Category: Cherry Wainer

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Cherry Wainer

Cherry Wainer #6

I’m researching the career of musician Cherry Wainer and the 1950s-1960s music scene.

In January 1956, the media reported that Cherry owned 25 pairs of shoes, and loved collecting them. In January 1959, however, the Birmingham Weekly Post revealed that Cherry now owned more than 120 pairs of shoes. Success, it seemed, had gone to her feet…

This advertisement from April 1959 highlights Cherry’s career at that time, sharing a bill with Cliff Richard and the Shadows (then billed as the Drifters) and other regulars from the television series Oh Boy!

In 1959, Cherry featured in the Royal Variety Performance, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. A year later, she appeared in a musical, Girls of the Latin Quarter. Her career in Britain had reached an apex and, ever ambitious, she looked for new challenges.

In the 1960s, Cherry released several solo albums and singles. However, with the Beatles and the “new sound” dominating the British charts, Cherry’s records struggled to find an audience.

Along with drummer Don Storer, Cherry moved to Germany where she appeared as a regular in a television series, Beat! Beat! Beat! That was in 1967. A year later, Cherry and Don settled in Las Vegas where they performed in cabaret. 

Cherry made Las Vegas her home. After a long and varied career in music, she died there on 14 November 2014.

My latest article for the Seaside News appears on page 42 of the magazine

Coming soon, Songbird, my novel set in 1963

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

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Cherry Wainer

Cherry Wainer #5


I’m researching the career of musician Cherry Wainer and the 1950s-1960s music scene.

In October 1958, a Daily Herald reporter caught up with Cherry as she emerged from a shop in Shaftesbury Avenue clutching five-guinea sweaters and three boxes of expensive cuff-links. “For my friends,” she said, scurrying towards her pink low-slung sports car before the approaching policemen noticed the “no parking” sign.

“On ‘Oh Boy!’ we are all friends and the musicians treat me as one of the boys.” Accelerating away, Cherry added, “That’s Cliff Richard – our new boy. He’s a nice kid, not a ruffian like lots of singers these days. He thinks about things. Willing to learn. He’ll get to the top and stay there.”

“I’ve got four record players and hundreds of records – Sinatra, Ella, Duke, rock and roll…Some people say rock’s no good. Some of it is. No good being a snob.”

“I played Peggy Lee’s Fever night after night before I sang it on ‘Oh Boy!’ The big thing with that song is the eyes. I kept still and put all the actions into my eyes.”

“I couldn’t stand the political set-up (at home) in South Africa. Here (in Britain), I work with people I like. Who cares what colour they are?”

From 30 October 1958, part one of Cherry Wainer’s syndicated media interview.

Part two

Part three

At this stage of my research, I’m not clear about Cherry’s relationship with drummer Don Storer. They arrived in Britain together, shared the same agent, and performed together as an organ-drum duet. This report from November 1958 stated that they were cousins. They married, but not until 12 June 1992 when they were in their sixties. Maybe more details will emerge, or maybe this aspect of Cherry’s life will remain a mystery.

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Cherry Wainer

Cherry Wainer #4

I’m researching the career of musician Cherry Wainer and the 1950s-1960s music scene.

In the summer of 1956, Cherry shared bills with Morecambe and Wise, who became legends of British television.

For most of 1957 Cherry featured on the cabaret circuit alongside regular fifteen minute slots on television, playing her organ. After a short stay in South Africa, she returned to Britain on 15 November 1957. However, she did not return alone. Drummer Don Storer accompanied her on the voyage and soon they were featuring in shows as a couple. They were also associated with the prestigious Grade agency. All aspects of Cherry’s life were on the up

An interesting item from The Stage, December 1957 on the “psychological effects of rock numbers”. The Stage also noted that 1957 had been the year of “more nudes, skiffle groups, and crying crooners”. The writer hoped for a “return to variety in 1958”.

May 1958 and the first mention of Cherry Wainer in association with Lord Rockingham’s XI. Cherry was “twelfth woman” at this time, but she would soon join the team.

Cherry featured in a milestone of popular music – the television debut of Oh Boy! on 13 September 1958. What’s more, the media used Cherry’s image to promote the show.

