The Cherry Bombz

A flashy and trashy hard rock band whose attack incorporated elements of hair metal, glam rock, and punk, the Cherry Bombz were relatively short-lived but earned plenty of attention for their star-sprinkled lineup. The Cherry Bombz were formed in 1985 not long after the breakup of celebrated Finnish hard rock act Hanoi Rocks, with two members of that band, Andy McCoy and Nasty Suicide (aka Jan Stenfors), on guitars, as well as drummer Terry Chimes, who was in the final Hanoi Rocks lineup but was better known for his work with the Clash. Joining them were Hanoi Rocks associate Timo Kaltio on bass and lead vocalist Anita Chellamah, who had previously sung with Toto Coelo (of "I Eat Cannibals" fame) and had been writing material for a solo project with McCoy. The Cherry Bombz made their recording debut in 1985 with a self-titled five-song EP, released by the Finnish Yahoo! label, featuring the tune "Hot Girls in Love," which was the basis for their first video. The EP was released in the U.K. and the U.S. in 1986 as Hot Girls in Love with the track "Pin Up Boy" omitted. By the time the Hot Girls in Love EP hit the streets, Timo Kaltio had left the band, and Dave Tregunna (whose résumé included stints with Sham 69 and Lords of the New Church) took over on bass. In 1986, the Cherry Bombz brought out another EP, The House of Ecstasy; material from the Hot Girls in Love and House of Ecstasy EPs was released in the United States on a collection called 100 Degrees in the Shade. In September 1986, the Cherry Bombz recorded a live album, Coming Down Slow, during a show at London's Marquee Club. The disc arrived in 1987; the show was also filmed, and appeared on home video under the titles Live in London and Hot Girls in Love. The Cherry Bombz toured the United States, playing shows on their own as well as opening a run of dates for Poison, but relationships within the group proved to be volatile, and by the end of 1987 the band had broken up. McCoy and Suicide would later work together in the Suicide Twins, Chimes would drum with Black Sabbath and Billy Idol, and Chellamah worked as a television presenter as well as forming a solo group, with Chimes as her percussionist. In 1990, the Japanese branch of Mercury Records released a posthumous Cherry Bombz collection, House of Ecstasy, which combined the material from the Coming Down Slow live album with the studio material from the Hot Girls in Love and House of Ecstasy EPs. ~ Mark Deming