These Days With Cherie Currie!

[janet schneider]

Oh no baby i got these articles off line at people.com and i think us.com i forgot where i heard these articles were in this weeks issue hopefully it will be this week coming up sorry for the confusing my friend!

[NewYorkJettster]

It's the issue with John Edwards wife on the cover. I know, I just got the issue, it ROCKS!!!

Wait til you see the photo's

[gus danger]

Thanks ladies! Now I know what to look for.
I was hearing it was the issue on the stands now but that one did not have Elizabeth Edwards on the cover. Not even close!
I'll keep my eyes open for the correct People!
:lollipop:
Gus

[janet schneider]

It is very cool! it's got three pages on Cherie, lita and Joan well worth the money for sure some very cool pictures.

[gus danger]

Yeah, the Lizzy Edwards issue is now on stands. I didn't have the money on me today but I saw they had put the new issue out.
Someone gives us the old issues, for our lobby, at work but I might have to wait a month or two for that, so I guess I might be buying it.
I'd sure rather get it free though!

PS Hey Janet, I found that FOX TV spot with Cherie and edited your first post, on this topic, to include it.

Thanks Home Girl!

[janet schneider]

Thanks Gus!:2thumbsup:

[gus danger]

Cherie Currie remembers when the Runaways ruled
By Sarah Rodman

At 15, singer Cherie Currie carved out a place in rock history by joining the all-girl rock band the Runaways. Although the group was short-lived ? burning out in less than three years, with Currie quitting after two ? and ridiculed as a novelty act concocted by manager Kim Fowley, the Runaways enjoyed one bona fide classic rock moment with ?Cherry Bomb.?? It also served as a launching pad for three of its five members, rocker-turned-actress Currie and guitarists Joan Jett and Lita Ford.



At 50, Currie is now literally carving out a new niche as a chainsaw sculptor in Southern California. ?I carved a guitar for Dakota for her 16th birthday,?? she says with a laugh over the phone from her home in Los Angeles. That would be Dakota Fanning. The precocious actress plays Currie in the new film ?The Runaways?? alongside Kristen Stewart as band mate Jett. (Ford is essayed by Scout Taylor-Compton, late drummer Sandy West is portrayed by Stella Maeve, and a composite bassist ? based on several women who held the job in the band, including Jackie Fox who did not sign off on the film ? is played by Alia Shawkat.)

The film, based on Currie?s re-released memoir ?Neon Angel?? ? updated to be unflinchingly honest ? depicts the girls navigating the heady, often dark waters of the late ?70s rock landscape.

Q. The book deals with some tough issues: band conflicts, verbal abuse by Fowley, rape, drug abuse, abortion. I?m sure you look back proud you survived, but as you were writing was it traumatic?

A. When it really got to be too much I was able to put myself outside my body and look at it like a person watching a movie. But then of course, inevitably, I had to go back in those situations. But I gave myself breaks. (Laughs.) I had to relive every second of it. I guess it?s time now. I understand things so much better and I?m not fearful. When I let go of that fear I was able to recount things clearly and precisely and it was pretty amazing. And once the writing was over it was very healing.

Q. So you recounted things clearly and then handed it over to Hollywood. Were you consulted about the changes?

A. I wasn?t consulted at every turn. How do you possibly take 2 1/2years of someone?s life and do it in an hour and a half? You can?t. There were some liberties taken. What I?m hoping for is people who enjoy the movie and want to know more about the Runaways can always get the book.

Q. For instance there?s little reference in the book to lesbian encounters between you and Joan but it?s a major scene in the film.

A. I wrote a nice-size paragraph without getting into any detail. I say, and Joan loved this, that some of the things that happened [between us] quake me to this day. We had a really wonderful close relationship in a time and space in the ?70s when bisexuality was pretty much the norm. To me it was just healthy experimentation.