Released on the 30 October 1958, and featuring Cherry Wainer as a member of Lord Rockingham’s XI (pictured), Hoots Mon became a number one hit and, many years later, introduced me to popular music.

As a member of Lord Rockingham’s XI, Cherry Wainer topped the chart in late October 1958. Here’s the chart from earlier that month. As you can see, it featured some classics, some records worth checking out, and others best forgotten.

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Cherry Wainer

Cherry Wainer #3

I’m researching the career of musician Cherry Wainer and the 1950s-1960s music scene.

At Christmas 1955, the newspapers reported on Cherry’s return to Britain, her looks, and her footwear.

In 1955, not only was Cherry appearing on TV, but her show was proving very popular.

From January 1956, more on Cherry’s legs and shoes, and the upward trend in her career. Less than a year after making her television debut, she was becoming a fixture on television.

An article in the media in the spring of 1956 revealed that Cherry could have become a surgeon, but decided to make music her career.

In March 1956, the media reported that Cherry loved collecting shoes. She owned more than 25 pairs, and favoured high, spiky heels with a touch of originality. Her feet were tiny, size 2 1/2.

Cherry was living in London during this stage of her career, in a spacious flat above the Cuban Legation, Lancaster Gate.

In April 1956, Cherry gave an electrifying performance…

In May 1956, Cherry expressed how determined she was to succeed. Indeed, Picturegoer revealed that Cherry was known as “Miss Ruthless”.

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Cherry Wainer

Cherry Wainer #2

I’m researching the career of musician Cherry Wainer and the 1950s-1960s music scene.

In 1954, after four years spent developing her career in South Africa, Cherry returned to Britain, along with her Hammond organ, sheet music and eight suitcases of clothes – she appeared to have a penchant for the latest fashions. A hard slog on the entertainment circuit beckoned as she strove to break into the “big time”.

Even though Cherry Wainer was born in South Africa, in May 1955 the press were describing her as “Britain’s Greatest Rhythm Organist”. She was sharing bills with the likes of Alma Cogan and playing tunes like Mr Sandman and Waters of Minnetonka. She was also billed above Reg Varney who went on to become a regular on British television. It was taking Cherry a while to become an “overnight sensation”, but her career kept moving in the right direction.

In August 1955, while performing in Manchester, Cherry told a reporter about her problem with nylons. Cherry refused to wear nylons with seams, and reinforced toes and heels. Consequently, she laddered a pair at every performance. “I’ve been going on-stage bare-legged all this week,” Cherry said. “I’ve run right out of stockings and I can’t buy the sort of nylons I like in this country. I’m waiting for my mother to get me some in America.”

In August 1955 the press reported that Cherry’s organ was insured for £1,250 (around £40,000 now). The organ always travelled in the guard’s van while Cherry sat in the nearest compartment.

At the time, Cherry had a residency at the Winter Garden’s, Morecambe, but the management did grant her time to be a judge in a National Bathing Beauty Contest, which was won by Patricia Nunns (pictured).

In August and September 1955, Cherry was sharing the bill with the likes of Des O’Conner, who became a regular on British television. She was also appearing in Paris. The Stage reported: “Most attractively gowned, and using trick lighting to make her lovely dress even lovelier, Cherry Wainer is an atomic ball of a personality at the keys of her electric organ. She plays with the confidence of one who knows she has mastered her numbers and so can put that little extra into them. Full marks for this South African blossom. Her Sabre Dance is a real sizzler.”

In October 1955, The Stage announced that “vivacious South African organist Cherry Wainer would be appearing on TV”.

Cherry featured on ABC Television – Associated British Cinemas (Television) Ltd. ABC was a commercial television company established in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to compete with television, which was attracting cinema audiences.

Cherry played the Hammond organ “with a dexterity unmarred by four-inch heels”.

On 22 December 1955, at Chelsea Barracks, Cherry joined Vera Lynn, the Coldstream Guards and Scots Guards to entertain the troops. The event was broadcast on television as part of the Christmas Season programming.

Along with her variety show appearances, Cherry was now becoming a regular on television.

The ABC Studios in Didsbury, Manchester (Wikipedia)

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