Cherry and the Pickups Home Page

Email from Kathie 6/4/99:

Hi, Nos. I tried writing yesterday, but it got messed up. Anyway, i'll start over again. Did you ever think "SBK" could stand for "Suzanne, Bob, & Kathie"? Dee, dee, dee, dee... Anyway, Cherry & the Pickups was these people, at different times: 1. the basic group (who appeared in the publicity shot that was never sent anywhere)--me, Mike Rudd (really Rudden, but that's what he liked to be called)--lead g., John Gregory (Mike's friend)--drums, Motor City James (Cuito--guess where he was from?)--harp. Mike & John were from Bellport, LI. Mike od'ed around '91--only 35 or 36. I didn't find out till '96. He was very talented in art and music. Big waste--You may have noticed no bass player is listed. Steve Giordano of Wash. Hts. was supposed to be in the photo and never showed up. I was friends with him, so you might as well put him down. There was another bass guy who shows up later. 2. the group that played on the demo (i still have the tape--you can hear it sometime if i can find it!!)--me, Mike, Terry Mann (bass and lead g.--also very talented, great bass player), and Steve DeParis (drums--former RI-er--father was famous jazz guy, according to him--Willard or Wilbert D.). 3. the group(s) that played various gigs/showcases--A. Trude Heller's (where the power suddenly blew before the 2nd set, so we couldn't play)--me, Franne, Terry, Mike, maybe MC James, but prob. not--Mike got pissed at me after the show 'cause i had asked him not to sing after he'd suddenly chimed in on "Hold On, I'm Coming" w/o letting me know ahead of time. He was a great guitar guy, but not much of a singer. So he yelled at me not to touch his guitar and threw something. Not much fun. And who could forget Trude's immortal words, when asked about $$: "You didn't draw. You didn't draw." There were at least 8 people there. Did they get in free? Thanks, Trude!!! B. NYU Loeb Center benefit for some disease--me, Steve Rosenthal--key., Franne, Frank (?) from Yorkville--lead g., can't-remember-who on bass. Big crowd, real stage, lights, etc.--felt like the big time, but wasn't. C. Botany--me and Mike--no one else showed up. Franne saw it. D. some club way out in Queens (showcase)--me, Steve G. --bass, Steve D.--drums, Mike, MC James (maybe)--another one where we were stopped before we started--we did "Dancing in the Street"--that was it. One of our speakers blew out . . . Not a fun night. E. audition night at CBGB--me, Chris Bovasso (lead g.--vg and #1 Jimmy Page fan--went to M & A--his aunt was in "Saturday Night Fever"), Sam -- drums (Chris's friend), ? on bass--we did not get the job. F. Another night at CBGB--it was raining, i got soaked, i think some people didn't show up--Sal from Mills Tavern on Bleecker St.--bass, I can't remember much else. I'm not even sure we played--terrible!!! (Should this be a book--"How to Not Make It In the Music Business"?--Main thing: don't rehearse and make sure you're the only one into your material). G. "Best Band in NYC" contest at Cooper Union--me, MC James (definitely), Steve R., Franne, Andy Pierce--lead g. (another Mills Tavern guy), Steve G. --bass (maybe)--we all wore red T-shirts I had bought (Cherry, get it???), played 2 songs. We played on their aud. stage and, just as i started to sing, the mike went dead. I think i kept going--what a trooper!!! It was on for the second song. We did not win. Saw Sid Bernstein, who was a judge. He said we were good. Oh, boy. I saw him recently at my ATM on 57 & First. Just thought you'd wanna know. Anyway, there might've been a few more attempts at playing, but that was about it. Oh--and don't forget the semi-unnamed trio of 1974: me, Kali Blount (key.), and Franne. We played the Yippie "Legalize Pot" rally in Wash. Sq. Pk. They gave me a rolled-up newspaper with about 21 joints inside as payment. I didn't smoke, so i gave it to friend-from-hs Susan Rothman (hi, if you're out there!), who did (i don't recall whether kali or franne had any). I played a real cheapo guitar borrowed from neighbor josh friedman (hi, josh--sorry about the $600) and we did covers and orig.--"Taking Care of Business" was one, maybe "Brown Sugar". Good crowd. Saw guy i liked watching--felt cool. Some things never change...We sort of called ourselves Tu Madre, which is a Spanish curse. Oh, yeah, Nos--what about your collab. with that guy i thought was cute--Danny Ramirez or something close? He wrote that song, "Ava (Eva?)"--"ay, yi--i love you so". I remember going to Tribeca to watch you rehearse. Was that with Finley Hunt, whose mother thought i was white trash? Were you there when i practiced at his house? I wanted to play "Woodstock" , for some reason. By the way, who's going to Rome-stock??Nobody?? Let's go. We missed the first one. Might as well go to one. Gotta go.-- k  

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