Q. It seems like you two are reconnecting through this process.

A. That?s very true. It?s funny, it?s almost like time has stood still. Now we?re adults and I look back and I see how much this band meant to Joan. It meant a lot to all of us, but [I realize] just what a rock she was for me and this band.

Q. What did you think when you heard Dakota Fanning was going to be playing you?

A. Oh my gosh, I had been a fan of hers for years. I?ll never forget sitting with my sister Marie and watching ?Man on Fire?? and we both turn to each other and say at the same time ?Who is this girl??? This girl takes the picture away from the most seasoned actors and I said there is something special about her.

Q. ?Neon Angel?? makes clear that you and Lita Ford never meshed and that she resented you being the focal point of the group. Have you heard from her regarding the book or the film?

A. I have not. I know Joan has spoken to her to get her involved in the film. Obviously, there?s a lot of unfinished business emotionally with Lita with this band that just seems to spill over everything. And again, it?s all about letting go and starting over and that just seems to be something she hasn?t been able to do yet.

Q. It seems like the moment is primed for a reunion tour but with Sandy?s death and the tension with Lita, that?s unlikely isn?t it?

A. I can?t ever say never again. I never thought my book would be turned into a film. I never thought I?d have an opportunity to write a book over again and do it from my true voice. I never thought those things were possible.

Q. Would you be willing to get back together?

A. Absolutely.

This interview was edited and condensed.
Cherie Currie remembers when the Runaways ruled - The Boston Globe

:2thumbsup:


BTW - I scanned and posted the People Magazine article in the California Paradise forum. It's great and the picture of the Chainsaw Chick carving a bear is awesome!

[gus danger]

Interview with Cherie Currie, Lead Singer of the Runaways


PRESS: How did you come up with the idea to write the book, Neon Angel?

CHERIE CURRIE: It wasn?t my idea. At the time I was a drug counselor for adolescents and I went to Price Stern Sloan as an illustrator because I?d just spent two hours a day in class with the kids and, after a year of that, I had accumulated all this [whimsical] artwork with kings and queens and princes and princesses and castles, and I thought I could illustrate these kids? books. When I went to Price Stern Sloan and they asked me how long I?d been drawing, I said, ?A year,? and they said, ?How?s that possible?? I told them the story of the Runaways and they said, ?We?ve been looking for our first young adult book and this is it.? So I walked in as an illustrator and walked out an author. That?s pretty wild

PRESS: What was your reaction to hearing that Dakota Fanning was going to be cast to play you in the film?

CURRIE: I almost hit the ground. My knees literally buckled. I screamed, I screamed and danced around like a crazy person, and broke into tears. I couldn?t believe it because she is really my favorite actress of all time. It was the happiest day of my life, besides the birth of my son.

PRESS: So are you pleased with how the film [turned out]?

CURRIE: Dakota, Kristen, Michael ? I mean, the acting is phenomenal. It?s beautifully shot. Of course, you know, I lived it. It was two years of hell and triumph and all that, and how do you possibly put that into an hour and a half? You can?t. It really could have been an epic. It could?ve been like the Twilight series, you know, The Runaways series. (Laughs.) It could have.

PRESS: Can you elaborate a little bit more on what it was really like? We saw the movie, but to live that ?

CURRIE: Oh girl, that?s why I wrote the book. And I gotta tell you, I don?t think I got out of my robe for a week, I mean, in the final editing process of that, it was ? so much. I mean, we were arrested in Europe for possession of hotel room keys, thrown in Scotland Yard. We actually went to Europe at a time when they were calling us ?punk.? We found out quick we?re not punk. You know, the kids over there in Europe, they had pins in their faces, I mean, it was brutal, and they?d spit on you to show you they loved you. And then when the knives started coming from the audience ? one time, it was Glasgow at the Apollo Theatre and they were rioting and I was scared to death, so was Joan [Jett]. We were terrified and [we] finished a song and all of a sudden I feel this thud right at my foot. And as the lights came up, I looked, and there was this Bowie knife, vibrating right at my foot and I just turned and ran. I was terrified. I thought, ?That was so close.? It could?ve killed me. So, I wasn?t a big fan of the European tour. And there was drug paraphernalia ? and drugs ? in my make-up case at the time, that belonged to my manager, and they confiscated all of our luggage and were bringing it back from Paris and I thought I was going to be in prison for the rest of my life. In the darkest, dingiest, you know, Scotland Yard prison. It was a nightmare ? but we had quite a lot of fun, though, too.

