Cherry Vanilla (born Kathleen Dorritie; October 16, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, publicist, and actress. After working as an actress in Andy Warhol's ''

Pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

'', she worked as a publicist for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, before becoming a rock singer. She subsequently became a publicist for Vangelis.

Career

Kathleen Dorritie was born in Woodside, New York. Adopting the stage name Cherry Vanilla, she starred in the London productions of Andy Warhol's play, ''Pork'', directed by Tony Ingrassia, and other Theatre of the Ridiculous plays including a role as a necrophiliac nurse. She worked for MainMan LTD as

's publicist, in the early 1970s. She became known for her outrageous marketing strategies, which included an open offer to perform oral sex on any DJ who would play Bowie's records and a series of radio commercials that began "Hi, my name is Cherry Vanilla and I've got scoops for you…". After parting ways with Bowie in 1974, Vanilla formed her first band with Kasim Sulton, which played under her name. In 1976, she formed Cherry Vanilla & her Staten Island Band, with Buzzy John Vierno (bass guitar), Frankie LaRocka (drums), Thomas Morrongiello (guitar), and Gary Cohen (piano). The group's first released material was the track "Shake Your Ashes", on the ''Max's Kansas City'' album of 1976. 1976 also saw the release of Vanilla's art book, ''Pop Tart''. Her high profile in New York was the impetus for Miles Copeland III to invite her to England. She relocated to London in 1976, becoming part of the burgeoning punk scene and was signed by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. The London-based Cherry Vanilla Band initially consisted of Vanilla's boyfriend/guitarist Louis Lepore and pianist Zecca Esquibel, along with bassist Gordon "Sting" Sumner, guitarist Henry Padovani and drummer Stewart Copeland, who loaned their services and equipment in exchange for £15 a night and the support spot on her tour, including a date on March 5, 1977 at London's legendary Roxy Club. (The support spot was for Copeland's band The Police, and would be the setting for the band's first live performances.) A more permanent line-up comprised Louis Lepore (guitar), Zecca Esquibel (keyboards), Howie Finkel (bass guitar), and Michael (Manny) Mancuso (drums). Their first release was the single "The Punk" in September 1977, followed in February 1978 by the debut album ''Bad Girl''. Finkel and Esquibel left the band and with a string of replacements the band continued, releasing another single and a second album, ''Venus D'Vinyl'', in 1979. She split up with Lepore and the group disbanded, with Vanilla returning to the U.S. In 1980 she performed the narrative on Vangelis' "Not A Bit – All Of It" (from his '' See You Later'' album). She later ran his American office. In 1984, she played the hitchhiker and the waitress on

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

' album, '' The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'' In 1987, she was the composer in the boxing club documentary film ''Broken Noses''. She returned to recording in the early 1990s, releasing ''Blue Roses'', with Man Parrish and Barb Morrison, plus two singles. Blue Roses combines spoken word poetry with electronic music. Her autobiography, ''Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla'', was published in October 2010 by the Chicago Review Press. The foreword was written by Rufus Wainwright. A launch party for "Lick Me" was held November 4, 2010 at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles where Rufus Wainwright performed and Angela Bowie was in attendance.

Trivia

A song entitled "Cherry Vanilla" celebrating her career and recorded by The (Fabulous) Cult of John Harley was produced by Martin Rushent. The song was used during the launch of the book "Lick Me".

Filmography

* '' Let's Get Lost'' (1988), herself

Discography

Albums

*'' Bad Girl'' (1978), RCA *'' Venus d'Vinyl'' (1979), RCA *''Blue Roses'' (with Man Parrish) (1993), E.S.P.

Singles

*"The Punk" (1977), RCA *"Liverpool" (1978), RCA Victor – Netherlands only *"Moonlight" (1979), RCA *"Fone Sex" (1991), Radikal – with Man Parrish *"Techno Sex" (1992), Radikal – with Man Parrish

Books

*"Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla" (2010) Chicago Review Press

References

External links

Official site
* *

at punk77.co.uk

2006 interview

2007 interview
2016 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry Vanilla People from Woodside, Queens Actresses from Staten Island Actresses from Queens, New York Singers from New York City American rock singers American women punk rock singers Living people 1943 births People associated with The Factory RCA Records artists