Cherry Vanilla "Bad Girl" 1978***

This is probably a rare case of a singer whose autobiography is more interesting than her records. Cherry never had a great voice but she certainly had an interesting persona, and was one of those scenesters who are always at the right place at the right time. Having no theatrical training or background she found herself performing nude onstage in Andy Warhol's controversial play "pork" and becoming a permanent fixture of the New York art/music  scene, befriending and sleeping with rock stars including Bowie for whom she also worked as a publicist/PR person. It wasn't long before she started her own band as a vehicle for her sexy persona and bold lyrics, becoming a regular performer at legendary club Max's Kansas City. In '76 she relocated to London where her backing band at some point included Sting and other members of Police. In late '77 she released the single "The Punk" and soon afterwards her first LP aptly titled "Bad Girl". On retrospect her arty New York brand of "punk" was a step too far from the thuggish mentality of British punks who, despite her U.S. scene credentials, probably regarded the 34-year old as a late bandwagon jumper. Sultry burlesque opener "I Know How To Hook" would certainly have been enough to put off any spiky-haired hooligans. "So 1950's" may have appealed to some Lou Reed fans while "Not So Bad" is 50's pastiche. The rest of Side 1 paid tribute to her New York punk peers Blondie ("The Punk") and Ramones ("No More Canaries"). Side 2 continued mixing up styles from the theatrical rock of "Hard As A Rock" to the teenybopper glam of "Liverpool", New York Dolls-style glam punk of "Foxy Bitch", and country "Bad Girl". The closing "Little Red Rooster" isn't a cover of the Howling Wolf classic but a Mott-style glam rocker with clanging piano and a silly but catchy chorus. The band, especially Cherry's boyfriend Louis Lepore on lead guitar, are more proficient than your average punk rockers but, despite Cherry's charm, Bowie endorsement and ample promotion, the record flopped. After a second LP ("Venus D'Vinyl",1979) she finally gave up her attempt at rock stardom. She appeared on a Roger Waters album and wrote a well-received autobiography but mostly spent the next years as PR/publicist for Greek synth wizard Vangelis. Her albums were finally reissued in the 2000's combined on a single CD which was met with the same indifference as the original LP's, yet she is still fondly remembered by many music lovers, and has earned her place in musical history if only as a footnote. If you're a fan of the Andy Warhol art scene or early New York punk, you'd probably want to own this LP. Shouldn't be too difficult, enough people have unceremoniously unloaded their Cherry Vanilla LP's at thrift stores all around Europe not long after they bought them...

**** for The Punk, Foxy Bitch

*** for I Know How To Hook, So 1950's, Not So Bad, No More Canaries, Liverpool, Bad Girl, Little Red Rooster

** for Hard As A Rock