PRESS: What parts about [your experiences with the Runaways] did you love?

CURRIE: There was so much. I mean, can you imagine going out with some of your best friends and doing something that had never been done before? It was very different back then, because we were playing in over 21 clubs and bars, being 15, 16, 17 [years old]. That could never happen today.

PRESS: You?re saying that most of your success came from the Japan tour. How was that experience?

CURRIE: Oh, it was amazing.

PRESS: It seemed like, in the movie, they really showed that everybody kind of worshiped you.

CURRIE: Even worse. When we got off that plane, it was literally like Beatles mania. I mean, the kids were screaming and there were police and we realized, ?Wow. We did it.? All that hell we went through and here we are. Of course, we didn?t have any of that kind of success in the states, but it was nice to live that moment there.


PRESS: I was looking at the record charts from back then. You were the fourth best-selling non-Japanese group in Japan at the time. Only ABBA, Queen, and the Beatles were selling more records in Japan.

CURRIE: Well, God, I hope Kim Fowley enjoyed that money.

PRESS: Do you think if the Runaways had stayed together longer with you as the lead singer that you guys might have broken more [into the U.S. music scene]? I mean, a couple years later, Joan Jett hits it big, Lita Ford hits it big, the Go-Go?s hit it big ?.

CURRIE: You know, it?s funny because I had a talk with Kim Fowley a little over a year ago and he told me exactly that: that if I?d have stayed for one more record, we would?ve broke. But it didn?t happen that way ? you know, if we just would?ve had a break once in a while. We never even had a single break. We went from first record right to our first U.S. tour right to Europe right back into the studio for Queens of Noise, back out to the U.S., then to Japan, fly to Japan, came back, we were going right back into the studio then, to go to Europe again ? which I didn?t want to do. It was between going to Europe and Lita Ford kicking in the door and threatening me. I?d just had enough. I was exhausted, that?s for sure.

PRESS: Was it jealousy, on Lita?s part?

CURRIE: A lot of it. A lot of it. I mean, how do you expect teenage girls ? you?re just coming into your womanly body. Girls really can be evil. And me being the lead singer, I got a lot of the publicity that I didn?t want. I mean, to me, I wanted us to all be together, but I couldn?t stop it. I did stop being on the cover of Rolling Stone two weeks before I quit, because I begged them. In tears. They couldn?t believe it. I was on the phone, crying, screaming, ?Please do not put me on the cover of that magazine!? because [it would be] the end of the band. That?s the one thing I regretted because I left two weeks later and [the band] didn?t even care. And I thought, ?I gave up the cover of Rolling Stone for you!?

PRESS: One of the scenes that really struck me in the movie was when the rest of the band got angry at Cherie for taking those provocative magazine pictures, even though Kim had tricked her into it. How can female artists gain respect for their music, while still embracing and owning their sexuality, which is part of their image and power?

CURRIE: Well, I think the only way that you could do that is to be true to yourself. If that?s what you reflect naturally, if that?s who you are naturally, the truth cannot be denied. The people that go out there and pretend - it?s a joke. You can tell someone who isn?t true to themselves right off the bat.

PRESS: Living that lifestyle ? it?s a blessing for you to be sitting here with us now, because a lot of people who have done the sex, drugs, rock and roll, aren?t able to talk about it. What kind of influence do you want to portray to younger women now that are trying to get into the music business, on any level?

