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Your Ultra Modern Living Hostess |
Providing party planning, decorating & entertainment
for Mai Tais, Martinis and Other Special Ocassions! |
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All About Cherry Capri
Autobiography
Chapter 9) Cherry Capri and the Thirsting Hoales
I must say that being a part of the "Tiki" scene has been a blessing. I have met some of the nicest people in the world and
shared many wonderful mai tais and memories with my thirsty haole posse...
As far the the Thurston Howlies go, our first gig was at an event called “Atomic Tiki Surf Spectacular Polynesian Party” that I threw at my new home.
We were well received and it was a thrilling experience for me. For the first time in my life, I was no longer an understudy/backup singer...
I was center stage doing what I loved… singing Annette Funicello songs and entertaining dear friends in my own home.
My pal Vargas, one of the top lounge performers in Vegas, and the most handsome one I must add,
came down to sing at the party and just about everyone from the California Tiki subculture was in attendance from
Sven Kirsten who wrote the Book of Tiki to SHAG. Veteran D.J. The Great Kahuna provided a soundtrack when the
band wasn’t playing.
I did a few more gigs with the Thurston Howlies including headlining at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
It was for an all day festival called Mondo Tiki produced by my friend Holden of Tiki Farm.
We involved everyone we could think of in that show… Iuka Grogg from the Mai Kai Gents sat in on ukulele.
And my favorite moment was when Crazy Al from the San Francisco band Ape played the solo on “Wipeout” with a chain saw.
Since then, I have had the pleasure of singing with numerous musical talents: the Mai Kai Gents, Ape, King Kukulele the Hollywood Combo and the Martini Kings.
The next few years have been a blur as I enjoyed entertaining my friends and worked to make my houses into homes.
I decorated the L.A. house circa 1968 complete with a vintage 1968 map of Disneyland on the family room wall.
And the Vegas house was decorated from the year it was built 1957.
There were curtains to sew, shelves and furniture to build, walls to paint, and accessories to fix and find.
I have also diverted my attentions to other artistic pursuits, namely painting.
Over the years of being on the road and living in Las Vegas, I had amassed a large collection of rare matchbooks
from 1940s, through 1970s. Matchbook art, especially the illustrative style art produced during the Golden Age
(1920s through 1960s) is still under-appreciated and I decided to start painting large versions of them.
I had my first showing at a small restaurant gallery space in Studio City, CA. I titled the collection
Sparkles in Quick Sand. All the hotels represented in this collection took their names and imagery from their
desert setting and include the Sahara, El Morocco, Algiers, Desert Inn, and especially my beloved Sands and Dunes Hotels. The Howlies played the opening and it was exciting to show my work in public for the first time.
I was immediately asked by the M Modern Gallery in Palm Springs to come up with another collection of paintings
in a month’s time. This time around, paintings of Palm Springs were being shown in historical context of Palm Springs.
This second showing was a complete sellout! Since then I have shown in numerous group art shows with many of the leaders
of the Low Brow Art Scene and was included in the seminal show in San Francisco and book "Tiki Art Now" curated by Tiki News publisher Otto Von Stroheim.
This brings us almost up to to date. Most recently, I have turned my attention to other ways to spread the Gospel of Glamour and Style...
I was crowned Queen of the Doo Dah Parade in 2004 and now have been looking into doing more appearances and even
a new TV show about the things I love… Martinis, Music and Modern Lifestyle.
My cousin M-M (by my adopted parents - not a blood relative though
by some freakish coincidence we do look quite alike) is producing a new lifestyle show Lotta Living.
Knowing my colorful history, she asked me to do a test shoot as the show hostess!
And when I attended a conference in Las Vegas to promote the show,
I was featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the audience gave us a thumbs up!
My story is far from over, in fact, it’s just beginning. This coming year is looking to be very exciting one
for me. I hope that will join my mailing list so I can keep in touch
with you about fun events and Ultra Modern Living Tips. And join me in my continuing adventures in learning about good taste
and entertainment.
If there is just one thing I can impart to you before you go it's this:
You never know when a wrong turn is the right turn.
Oh... and never ever drink and drive, you might hit a bump and spill.
Jump to another chapter:
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2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
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With Bamboo Ben
With the Gypsy Tiki Band
With Book of Tiki author Sven Kirsten
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