Cher and Cher alike ....!! (Cher in general)

Member Name: idodoyou

Product:	Cher in general
Date:	06/01/02 (1628 review reads)
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The first time I heard Cher, all I knew was she was singing with some fat longhaired guy. I didn't know her name. I didn't know his name. It was back in 1982, I was only 9, and to be honest, I didn't know a great deal about music (some would say I still don't ) and I'd just discovered Elvis anyway so ....

Anyway, fast-forward 8 years. And although Cher had been in the charts and on our screens for most of the 1980's I never paid her any attention. Until, I heard 'Just Like Jesse James'. Ever since then I have liked her music, and her acting. Oh, and I found out who the fat longhaired guy was ...... MeatLoaf and they were singing 'Dead Ringer for Love' (still one of my favourite songs)

Born on 20th May 1946 to an Armenian father and a part Cherokee mother, Georgia Holt. Cherilyn Sarkisian entered the world in El Centro, California, USA.
The first few months of Chers life wasn't as a baby's life should be. Her father abandoned her, while her mother placed her in a home until she could save money to support her.

The early stage in Chers life was pretty much as well as could be expected in 1950's American. Money was not plentiful, and there were times when there wasn't any at all.
Her mother Georgia Holt was a bit part actress and singer, and they got by. Georgia's 5th husband (8 in total ~ just call her Sha Shal!!) millionaire Gilbert La Piere, gave Cher two things, his name, and a stepsister, Georganne. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, and after 5 months of living in a Bel Air mansion, the small family returned to the same, if not a touch better, life from where they came. At least they had alimony,.

At the age of 15 Cher dropped out of highschool, and left home to take acting classes in Los Angeles.
Things were going well at first until the biggest influence in Chers life walked into Aldo's Coffee Shop in 1963. 28 year old Salvatore 'Sonn
y' Philip Bono ~ "It was as if the whole room went to soft focus, like Tony and Maria at the dance,"

Cher was smitten from the first time she laid eyes on this producer-songwriter, Sonny wasn't so. Unbeknown to her mother, the two lived platonically at first (Cher just basically took her clothes round bit by bit. Sonny never really had a say in the matter!), sharing an apartment, but not a bed. She became the typical housewife while he worked as an apprentice to Phil Spector down at the famous Gold Star Studios. It was only when Chers mother found out about the innocent living arrangements, the two proclaimed their love and became an item. Could the world famous pairing of Sonny and Cher be all down to rebellion??

It was while she was still in the platonic stage of the relationship, Cher met and hung around with Warren Beatty. After a chance meeting, he drove her off the road, she didn't get mad .... she got laid!! Cher went back to his place, slept with him, and continued to see he him on and off for a while. But as soon as Sonny and she became serious, she dropped Mr Beatty (probably a first for him?!)

After a while, playing house was boring, and not at all what Cher wanted out of life. So she started to tag along with Sonny to Spectors. Here she harmonised behind the Ronettes, DarleneLove, Glen Campbell, and the Righteous Brothers amongst others.
Sonny almost at once noticed her star potential and wanted to record her. After a lot of persuasion, Spector said yes, and Cher cut a record called 'I love you, Ringo' under the pseudonym (and insistence of Spector) Bonnie Jo Mason (apparently, apple pie American names were selling well at that time!) It bombed big time.
Chers voice was so deep that the DJ's around the country thought that she was a man with homosexual tendencies. Needless to say, in 1960's USA, it didn't get much airplay, and bit the dust. With a big cloud.

The a
ctual pairing of the two was completely by accident. A mixture of Chers nerves, and a vocally challenged Sonny, who had got up and sang with her one day because she couldn't sing alone. Amazingly so, they actually sounded good together.
Initially performing as Caesar and Cleo ~ why I don't know? ~ they hit the bowling alleys and skating rinks with no, or very little effect.
Their luck changed though, when in 1965 Sonny wrote 'I Got You Babe'.
This was the start of the duo known as Sonny and Cher. Within weeks their previous songs were re released and they were on the road to stardom.