CURRIE: Well, again, it?s not just the music business, it?s any business. Women, it?s tough for us. It?s always been, I don?t know if I?ll see it in my lifetime where it won?t be. Equality, on every level ? it?s about time. But again, I truly believe that if you?re true to yourself ? we all have a destiny, each one of us, individually, whatever that is, we are the only one that knows that. We can?t let anybody else influence what it is we do because we [could never] live happily.





PRESS: There are going to be some young teenage girls that are going to go out and see the movie and they may look at it from a glorifying aspect, as opposed to the message that, ?Hey, this was a hard life.?

CURRIE: Well, I think that the movie shows that drugs and alcohol is not a good thing. I think it does show that and that?s what I love so much about the film. In the end, you see Dakota just strung out and then you see her look beautiful and she?s folding linens, which is exactly what I did. That was the one moment in my life that meant more to me than being in Foxes with Jodie Foster or being in the Runaways: getting a job for minimum wage at the mall, because I was healthy and I survived and I was normal for the first time in my life. It?s a moment I?ll never forget.

PRESS: With everything that was going on, it was a wonder that you all were able to perform with all the things that you had to deal with.

CURRIE: Yeah, and again, you know, the drugs, in a way [the movie] glorified that a little bit more. I know that I can only speak for myself. I was professional. Before I went onstage, I never touched any drugs. But after I got off that stage ?.

PRESS: To say Kim Fowley is quite a character is the understatement of the millennium. Do you think the film is too easy on him in his portrayal? Do you think it could have been a little more brutal in the way that he treated [the band], or do you think they could have included a little bit more in the film?

CURRIE: Well, you know, in my book, I have a chapter called ?Kim Fowley?s Sex Education Class.? They didn?t want to go there and Kim doesn?t want anyone to go there, but again, I really don?t know how the Runaways would have been with a different manager. He really tried to groom us, so to speak, for what we were going to deal with on the road and he was right. I mean, I never thought we were going to be facing the battles that we did, especially here in the U.S. It?s a male-dominated business, and the men did not want us up there. They didn?t. I mean, our own brothers, you know, the band Rush, they sabotaged our equipment, threw papers on the stage so we?d slip and fall ? tried to make fools out of us in front of thousands of people. You know, we really thought we would find some kind of protection, that we were out there making music like all the other guys, but they just didn?t want nothing to do with it. But then we had other bands, like Cheap Trick and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, that were so kind to us and protected us. But it was tough. It?s still tough today. I know it is.

[gus danger]

PRESS: Do you wish you were still making music today? I know you did Messin? with the Boys with your sister, Marie. Have you given up on music or are you planning on recording more or doing anything else in the music industry?

CURRIE: Well, Kenny Laguna had a plan for me. I?ve given up that dream. I love doing what I do, I love chainsaw carving, I love my life. My son is a very talented musician. He?s going to be playing with me.

PRESS: No Runaways reunion?

CURRIE: You know what, I didn?t expect a movie to be made 35 years later either, so I can never say never.

PRESS: How is your relationship with the rest of the girls?

CURRIE: Oh, with Joan, great.


PRESS: What about Lita? Did you make amends?

CURRIE: Well, you know, Lita and I mended our bridges about thirteen years ago, but then something kind of went south. She has a little bit of a problem with Joan?s manager and that?s unfortunate, but maybe, you know, we can get past that one day. We?ll just have to see.

PRESS: The movie would bring good publicity to a reunion.

CURRIE: Sure it would. Joan has reached out to Lita and I have, and you know, it?s really kind of up to her, at this point.

PRESS: This movie is going to introduce a whole new generation of young girls and people, in general, to the [Runaways?] music. How do you feel knowing that, that some people may have seen ads [for the film] and now they?re realizing this was a really big moment in rock and roll?

