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Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla
In this sexually open and disarming account of her life and the era, Cherry Vanilla tells all about her personal successes and failures and in the process explores every aspect of the music industry during its most electrifying era-complete with detours through the sexual revolution, the women’s liberation movement, and the theater of the ridiculous. From her rise from humble Irish Catholic beginnings to a Madison Avenue wunderkind in the swinging 1960s, an actress in Andy Warhol’s Pork, David Bowie’s publicist, and punk band diva to her notoriety as a groupie-known to have bedded musicians ranging from David Bowie and Leon Russell to Kris Kristofferson-her behind-the-scenes tale chronicles the highs and lows of her fast-lane existence. Far from a saccharine glamorization of a high-profile life, the memoir also candidly acknowledges the parallel downsides of the high-rolling days-unwanted pregnancies, poverty, sex addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder-and how she handled them.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
20 people are currently reading
517 people want to read
About the author
Cherry Vanilla
3 books13 followersCherry Vanilla (born Kathleen Dorritie) is an American singer-song writer, publicist, and actress. After working as an actress in Andy Warhol's Pork, she worked as a publicist for David Bowie, before finding fame as a rock singer. She subsequently became a publicist for Vangelis.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 3, 2015
Despite being a witness to some extraordinary times, and having access to many noteworthy people, this is a surprisingly tedious read. Cherry Vanilla places herself at the centre of this book and her life - for all the copious amounts of drugs she took, and countless sexual partners - is, well, a bit dull.
I have a keen interest in both David Bowie and the UK punk scene, both covered in the book, and yet even these sections didn’t engage me much.
I found the early chapters about Cherry Vanilla’s childhood in New York the most interesting. Overall though I was very disappointed by this book.
2/5
I have a keen interest in both David Bowie and the UK punk scene, both covered in the book, and yet even these sections didn’t engage me much.
I found the early chapters about Cherry Vanilla’s childhood in New York the most interesting. Overall though I was very disappointed by this book.
2/5
December 2, 2016
Born Kathleen Dorritie, the woman who was to become Cherry Vanilla was a typical teeny-bopper of the 1950's. Only instead of growing up to a life of suburban motherhood she kept going deeper down the rabbit hole of pop music fanaticism until she was a proud, full on rock-n-roll groupie. Sex and drugs and rock-n-roll dominated her life even as she became a strong female advertising producer/director. If you combined the cable shows "Mad Men" and "Vinyl" with the movie "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" you'd be getting close to Cherry's life in the 1960's and 7o's.
Of course, such a life takes a toll and she has to deal with a growing case of OCD and is always struggling to make ends meet. The jobs she really loves, DJing and writing about music, pay little or nothing and the sex with random strangers gets a bit dicey from time to time. When she decides that it is time for her to be the rock star that everyone wants to seduce, her Cherry Vanilla persona really starts to develop. Thanks to friends like Wayne/Jayne County, she steals a bit of drag queen attitude to eventually go from cabaret to punk rock.
This was a fascinating story for me as I didn't know much about her other than her relationship with the Warhol crowd. I've read plenty of stories of rock decadence before but few from a woman's perspective. This book is entertaining and enlightening but a little uncomfortable to read on a commuter train where someone could easily look over your shoulder to see a picture of Cherry getting a hit from a penis shaped pot pipe (which I think really happened to me).
Of course, such a life takes a toll and she has to deal with a growing case of OCD and is always struggling to make ends meet. The jobs she really loves, DJing and writing about music, pay little or nothing and the sex with random strangers gets a bit dicey from time to time. When she decides that it is time for her to be the rock star that everyone wants to seduce, her Cherry Vanilla persona really starts to develop. Thanks to friends like Wayne/Jayne County, she steals a bit of drag queen attitude to eventually go from cabaret to punk rock.
This was a fascinating story for me as I didn't know much about her other than her relationship with the Warhol crowd. I've read plenty of stories of rock decadence before but few from a woman's perspective. This book is entertaining and enlightening but a little uncomfortable to read on a commuter train where someone could easily look over your shoulder to see a picture of Cherry getting a hit from a penis shaped pot pipe (which I think really happened to me).
