Cherie Bomb

The Runaways were as much a concept as a band--five tough chicks who rocked hard.  I'm surprised no one had thought of it before.  I was vaguely aware of their music, but seeing the movie about them last year (which didn't do that well) made me check out lead singer Cherie Currie's autobiography, Neon Angel.  It was published in 1989, then updated and reissued to coincide with the movie's release.  It's a compelling story of rock and roll, drugs, sex, rape, wild parties, abortions, car accidents, jail cells and many other things, most of which Currie experienced before she was old enough to vote.

Back in the mid-70s, Currie, from a middle-class broken family in the San Fernando Valley, was just another teenage girl who worshiped Bowie.  The eccentric Kim Fowley, who'd produced a bunch of records in the 60s, often novelty numbers (as well as one of my favorite oldies, the Murmaid's "Popsicles And Icicles") was looking to put together a rocking jailbait band. He'd collected some members, including Joan Jett, but still needed another ingredient, and was hanging out at teenage clubs to discover it. He saw Cherie, a cute 15-year-old blonde, and asked her to audition. (He'd first asked Cherie's twin sister Marie, who turned him down.) At her audition, Fowley and Jett took half an hour to write "Cherry Bomb" as try-out material, and it would become the band's signature tune.



Cherie became the lead singer (and only band member who didn't play an instrument), and before you know it, the Runaways had a record contract.  They came from a tradition of blues, heavy metal and glam, and played hard rock, verging on heavy metal and punk (which was just getting noticed). They toured across America, under crummy conditions, and played in Europe and Japan as well.  They were a cult sucess, selling out venues, but never doing much on the charts, except in Japan, where they were huge.  Fowley was a harsh taskmaster, and, if there was any money being made, the band certainly never saw it.

Some of the members, especially Lita Ford, didn't like how Cherie got so much media attention.  After a lot of fighting, Cherie, only seventeen, left the group. She recorded an album which didn't do that well, though others in the band, such as Joan and Lita, would go on to significant solo careers.  Currie got into acting, scoring a role in the teenage-culture time capsule Foxes (1980). (To do the movie she turned down Rock n' Roll High School. She doesn't say which part, but I'm guessing the lead.  That would have been interesting, though I can't imagine her doing better than P.J. Soles.)



There'd been drugs around all along, but in the 80s she became a serious addict, and almost died before she got clean.  She's still around, living in the Valley. In her early 50s, she has a grown son and creates chainsaw art.  Now that I know a little about her, I'll have to keep a lookout.