CURRIE: I think the music?s great. I love the soundtrack, I love hearing the music. It was really good. I didn?t listen to our music for twenty years after I left the band and when I saw the YouTube videos, I was pretty astonished at how good the band was together. It was just a magic with the five of us. When you?re living it and you?re young, I mean, I just thought I couldn?t sing worth a damn and I didn?t want to watch anything. I was embarrassed. And I look back on it now and I go, ?Wow. It was pretty rockin.??

PRESS: This, of course, isn?t the first film to be made about the Runaways. There was the Vicki Blue documentary, ********. I recall reading a feature about the film in Spin and it mentioned how you and Joan didn?t really like the way that the documentary ended up. Can you elaborate on why you didn?t care for it so much?

CURRIE: Vicki has always been a friend of mine and of course she had me sign a contract. I didn?t get a dime for that thing, I did it because she was my friend. And in turn, she agreed ? a verbal agreement ? that she would allow me to be part of the editing process, which of course, as soon as it was shot, she reneged on that and she decided to make it a film ? her film, what she wants. She wasn?t there, she didn?t live it, so basically all I wanted was my final day in the band to be correct. And instead of getting Barry Levine, who was the photographer who was there and would?ve said I was there two hours early and I helped her set up all the shots, she didn?t do that. She made me say I was there two hours early, Lita saying that I was two hours late and that, to me, is not right. She promised me that she would tell the truth, but she didn?t.

PRESS: In The Runaways, they depicted you as being a big David Bowie fan. Did you ever get a chance to meet David Bowie?

CURRIE: I did! I did at the Rathskeller in Boston and he was so cool. I mean, have you guys ever seen The Man Who Fell to Earth? You know, he?s got the big glasses. And then I thought to myself, ?God, you?re so small.? (Laughs.)

PRESS: Did he know anything about you at the time?

CURRIE: Yeah, he?d come to see the Runaways at this little club and he came with Iggy Pop and you know, when I?d see him on stage, he was like God, and he was just this little guy. I?m still a huge fan, I think he?s probably one of the finest performers ever, greatest voice. Love him.

PRESS: You mentioned your chainsaw carving. I?ve been to your website (www.chainsawchick.com) and I love the mermaids, especially.

CURRIE: Thank you.


PRESS: How did you get into chainsaw carving, and what inspires you?

CURRIE: Well, it was just a fluke. I was actually working in wood doing relief carving at the time, and I was going to the beach and happened to see a couple guys chainsaw carving at the side of the road. And I couldn?t get it out of my head. I didn?t stop [to talk to them]. And then every day, this voice in my head kept saying, ?You gotta go back, you gotta go back,? and so I did and I walked through their gallery, saw these beautiful pieces of art ? wasn?t the crude stuff that you would expect ? and that voice said, ?You can do this.? And I said, ?Absolutely,? and I started the next day. And my third piece, which was three sea turtles swimming around a piece of coral, was accepted into the Malibu Art Expo, which ? it?s very difficult for them to take anything. They didn?t even take any from the guy that supposedly taught me. He taught me how to not kill myself with a saw. You can?t really teach someone how to chainsaw carve. If you can?t see it in the wood, you wouldn?t know where to start.

PRESS: Do you want to do any more acting?

CURRIE: You know what, if someone had a part for me to do, I?d do it. Why not? I?ve always loved acting. My drug addiction got me out of that business. I lost everything.

PRESS: And your mom was an actor, right?

CURRIE: My mother [Marie Harmon] was a great actress. A comedic actress. Did films with Roy Rogers and the Andrews Sisters. Really, really talented, my mom. I hadn?t seen any of her movies until after I was kicked out of the business. And had I seen her movies, I would?ve taken myself far more seriously. I would?ve thought, ?Wow, I could really be like my mom.?


PRESS: Can you talk about the shows where you will be on the same bill with Joan Jett this summer?

CURRIE: Well, the first place is the Pacific Amphitheatre in Orange County in Los Angeles and that?s August 11, and I know there?s another date but I couldn?t tell you where. They?re just starting to do that now.

