, not in a way that feels like name-dropping but in a way that feels like genuine storytelling with a tone of awe and appreciation and bewilderment. It's the storytelling that truly makes "Under a Rock" such a joy to read, though there are also moments in this book that truly took my breath away as the costs of fame are often high and Stein's own current life, including recent family experiences, can't help but tug at the heartstrings.

A uniquely written tour-de-force, "Under a Rock" is no doubt a memoir that will leave its mark in 2024 and will prove to be mighty popular for anyone whose life found its rhythms in the punk/new wave/pop stylings of Blondie and bands just like them. Stein gives us the inside glimpse, all its glories and all its downfalls.

Refreshing in every way, "Under a Rock" features a foreword by Debbie Harry and commands our attention from beginning to end.

Under a Rock by Chris Stein is a memoir of not just a person but but of Blondie, the band. I was fascinated by the behind the scenes peeks into the soundtrack of my youth and the author's tumultuous relationship with Debby Harry. A truly engaging read. Highly recommend!

Chris Stein, member of the band “Blondie,” has written a page-turning, no holds barred autobiography. He’s not only a talented musician, but a gifted storyteller transporting the reader back to the 1970’s and 80’s. While Debbie Harry defined the band’s look, it was Chris who defined the band’s path and sound, creating one of the most iconic groups in music history. The book drops lots of names, everyone from Andy Warhol to David Bowie, but more than that it brings to life the defining moments of the band’s formation, success, and the pitfalls of superstardom, as well as the time this all took place. Anyone interested in music or the 70/80’s era would enjoy this glimpse down memory lane, but it is an absolute must-read for any Blondie fan.