Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway

I was very much looking forward to starting this book and although I was already familiar with some of the material there was also so much more to discover for the first time. I was not disappointed at all with the book and found it to be an engrossing read throughout, Cherie Currie's story is very unique.The young Cherie could be described as a teenage rebel with a heart of gold who was obsessed with David Bowie before her life was changed forever when she was asked to audition for the Runaways, the first all girl teenage rock band. After joining the group, managed by the notorious Kim Fowley, the rock and fame game was quickly exposed as a never ending slog of recording and touring with the girls worked non stop by the unforgiving Fowley who basically took advantage of them at every turn while bleeding them dry. To help them keep up with the demands of the schedule the group were plied with drugs pretty much every day on tour and inevitably this had repurcussions for most of them later in life as the book goes on to detail.After only around 3 years or so with the group and only moderate success Cherie left and immediately tried a solo career again under the guidance of Fowley but with little success. Unfortunately the Runaways were never accepted by the music press as anything other than a novelty act put together for Kim Fowleys amusement, which is a shame as they blazed the trail and made some kick ass rock n roll into the bargain. She then dabbled in acting and was probably the best thing in the 1980 movie Foxes, a teen movie which tried to show what the youth of that period were going through, which co-starred Jodie Foster. A couple of cheapie horrors followed before her chronic cocaine abuse saw her promising acting career all but destroyed as her unreliability saw her name become mud in both the film and music worlds. A disastrous duets type album with her sister was also a bad idea.What struck me as I read this book was how strong and tough Cherie has been to come through all she has, especially much of it happening to her so young, and come out a stronger person. Arguably the worst incident is the second rape, the first happened prior to her stint in the Runaways, which is a truly horrible part of the book but is still described vividly and clearly but at the same time sends a chill down your spine. I bet she still curses the day she agreed to get in that psychos car.I feel that she suffered greatly in her youth from being poorly supervised and also just being incredibly poorly advised by the adults in her life. Often being more or less forced into things which she must have known were bad ideas or things she just didnt want to do. The part she describes about being coerced into sleeping with some "teen idol" by Fowley while on her period is just shocking, as is Scott Anderson, the groups "handler", getting her pregnant and then doing nothing to help her when her father suggests she have an abortion. Another decision, that more or less killed her music career, was her fathers insistance on recording an album with her sister which ended up sinking without trace and killed her recording career. Thats a great shame as Cherie has one of the most interesting, distinctive voices I've ever heard.One of the most interesting and eye opening parts of the book is the chapter which covers the Runaways European tour, the British audiences being angry and wanting their pound of flesh. For 16-17 year old girls this must have been terrifying however they got through it, good on them. The way she describes the show they did in Glasgow, Scotland is brilliant and as I was reading it I almost felt as if I was in that awful crowd, with some moron throwing a huge knife at her feet. AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!Later in the book comes the cleanup and recovery after years of drug addiction and her marriage and starting a family before finally turning herself into a chainsaw artist. All in all I thought this was a great read and one which I will probably return to at some point. Much of the story is definitely a cautionary tale as the girls in the Runaways all kind of got what they wanted at times but were ultimately made to work incredibly hard for very little reward and come the dissolution of the Runaways some, like Cherie, struggled to recover, and in the case of Sandy West never really got over the breakup of the group before she died of cancer a few years back.The fact that the Runaways never reformed for even one reunion tour tells its own story I feel as clearly the wounds suffered by some of the members in that period obviously ran very deep and had never healed properly, even after 20+ years.The biggest weakness in the book for me would be the lack of insight from Cherie into the music she helped make, only a few tracks are actually named and even then there is no great detail. Why not list the tracks from the Runaways records and then go through them individually with her thoughts, memories and opinions. This would have added greatly to the book and given more idea of how she feels about those records today but alas this would be my only real quibble.All in all a dark tale which for Cherie at least had a happy ending. But careful what you wish for.....Sorry if this review is really long but I thought this was a great book and a very inspiring story. Enjoy.

Neon Angel, the autobiography by Cherie Currie on which the recent biopic Runaways is based, makes a good if disturbing read. In part Neon Angel is the peculiarly show-biz story of fame arriving too early. In part it is a tale of addiction and dissolution, and all addiction tales sound alike in so many ways.Readers who are old enough will remember The Runaways as a 1970s all-girl power rock group. I do mean "girl." Cherie Currie was 15 when she joined the group as lead singer. Joan Jett and Lita Ford were two of the other members. Currie does a good job of detailing the origins of the band, the eccentric personalities, the unwholesome environment, and the stresses her involvement caused with her own dysfunctional family - including with her twin sister Marie. She describes the infighting inevitable in any group. Currie and Lita Ford in particular often were at odds.The Runaways were successful in the sense that they were well-known, sold records, and filled concert halls. The economic realities of the music business then were less favorable to performers than today, however, so in the absence of a true major hit record, none of band was getting rich during its heyday. The band scraped along despite a grueling concert schedule. The European tour was especially nasty with violent audiences (this was the punk era) and an arrest of the entire band in London. The Japan tour went off better, but Currie was breaking down physically and emotionally. She quit the band in 1978 in the middle of a recording session. Drug abuse was the core problem, though she wasn't yet ready to acknowledge it.Currie blew her opportunities over the next few years, including a promising start as an actress, largely due to drugs. After she failed to show for a Murder, She Wrote shoot, both her agent and her manager dropped her. She became estranged from her friends and family because of her behavior, which included forging checks from her father's account to pay for drugs. She was hospitalized twice from car crashes involving drugs and alcohol. She kept company that exposed her to extreme danger and abuse. All that really mattered to her was coke, booze, Quaaludes, Benzedrine, and free base. She woke up one day in the hospital in "the terminal phase" of addiction with her heart and organs failing. The doctor told her if nothing changed she would be "dead within weeks." Cherie's recovery began then.Cherie Currie survived long enough to reach a point where recovery was possible for her. Many others are not so lucky. Many people use (and abuse) alcohol and drugs, of course, without being destroyed by them. Why are some people all-consumed by mind-addling substances and others not? In my observation (perhaps unscientific, but not uninformed) there are some people who are just chronically unhappy even when nothing bad is happening to them. Life is painful for them when they are not high. Anyone who cannot put all activities aside, sit in a chair, and just enjoy "being" may be at risk. Some, like Cherie, eventually find their way to a mellower place. They need personal strength and a good deal of luck. No one else can do it for them.Cherie Currie is now a successful chain saw artist - yes, that's right.