PRESS: You also mentioned how you were really pissed that Madonna ripped off the whole corset thing .?

CURRIE: That?s pretty tongue-in-cheek. (Laughs.)

PRESS: Have you ever seen any other female musicians take a cue from you and not acknowledge that you were the inspiration?

CURRIE: Not really. I think the Go-Go?s were really very generous, as well as the Donnas, to give us credit. I was talking about Madonna, that whole corset thing, I mean, she knew. She knew it! (Laughs.) She could?ve given me an honorable mention.


PRESS: I watched some of the Japanese footage. And then I saw the film and I thought, ?Wait a second, that?s the exact same outfit!? It looked like in the film was what you were wearing in the Japanese shows.

CURRIE: Oh sure. They recreated that corset to the tee.

PRESS: Like all the stage outfits.

CURRIE: They did. Remarkable. It really looked like the exact same thing.

PRESS: Were you very involved in the process of making sure those types of things [were accurate], as far as make-up and costuming?

CURRIE: I had no complaints. Joan, being the musician that she is, she had a problem with a couple of the guitars, made them change it. It was great that she was there. She saved a few scenes, I think.

PRESS: In the movie, they [made it seem like Kim Fowley and Joan Jett] came to you, but originally, didn?t they approach your sister first?

CURRIE: They did, yeah. Kim Fowley went to Marie first and she told him, ?Get lost, creep.? She thought he was the freakiest thing and she was right, he was, but ?

PRESS: So she referred him to you?

CURRIE: No. She couldn?t believe I even talked to the guy, but you know, I had had this epiphany at this David Bowie concert ? the Diamond Dogs show that he did at the Universal Amphitheatre ? and I had that moment of clarity where it was like, ?Oh my God, that?s what I?m here to do.? And I believed it as sure as God made green apples that that was what I was here to do on this planet. So that happening and then meeting Kim and Joan right afterwards seemed like a sign to me. And sure enough, it must have been ... It was tough. But I?m tough. And all the girls, we did something pretty cool together. I really don?t think had it been other girls ? I don?t know. It was all meant to be.

PRESS: Thank you.

CURRIE: Thank you so much. That was fun!

Interview with Cherie Currie, Lead Singer of the Runaways - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever

[janet schneider]

Cherie Currie Proud to Share Runaways' Story With Her SonPosted on May 19th 2010 4:00PM by Steve Baltin Comments (0) Print EmailMore The last time former Runaways bandmates Cherie Currie and Joan Jett shared a stage together for more than a song was about 12, 15 years ago, as Currie recalls. "He was just a little guy, my son," she tells Spinner of her son, Jake Hays, who's now playing in her band. Admittedly, she might be a little biased, but Currie says he's one hell of a musician. "Great kid. He was kicking Lita [Ford's] butt at 15 years old," she says. "No," Hays quickly points out.

Jake reveals that he's equally as proud of his mom and her return to the spotlight, thanks to the recently released 'Runaways' biopic. "I read the book, the original 'Neon Angel,' so I was aware of what happened. It was cool to see it Hollywood-ized, see it on the screen," he says.

Naturally, seeing some of his mom's life onscreen was a strange experience. "The weirdest part was when Michael Shannon walked up to Dakota Fanning and said, 'I like your style. What's your name?' and she says, 'Cherie Currie,'" he says. "I was like, 'Wait a second -- that's my mom's name. Why'd they do that?' That was the weird part."

For Currie, "all of it" was bizarre and "incredible and wonderful and scary all at the same time," she says, particularly because she had long ago stopped dreaming the Runaways would get their duly deserved credit. "I kind of gave up hope about 10 years ago that the Runaways would ever get the recognition they really deserved," she says. "That's why this is even more exciting. When you give up the dream and here it comes full force with Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon, it makes me weak."

And the best part? "My son gets to experience it too," she says. "I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. I really do."