May 20, 2019
This would be an enjoyable read for anyone who likes Warhol and rock music from the 1960s/70s. It's definitely a wild ride following Ms Vanilla's career (aka Kathleen Dorritie) from Madison Avenue account rep in the early 1960s, to groupie, underground actress, and underground "punk" star in the '70's.
It's too bad nobody told her that she should stick with what she was good at; which was getting publicity, both for herself and others. Her own personal high water mark was probably when she became David Bowie's U.S. PR person (this was before he was well known here). Her many underground contacts and the zany stuff she came up with really did help get him noticed. If she had focused her energy on that, her life might not have skidded out of control so completely by the time she reached 40. However, being bitten by the music bug, she had to try to become a star in her own right. The problem was, though she had the personality, she didn't really have the musical chops.
The story ends in about 1977 after a tour of England (with Sting and Stewart Copeland before they hit mega-stardom). The slog was tougher than she thought it would be, prompting her to conclude that perhaps she was done with scrounging and notoriety (with little financial reward). After a nervous breakdown, followed by a series of odd jobs (including opening New York City's first phone sex line), she is now a "Rock and Roll Fairy Godmother" to a new generation of artists. However, I think she could have been a whole lot more with a modicum of self restraint.
It's too bad nobody told her that she should stick with what she was good at; which was getting publicity, both for herself and others. Her own personal high water mark was probably when she became David Bowie's U.S. PR person (this was before he was well known here). Her many underground contacts and the zany stuff she came up with really did help get him noticed. If she had focused her energy on that, her life might not have skidded out of control so completely by the time she reached 40. However, being bitten by the music bug, she had to try to become a star in her own right. The problem was, though she had the personality, she didn't really have the musical chops.
The story ends in about 1977 after a tour of England (with Sting and Stewart Copeland before they hit mega-stardom). The slog was tougher than she thought it would be, prompting her to conclude that perhaps she was done with scrounging and notoriety (with little financial reward). After a nervous breakdown, followed by a series of odd jobs (including opening New York City's first phone sex line), she is now a "Rock and Roll Fairy Godmother" to a new generation of artists. However, I think she could have been a whole lot more with a modicum of self restraint.
May 31, 2018
I think this book would have been half as long had she left out all the names she dropped, many are people she met in passing. And the bad poems.
I dunno, all the wasted opportunities. She did have drive though, I must say that. Someone said she probably would have gone further had she not done so many drugs. I would agree with that statement.
I dunno, all the wasted opportunities. She did have drive though, I must say that. Someone said she probably would have gone further had she not done so many drugs. I would agree with that statement.
January 12, 2022
It's always fun to read about different lives, especially when those lives are so very different from your own. Cherry is an interesting character and, while it's not the kind of life I would want to lead, I did enjoy reading of her exploits. This is a brilliant rock & roll memoir with all that you would expect (sex, drugs, etc).
November 30, 2010
I love a good groupie book but they are few and far between. I'm always holding them up to the gold standard, I'm with the Band by Pamela Des Barres, and most in the genre fall short. Before reading this, I knew of Cherry Vanilla as an executive working for David Bowie's management company and also as a 70s personality, but she really was a groupie in every icky sense of the word (servicing tour bus drivers, etc.). She had enormous amounts of fun but had a lot of problems, sexual, substance, and OCD related. The best part of the book for me was the story of her childhood, because she grew up on Skillman Avenue in Woodside Queens, mere blocks from where I used to live.
December 20, 2022
https://madelinex.com/2010/02/26/five...
FIVE STARS – WITH A CHERRY ON TOP! BOOK REVIEW
Lick Me – How I Became Cherry Vanilla
by Madeline Bocaro
Cherry Vanilla’s new book is so delicious, that I devoured it in one day. This is a long awaited tome from someone who was in the midst of all the mayhem – a fearless, sweet and vivacious groupie who became a ‘superstar’ – the nicest ‘bad girl’ around. It is sprinkled with name-droppings which include Jimmy Durante, Dean Martin, Cousin Brucie, Eddie Munster, Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, Warren Beatty, Don Johnson, Patti Smith, Mick Jagger David Bowie and Andy Warhol, to name a few. The back-cover praises are sung by filmmaker Tim Burton, Kate Pierson (B-52’s), groupie extraordinaire Pamela Des Barres and Countess Luann De Lesseps (Real Housewives of New York City)…from the sublime to the ridiculous! The intro is by Rufus Wainwright. Cherry’s book is even more exciting than her Scoops For You column in Creem magazine!