Such a great book. A lot of tales you can't find in any other book. Highly recommended, caught me over my guard. I wasn't expecting anything like that

懐かしのランナウェイズですよ、あの♪チュチュチュチュチュチュチュ、チェリイボンブ～♪の・・・キンドルで読んだのですが最初の10%くらいはつまんなかった・・・出来の良い双子Marieにいつも引け目を感じてコンプレックス満載、大好きな父は離婚して家を出て行き、Marieの元カレにレイプされ・・・とにかくすべてに後ろ向きでふてくされた少女時代、出来の悪い青春小説みたいで読んでるこっちがふてくされたくなる・・・がしかしランナウェイズに加入するあたりから話は俄然、面白くなってくる。これはランナウェイズのコンサートで学園祭バンド以下の演奏を我慢して聞いていたら最後にシェリーが下着姿ででてきて眼福、眼福というのにも通じる。当時、おぼろげに覚えているランナウェイズの内紛やトラブルがすべて本当だったのには驚いた。特にシェリーはギターのリタ・フォードと犬猿の仲だったり、ジョーン・ジェットには友情以上のものを感じていいたり・・・グループ内で自分だけが特出して人気が出たことによる妬みや嫉み・・・ただ、この人、生まれつき美人でビジュアルで得することが多かったせいか何に対しても考えが甘いような気もする。このあたりは敵対していたリタの本も読んで検証の余地アリ。最初と最後は大して面白くありませんが、ランナウェイズ時代の話がほとんどでその点では楽しめます。言い換えればランナウェイズを離れたシェリー・カリーと言う人はそれほど面白味が無いともいえます。有名なあの下着姿は貧乳なせいか、今見るとさほど刺激的とも思えず。悩殺爆弾、という日本語タイトルが笑える。

Mit der Mädchenband "The Runaways" startete sie ihre einzigartige Karriere.Später wechselte sie zur Schauspielerei über. Heute schwingt sie die Ketten-sägen alseine der besten "Chain-Saw-Artists" weltweit. Ihre Holzkreationen wirken lebendig und sind wunderbar.Eine Karriere, die eindrucksvoller nicht sein könnte. Und nun das - sie schreibt ihre Lebensgeschichteauf. Diese diente dann als Vorlage zum Film "The Runaways" (mit Dakota Flanning und Kristen Stewart verfilmt)und da erfuhren wir dann, Cherie Currie ist auch eine exzellente Schreiberin. Wer hätte das gedacht?Das Vorwort zum Buch schrieb keine geringere als ihre alte Bandkollegin Joan Jett.In der Biografie beschreibt Currie ihre Kindheit, wie sie zur Leadsängerin der Runaways wurde, zu den Dreharbeiten mit Jodie Foster bis hin zu dem übelsten Tag ihres Lebens, an dem sie von einem Geisteskranken entführt und fast umgebracht worden wäre. Ein erschütternder Bericht, sicherlich. Aber es ist auch die Geschichte vom Phönix aus der Asche. Wie sie sich selbst aus dem Sumpf von Drogen, Alkohol und Gewalt befreite. Wie sie zurück fand in ein normales Leben und anfing dies schätzen zu lernen.Die entsprechenden Fotos aus den verschiedenen Epochen werden im Mittelteil dazu geliefert.Cherie Curries Geschichte ist, trotz allem, eine gute, eine positive Geschichte. Eine die uns glauben lässt, dass egal wie schwierig die Situation auch sein möge, man es doch schaffen und meistern kann. Cherie Currie ist der lebende Beweis dafür.Ein großartiges Buch von einer großartigen Frau.Da ist die Vorfreude auf den Film nun um so größer.Kleine Kritik am Ende: Leider fehlt ein Register/Diskografie ihrer Gesangs-und Filmkarriere.Solange es noch keine deutsche Übersetzung gibt, müssen wir uns mit der Originalschrift begnügen.Wer von sich selbst behaupten würde, er sei ganz gut in englisch, der kommt klar.Alle anderen sollten sich ein engl.Wörterbuch zur Hilfe nehmen, dann sollte es eigentlich klappen.

Ich liebe es! Die Story von The Runaways und das komplette Leben dieser Frau mit allen Höhen und Tiefen unfassbar ehrlich und direkt beschrieben. Bin vorher schon Fan gewesen- Lest nach warum!

Alles sehr gut