Holly Stephey Talks to Cherry Vanilla (LICK ME!)

Born in Queens, New York, Cherry Vanilla began her career in the 1960's as a producer of radio and TV commercials, while also DJ-ing at clubs in Manhattan and on the French Riviera. By the 70’s, after gaining notoriety as a rock & roll groupie, she’d become an underground actress and played the title role in Andy Warhol's Pork at The Roundhouse Theatre in London. This was followed by a two year stint as David Bowie's PR lady and roles in three more plays in New York and Berlin. In '74 she self-published her book, Pop Tart Compositions and launched her career as a performing poet. By '77 she was writing songs and touring Europe with her own rock band, that included Stuart Copeland and Sting of the Police. She released two albums on RCA UK, Bad Girl and Venus d'Vinyl. In the 1980’s and 90's, she wrote for magazines worldwide, while also running one of the first phone-sex services in America and doing film projects with jazz great, Chet Baker and fashion photographer, Bruce Weber. In 1995, she moved to California, where she worked for director, Tim Burton, before establishing Europa Entertainment, Inc., the US office for composer, Vangelis, which she still oversees from her home in Hollywood. Lick Me, her saucy memoir, is the story of her life in show business, from the birth of rock & roll in the USA to the height of the punk rock scene in the UK.