Cherry’s mission statement: ‘…the passion of the groupie is probably the purest, holiest thing in all of rock and roll.’
Born Kathy Dorritie in New York City (1943), she grew up in Woodside, Queens – just one train stop from Manhattan. The mystique, lights, grit and glamour of the city drew her in. Her mom worked in a hotel above the famous Copacabana nightclub, where young Kathy witnessed 1940s and 50s old school glamour first hand – velvet mink, dazzling diamonds, expensive perfume, famous singers and movie stars. These textures and people shaped her life, and all the kinky details are gleefully revealed in her book.
Cherry speaks innocently of learning to enjoy and appreciate the fervent Catholicism that was forced upon her. ‘It was the first live dramatic theatre I knew…but my true religion was rock n’ roll.’ Amidst some touching and naive childhood stories are instances of brutality on behalf of her un-glamourous dad who worked at the Dept. of Sanitation. His savage abortion of her pet Dalmatian’s puppies resulted in little Kathy’s OCD, and later manifested as nymphomania, an illness that she enjoyed with flair and gusto!
With show biz in her heart, Kathy started DJ-ing in the 1960s at a New York nightclub, spinning soul, R&B, Motown, Janis and Jimi. Honing her social networking skills by working at Madison Avenue ad agencies gained her newer and gayer friends. Weekends on Fire Island brought new drugs and more VIPs. Cavorting backstage at the Fillmore East allowed many more rock star encounters and conquests. Kathy’s passion for words, poetry and music fueled her zeal for Public Relations. She became lover and friend to the famous and infamous at Max’s Kansas City, and everywhere she went. She joined the Dadaist performance troupe Theater of the Ridiculous (described in her diary as ‘tragedy disguised as comedy.’)
One of her clever ruses was ordering printed cards at Tiffany & Co. which read, “You are beautiful, so am I” with her name and phone number. This ensured liaisons with many beautiful strangers. But Cherry admits, ‘good old-fashioned lovemaking, both in body and spirit…despite all of my experimentations and petty perversions, has really always been my favorite kind.’ After narrowly escaping yet another dangerous predicament (her love of NYC is apparent here) she says, ‘New York City cops are so great. Without treating me like the dumb slut I obviously was, they escorted me back up to my apartment…’
In the early 70s, Cherry Vanilla lived and worked in the best of both worlds. She was among Andy Warhol’s factory superstars, and also was present at the beginning (and instrumental in the climax) of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust fame. When worlds collide, fabulous things happen! The Warhol entourage was in London performing Andy’s play Pork. The Bowies attended, and essentially hired the entire cast on the spot, as their publicity crew. Cherry was appointed as Bowie’s spokesperson at his PR firm Mainman. She spun his decadent debacles into humourous headlines, and became lovers with David and his wife Angie.
Upon realizing that she was an artiste herself, a succession of performances ensued (starting with a poetry reading and book, Pop Tart Compositions). Mick Jagger & David Bowie attended one of her comedic cabaret shows at NYC’s Reno Sweeny’s. Her first UK touring band included Sting of the Police. She also released a few albums and was a part of London’s early Punk scene.
My fondest memory of Cherry was walking past her buttocks and hand-prints in cement, hung outside the entrance of Trude Heller’s nightclub Greenwich Village for many years.
Congratulations Cherry on this super sweet book. You are a Rock Star!