The 1960's saw 'hippydom' at the height of fashion. And as well as their music, it was their far-out look that helped them wow the fans. Cher was deemed a fashion innovator [egh] A role she has continued with throughout her life.
Things went swimmingly at first but the success of 1965 (when they had 6 singles in the top 40 a once) was short lived. The age of psychedelic rock hit and longhaired hippies with furry vests, wide colourful trousers, and skimpy vests were ..... so yesterday! [wide trousers, skimpy vests ... sounds like the 90s to me!!]
Their last hit together came in 1967 [The Beat Goes On] and out went their fans! The public didn't want their sound anymore.

Never one to give up, Sonny then set about another mission, he tried to launch Cher in to films.
Whether it was the vehicles, or the lack of experience on Chers behalf, they flopped. And as well as being duds, they were expensive duds because Sonny was spending his own cash when the studio financing had dried up. The two movies 'Good Times' and 'Chastity' had lost the wealth that the duo had amassed as pop stars.
As well as being deeply in debt to the IRS [the nasty VAT man to you and I] they had a new daughter to support [Chastity Sun ~ Sun = Son ~ Chers tribute to her husband] and so 1969 saw them hit the lounge circuit.

Dressed to the nines in eveningwear, they sang to a safe, middle of the road audience. Not the best of ways to make a living by a couple that had once filled huge arenas.

Cher hated the new routine. She showed it, and after a while, her exasperation on stage became what was to be their trademark shtick. They fought and argued on stage, the crowd thought they were joking. They weren't. The crowd loved it.
Over the years, act improved, they hit Vegas, and CBS [major American TV station] called on them.
What pursued was 'The Sonny and Cher Comedy hour'. It ran from 1971 until 1974.
It was fun at first, but Sonny's bossy and fatherlike ways were too much for Cher, always the rebel, she wanted out. Of the show, and the marriage. The end was not amicable, and they would fight publicly and bitterly, bringing with them ugly headlines [bet The Sun had a field day ?] that the media lapped up.
Not long after the separation and never one to be on her own, Cher found comfort in the arms of another, David Geffen, but it didn't last long and before she knew it, Gregg Alman was on the scene.
It wasn't a match made in heaven, but it didn't stop them getting married and having a child, a boy, Elijah Blue.

Career wise Cher was out on her own, and going solo started with a bang. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, after having been given her own show by CBS, with blockbuster stars such as Elton John and Bette Midler, three weeks in, Cher being overwhelmed by it all rang Sonny to arrange a professional reunion.
Having failed with his own show on a rival station, Sonny said yes (like the man from Del Monte ~ sorry, couldn't resist!) and after Chers second season, the new 'Sonny and Cher Show' hit the screens of America.

Although Cher was pregnant with her estranged second husbands child, the reunion went well. Curiosity got the better of the American public and created huge initial
ratings, and they seemed to be happy back together.
Predictably, happiness didn't last, and after two seasons, the curtains closed for Sonny and Cher for good.

Life with Gregg Allman was not good. He was addicted to drink and drugs, but still Cher continued to wage a losing battle to try and save their marriage. It failed, and they divorced in 1979. Cher was 33, unemployed and a single mother to two.

Between affairs she drifted from project to project, experimenting with her own rock band, 'Black Rose', singing with that fat long haired guy I mentioned earlier ; ) and releasing her first chart hit in 5 years 'Take Me Home' (I wonder ... Has Sophie Ellis Bextor swiped it??!!)

1982 saw Cher in New York, and on the stage. With a starring role in the play 'Come back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean' she had finally managed to shrug off the image that the tabloids and campness of her TV shows have endowed.
Mike Nichols, a director, caught her performance one afternoon and by the evening of the same day, she had been offered (and excepted) a role in the movie 'Silkwood' opposite Meryl Streep. The latest member of the cast was laughable, and the press once again made fun of her, but not for long. The movie critics were stunned by her performance, calling her a 'genuine acting marvel'.
She was also nominated for an Oscar nomination. Not bad really was it?
Her second film followed closely behind, and she made 'Mask' (with the 'de~lish' Sam Elliot)
The year 1987 was busy. Cher was starring in three films all at once ~ 'The Witches of Eastwick' ~ 'Suspect' and 'Moonstruck' and re launching her music career as well.

