Book Review: A Fast Ride Out of Here: Confessions of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man by Pete Way (With Paul Rees)

Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider once referred to Pete Way as a "rock 'n' roll version of Dudley Moore's 'Arthur'.”  The reference to Dudley Moore’s perpetually soused but lovable millionaire character in the 1981 movie is certainly understandable.  Way, UFO's former bassist, certainly imbibed more than his share of alcohol back in the day, and he's a personable and easy-going guy, but.. rich? - well, maybe - til he spent all the money on drugs.

Way’s autobiography A Fast Ride Out of Here: Confessions of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man, co-written with Paul Rees, certainly has all the alcohol, drugs and sex you’d expect from a rock star bio, but without the artifice or self-importance. It has dissenting opinions from cohorts including Michael Schenker, Joe Elliot, Ross Halfin, Geddy Lee and Way’s brother, Neill.

Unlike many English rockers born in the middle of the 20^th Century, Way actually had a fairly pleasant childhood. He did well on his exams, but once the late‘60s rolled around, drugs, were everywhere. (He first used heroin at 13, a few years before getting into music.)

Pete met Phil Mogg at 16, and they started the band that eventually became the blues-based version of UFO. Once guitarist Michael Schenker joined, the band developed a harder rock sound and broke into the American market.

Way had a manic onstage persona during his UFO heyday, and would zip back and forth with his bass like a true showman. It’s no surprise that he influenced Nikki Sixx and Ironmaiden’s Steve Harris.

A Fast Ride Out of Here is sprinkled with anecdotes about life on the road. Tales of hot and cold running drugs, alcohol, groupies and in-fighting (mainly guitarist vs. singer) abound.

 Of the girls that pursued the band, he writes, “The girls got what they wanted , too….they reasoned that the best way to know someone famous was to be involved with a guy in a band.”

Another anecdote from the UFO days - Pete appeared on the rock ‘n’ roll edition of the TV game show “Hollywood Squares” in 1979 with Todd Rundgren, Chaka Khan and other music stars of the time. He was billed as “Mr. UFO.”

Schenker bailed after the breakthrough Strangers in the Night live album was released. Eventually, Way left to start a new band, Fastway, but never played in the band due to contractual obligations with Chrysalis.

Way formed another band, Waysted, in 1983. Ex-UFO bandmates Paul Chapman and Paul Raymond made brief appearances with the band, and Way worked with Schenker on a few projects in the '00s. Like a codependent couple, Way reunited with singer Phil Mogg in UFO many times (and as Mogg/Way in the late ‘90s). The last split, in 2007, appears to be permanent.

Pete traveled with Ozzy when Waysted toured with him, and joined him in search of “waffle dust”, among other adventures. That’s just one sample of the hilarity that ensued on that tour. Way was also a friend of Bon Scott, and hung out with him a just a little over a week before he died.

Joe Elliot’s dry comments counter a few of Pete’s claims, in a friendly way. Photographer Ross Halfin calls UFO “the great lost British rock band” and Michael Schenker comments on his on-again, off again musical partnerships with Way.  

Way’s substance abuse also contributed to problems in his personal life. Two wives died of drug overdoses, and he was estranged from his daughters, Charlotte and Zowie, for years. The chapter about his time in Columbus, Ohio, with his fourth wife JoAnna is more surreal tragedy than rock excess. It proves, once again, that truth is stranger than fiction.

At 66, Way has beat heroin, prostate cancer and a heart attack. He’s been working on a solo album, "Walking on the Edge", with producer Mike Clink, between health crises.   

A Fast Ride Out of Here will have you laughing one minute, and shaking your head in disbelief the next. Way comes off as such an endearing character, you’ll genuinely like the guy, regardless of his foibles. Funny, heartbreaking and honest, any fan of classic rock or metal will enjoy this book. 

Book Review: Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla by Cherry Vanilla

Although not as well-known as her more mainstream contemporaries Pamela Des Barres and Cynthia Plaster Caster, Cherry Vanilla (born Kathleen Anne Dorritie) was arguably the most brazen and the most cerebral groupie of the swinging late ‘60s/’70s. Based on her chapter in Pamela Des Barres’ groupie round-up, Let’s Spend The Night Together, Chicago Review Press offered Cherry her own book contract and the result is Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla (by Way of the Copacabana, Madison Avenue, the Fillmore East, Andy Warhol, David Bowie and the Police) This raunchy and refreshingly honest memoir takes readers on a wild ride through two decades of hedonistic New York, from hippie happenings in Central Park to the punk clubs of Manhattan.

Groupie, though, was only part of Cherry’s job description. She worked for a Madison Avenue ad agency while barely out of high school, traveling the country on business trips as one of the first female radio/TV ad execs in the business. Folks in the real-life “Mad Men” days were every bit as horny and adventurous as rock stars, according to Cherry’s accounts of LSD use and “whipped cream parties” at Fire Island getaways.

It wasn’t long before Cherry took advantage of the burgeoning Lower Manhattan club scene, working as a DJ and mingling with models, actors, royalty and the Andy Warhol crowd. She starred in Warhol’s play Pork, appearing nude onstage in the British production. In between acting and DJing, she had flings with musicians Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, Burton Cummings of the Guess Who, and Shawn Phillips, who wrote two songs about her. Cherry’s most famous conquest, though, was David Bowie.

As his publicist and a major behind the scenes presence at MainMan Productions, the infamous glam-rock artist management company, she was instrumental in bringing Bowie and his music to the States. She was friends and business associates with him, first and foremost. However, when he finally suggested, “Come on, let’s go to bed,” Cherry followed through, despite having bandages on her thighs to cover carbuncles from bug bites. A potentially embarrassing situation became a fun, romantic romp.

Cherry in 2010

Cherry was Bowie’s PR person til MainMan was disbanded in 1974. Undaunted, Cherry entered the next phase of her career-as a solo artist for RCA records. She toured England with then unknown back-up musicians - Stewart Copeland and Sting - from a band called the Police. Her outrageous stage persona garnered her some scathing reviews in England, but her two albums, Bad Girl and Venus d’ Vinyl, have retained a cult following to this day. After she was dropped from RCA Records, Cherry hit hard times, and was even homeless for awhile. Now she lives in Hollywood and works for the composer Vangelis, still feisty as ever at 67.

Cherry Vanilla’s exploits are fun-and somewhat exhausting (in a good way) to read. Was there anything this woman didn’t do? Groupie, poet, publicist, journalist, fashion icon, Warhol protégé and actress, ad agency exec and sexual provocateur, it’s surprising that Cherry Vanilla’s story fits into a mere 288-page book! The memoir isn’t all fun and titillation, however, as Cherry frankly discusses her battles with OCD, near disasters with bad drugs and bad men (including one harrowing encounter with a creepy sadist), abortions and sexual addiction.

Lick Me is a rollicking visit back to the days when the whole creative “counterculture” seemed to coalesce into a few miles in Manhattan (and London). It’s a great memory-jogger for kids who came of age reading Creem and watching the 1980 Floor Show on the Midnight Special.

Cherry Vanilla Official Website

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