FIVE STARS – WITH A CHERRY ON TOP! BOOK REVIEW
Lick Me – How I Became Cherry Vanilla
by Madeline Bocaro
Cherry Vanilla’s new book is so delicious, that I devoured it in one day. This is a long awaited tome from someone who was in the midst of all the mayhem – a fearless, sweet and vivacious groupie who became a ‘superstar’ – the nicest ‘bad girl’ around. It is sprinkled with name-droppings which include Jimmy Durante, Dean Martin, Cousin Brucie, Eddie Munster, Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, Warren Beatty, Don Johnson, Patti Smith, Mick Jagger David Bowie and Andy Warhol, to name a few. The back-cover praises are sung by filmmaker Tim Burton, Kate Pierson (B-52’s), groupie extraordinaire Pamela Des Barres and Countess Luann De Lesseps (Real Housewives of New York City)…from the sublime to the ridiculous! The intro is by Rufus Wainwright. Cherry’s book is even more exciting than her Scoops For You column in Creem magazine!
Cherry’s mission statement: ‘…the passion of the groupie is probably the purest, holiest thing in all of rock and roll.’
Born Kathy Dorritie in New York City (1943), she grew up in Woodside, Queens – just one train stop from Manhattan. The mystique, lights, grit and glamour of the city drew her in. Her mom worked in a hotel above the famous Copacabana nightclub, where young Kathy witnessed 1940s and 50s old school glamour first hand – velvet mink, dazzling diamonds, expensive perfume, famous singers and movie stars. These textures and people shaped her life, and all the kinky details are gleefully revealed in her book.
Cherry speaks innocently of learning to enjoy and appreciate the fervent Catholicism that was forced upon her. ‘It was the first live dramatic theatre I knew…but my true religion was rock n’ roll.’ Amidst some touching and naive childhood stories are instances of brutality on behalf of her un-glamourous dad who worked at the Dept. of Sanitation. His savage abortion of her pet Dalmatian’s puppies resulted in little Kathy’s OCD, and later manifested as nymphomania, an illness that she enjoyed with flair and gusto!
With show biz in her heart, Kathy started DJ-ing in the 1960s at a New York nightclub, spinning soul, R&B, Motown, Janis and Jimi. Honing her social networking skills by working at Madison Avenue ad agencies gained her newer and gayer friends. Weekends on Fire Island brought new drugs and more VIPs. Cavorting backstage at the Fillmore East allowed many more rock star encounters and conquests. Kathy’s passion for words, poetry and music fueled her zeal for Public Relations. She became lover and friend to the famous and infamous at Max’s Kansas City, and everywhere she went. She joined the Dadaist performance troupe Theater of the Ridiculous (described in her diary as ‘tragedy disguised as comedy.’)
One of her clever ruses was ordering printed cards at Tiffany & Co. which read, “You are beautiful, so am I” with her name and phone number. This ensured liaisons with many beautiful strangers. But Cherry admits, ‘good old-fashioned lovemaking, both in body and spirit…despite all of my experimentations and petty perversions, has really always been my favorite kind.’ After narrowly escaping yet another dangerous predicament (her love of NYC is apparent here) she says, ‘New York City cops are so great. Without treating me like the dumb slut I obviously was, they escorted me back up to my apartment…’
In the early 70s, Cherry Vanilla lived and worked in the best of both worlds. She was among Andy Warhol’s factory superstars, and also was present at the beginning (and instrumental in the climax) of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust fame. When worlds collide, fabulous things happen! The Warhol entourage was in London performing Andy’s play Pork. The Bowies attended, and essentially hired the entire cast on the spot, as their publicity crew. Cherry was appointed as Bowie’s spokesperson at his PR firm Mainman. She spun his decadent debacles into humourous headlines, and became lovers with David and his wife Angie.
Upon realizing that she was an artiste herself, a succession of performances ensued (starting with a poetry reading and book, Pop Tart Compositions). Mick Jagger & David Bowie attended one of her comedic cabaret shows at NYC’s Reno Sweeny’s. Her first UK touring band included Sting of the Police. She also released a few albums and was a part of London’s early Punk scene.
My fondest memory of Cherry was walking past her buttocks and hand-prints in cement, hung outside the entrance of Trude Heller’s nightclub Greenwich Village for many years.
Congratulations Cherry on this super sweet book. You are a Rock Star!