Hitting the world draped in fishnet tights, black leather and very little else, the music loving public wasn't ready to accept her just yet, but after a while, her sound, lite metal, caught on. And in April 1988,
at the age of 41, and after 25 years in showbiz, Cher was at the top, on her own terms.

From 87 until 91 the smash hit singles kept coming, 8 of them in total [I Found Someone ~ If I could Turn Back Time ~ Heart of Stone to name a few] a new movie 'Mermaids' and a gruelling tour schedule all played a part in Chers health, and at the end of 91, she was ready to collapse (Collapse she did and was diagnosed with, to give it's more widely known name, 'Yuppie Flu'. It took a couple or more years for her to fully recover)

Never one to give up, Cher took on a less demanding schedule. She took her turn in infomercials and a fitness video. The money was great and the hours much shorter. However good the money and the short hours were, Hollywood was aghast at the amount of infomercials that she was churning out, and she found herself dumped from the A~List 9(again!) Her elite status that she has worked so hard to achieve had been squandered again.

The early 90's saw Cher with a few cameos in Robert Altman films ~ 'Ready to Wear' and 'The Player'. After the set back, 1996 saw her return to work full time starting with a role opposite Chazz Palminteri in the movie 'Faithful'. It wasn't that good. It wasn't that bad.
She also turned her hand as directing, while also acting in the HBO's critically acclaimed 'If These Walls Could Talk' with Anne Heche [She won some kind of award for 'If these .........'}
Of course, music wasn't far behind on her 'come back' trail and she released a great new album 'Its a Mans World' [If you are a Cher fan, and you haven't got this album GET IT NOW it is excellent]

Although Cher has been pretty much at the pinnacle of her career for the last 5 ~ 6 years, her personal, and family life has suffered a couple of setbacks. There was the public outing of her daughter Chastity by the worlds media. A fact
that caused Cher to temporarily 'lose it'. But has since become closer than ever to her daughter and is now the most loyal champion to Chastity's gay rights campaigning.

And of course, January 98 saw the death of Sonny Bono in a Skiing accident. She was in London when her 'Chas' rang from the States with the bad news. She fled the UK via Heathrow in tears and the press hounding her once again.
In the funeral service, of which was to be televised [not a frequent occurrence but Sonny had become a popular congressman] Cher had to read the eulogy. It was here she praised the man who had been a father, a partner, a friend, and a foe . She let the world see a side of her that she had never shown before. Of course, instead of the worlds press letting her, and the family grieve, in private, she was criticised for her words.
Why, they had been apart for 24 years! Why did she feel a need to say those things? Had Sonny and Cher been lovers until his death?
She didn't seem to care, and continued to mourn publicly.

1998 also brought with it some good. She brought out another album called 'Believe' and hit the promotion trail. Another high spot in her somewhat bumpy career, Believe became one of Europe's all time blockbusters, and her best selling record of her career.
March 99 saw her ruling the American top 40 too. Holding at No:1 for 4 weeks with the album title track [that song makes me think of Turkey ~ it was a holiday song ~ well, don't we all have em?!!]
May 99 saw Cher hit our screens again, this time along side some great British actors in 'Tea With Mussolini' [Judi Dench~Maggie Smith [Dame]~Joan Plowright]
And she also launched a global concert tour, again, totally in control of her separate award winning careers.

During the last 30 odd years, both fans and critics have debated what Cher means to music, and the showbiz and pop cultures. I guess she will mean all
kinds of things to all kindsa people.
For me, well, I just like her music, and her movies. Oh, and her dress sense is ok too ~ doubt if I'd be able to carry it off though dooyoo ;)
I think she tends to have one of these voices you either love or hate. Maybe the Marmite ones in the sandwiches of music?


Little unknown fact ~ Cher had her name officially changed from Cherilyn Sarksian Le Piere to just plain Cher! Credit cards, driving licence, cheque book ..... you name it ..... just plain Cher!

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