Debbie Harwood inherited a musical bent from her father, who loved music and played upright bass. She was taken to lessons for all manner of things from the age of four including ballet, violin, recorder, flute, piano and theory. One thing she didn’t get involved in at an early age was song and dance – as she found the idea of singing in front of people absolutely terrifying.
In fact Debbie managed to avoid singing solo in public until High School – after feigning a sore throat and dropping out of the intermediate school talent quest. She had a killer urge to act and auditioned for everything – including Operatic Society Shows and school plays. She still didn’t feel confident to sing but for some reason they made her do all the singing from day one!
When performing as Mary Magdalene in Superstar in 1980, Debbie was approached by a couple of guys from the orchestra pit who wanted her to sing in the band they were forming. She laughed at first but they kept coming back until she agreed and so started her two-year apprenticeship in ‘Raven’.
She moved to Auckland to launch herself fully into the music industry. Since then she has been a member of When the Cats Away with Annie Crummer, Kim Willoughby, Margaret Urlich and Dianne Swann. They have completed seven national tours, recorded the No 1 Gold single – Melting Pot and the Gold Album When The Cat’s Away Live, were the Top NZ Group at the RIANZ NZ Music Awards and the NEOA Awards in 1989, and were awarded Best Documentary at the NZ Film & TV Awards, also in 1989. The group re-formed in 2001/02 then recorded and released Asian Paradise, which reached No 6 on the NZ Charts. The song Asian Paradise was the second most played song in NZ in 2001.
Debbie also performed in a corporate band with Rikki Morris and/or Kim Willoughby – Two Cats and A Dog. She performed in the band The Wide Lapels with Willy de Wit and Kevin Smith – a highlight was performing with Robin Williams at the Bicentennial Man premier in Auckland.
Debbie has been a backing vocalist for Jimmy Barnes, Diesel and Dave Dobbyn. She worked with Eddie Rayner conceptualising the ENZSO (Split Enz/NZ Symphony Orchestra) project. She recorded and performed the official song at the Commonwealth Games 1990 plus performed with When the Cats Away at the closing party for the athletes. She performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Trinity Cathedral.
Awards include Most Promising Female Vocalist at the 1985 NZ Music Awards and Most Promising Duo/Group at the 1986 NZ Music Awards for Blue Water.
Debbie’s first solo album, released in October 2004, is __Soothe Me __– an album of languid, soul-soothing songs of love and life, set to a backdrop of subtle rhythms reminiscent of post WWII swing.
Debbie has also had extensive experience in radio and television presenting.