October 20, 2017
Lots of name-dropping in this book. If she hadn't used drugs, she could've gone farther. The innovation and artistry was there, she just didn't seem to get the contract to expand into a recording powerhouse. The first time I saw this book was at the West Hollywood Library. It didn't intrigue me initially. But lately, sexually liberated women have been my subjects to read. Why am I saying lately? PERENNIALLY!! She became celibate at forty years old. Big surprise! I figured she'd still be enjoying sex. She said she just lost the desire.
July 20, 2020
I enjoyed Cherry's story a great deal. It was vibrant and honest and having bought it on the strength of her Bowie and Warhol connection, I think I enjoyed her life in advertising the most. As much as i loved Mad Men the show now feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to capture the psychedic scene. I was also intrigued by brief mention alluding to her life since the 70s, working with Vangelis, tackling her mental health and giving up sex. I would like to have read more about this. Thanks Cherry. Live well and live long
January 29, 2020
An honest portrait
I really liked the writing of the book and the detail that went to it. The poetry, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea, but if John Lennon liked it, there must be something to it.
I really liked the writing of the book and the detail that went to it. The poetry, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea, but if John Lennon liked it, there must be something to it.
August 30, 2022
It’s often said rock music is sex, drugs and rock and roll. But, holy cow Cherry takes it to an extreme. She’s lived through it all and has lived to talk about it. Warning this book does get a bit graphic. But is really drives home what was happening at the time.
February 6, 2020
Enjoyable easy read. I did it mostly via Kindle audio, which was interesting, because Cherry Vanilla herself does the narration. I think that made the book even more enjoyable.
April 25, 2020
This chick was totally taken advantage of. Thought she was one of the guys, that musicians thought she was cool. She was nothing but a groupie. It was sad to hear how she degraded herself.
April 2, 2023
Brutally honest. What an incredible life. I hope she writes a part 2 as it ended abruptly when there was still so much more story to tell.
April 16, 2016
(1 1/2) I heard about this author when David Bowie passed away. She was heavily involved in his management company when he first hit the States. The first half of this book mostly chronicles the author's very energetic sex life. She rarely met a guy she didn't want to sleep with. Her smarts, instincts and acquaintances during this time and seemingly, forever, helped her survive during some very lean times. Her ability to re-invent herself takes us all over the world in many roles. This book is a reasonable effort but it tends to go round and round into too many non important, non interesting segments. Unless you are heavily into the hanger on, groupie or musical world of the 60's-80's it is probably not worth your while.
January 10, 2011
The author does a good job of chronicling the eras from the 1950's to the 1970's. If you are uncomfortable with detailed sex and drugs, this book is not for you. What is a bit confusing is the illusion that the author is going to tell you how her music career took off as a result of the relationships she formed, when in reality her own music career falls short. At times it does seem forced when she name drops.
Overall the book is interesting and colorfully written. She etched out a fabulous DJ and PR career. She was a woman before her time. Definitely worth the read.
Best Quote: Never assume anything and always decide your priorities.
Overall the book is interesting and colorfully written. She etched out a fabulous DJ and PR career. She was a woman before her time. Definitely worth the read.
Best Quote: Never assume anything and always decide your priorities.
February 10, 2011
This book sounded like a bunch of name dropping which was boring, maybe cause I didn't know many of the names. Then she glossed over the interesting part, which was her solo career, it's failure, and her descent into madness and homelessness. Seriously, she summed it up in like two sentences. Even all the sex and drugs were boring! But, I did youtube her and came up with some interesting stuff so it wasn't a total loss.
December 9, 2012
A fascinating look into the life of a woman who breaks into the advertising world of Madison Avenue and poises herself into the world of sexy drugs and rock and roll, cherry vanillas book floats between being a shocking tell all and an important piece of history that documents the darker side of rock.
January 17, 2014
There are no words to express how out of touch with common decency this person was, and apparently still is. She actually gives women and especially groupies, a bad name! There is a fine line between being a groupie who enjoys the music and a sexual deviant without an inch of self respect. Despicable.....
March 14, 2011
Perfect trashy reading.
August 16, 2013
Entertaining, but loses steam towards the end.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews