Garage Sale Vinyl: Cherie Currie
Beauty’s Only Skin Deep / Mercury Records / 1978
by Christopher Long
What a trip, man! Flashback — 1975. An unsuspecting “roxy roller” is hand-picked from a ripe crop of fresh-faced young’uns, straight out of LA’s teen club scene. The “harvester?” — notorious creepy producer guy, Kim Fowley. Lickety-split, she finds herself auditioning for the frontchick gig in a new, up-and-coming all-girl rock project. She passes the audition and joins the band. Along with the other four members of the “Fem Five,” she tours the world for a couple of years. In the process, she fuels international frustrated fandom. Then, at the band’s white-hot apex, she bails.
On the hook with Mercury for one more album, Cherie Currie recorded and dropped her first post-Runaways solo set, Beauty’s Only Skin Deep, in 1978. While Kim Fowley nabbed the producer’s credit (and likely the points), credited co-producer David Carr reportedly was the guy who actually occupied the studio captain’s seat for the ten-track release.
As a crazed adolescent rock dude, I was a somewhat faithful Runaways follower. Then, one night, I went to see Foxes, the 1980 coming-of-age feature film starring Jodie Foster, with Currie making her big screen debut as conflicted high school “fox” Annie Mallick. Teenage dopers — what a waste. Currie thwacked me with her performance in that flick. She’s owned me ever since. Don’t judge. If you ever see the grocery store scene from Foxes, you’ll be crashing into canned soup displays too. But I digress.
My immediate mission was to snatch up a copy of Beauty’s Only Skin Deep, pronto. But the record wasn’t available in America, presenting a particular pickle for a teenaged drooler during the pre-Internet era. As a result, the record proved to be something of a “tease,” playing hard-to-get with me for decades. However, there had been a couple of close calls.
In the late ’80s, a former military brat buddy of mine revealed how he’d scored the record while his dad was stationed overseas back in 1980. Giving in to my pathetic pleading, he finally let me borrow and tape his prized LP. It wasn’t the ideal fix, but during those prehistoric days, it was the best I could do. Truth be told, I punished that poor TDK SA90 throughout the steamy summer of ‘88, as it rarely came out of my Sony Walkman cassette player. Fast forward. Rewind. Play. Repeat. In the booming new-millennium iGadget era, I bought the record off iTunes. It was a more satisfying fix, yet my “physical needs” still weren’t being met fully.
Ugh, what traditional-type modern-day retail outlets are charging for used records can be absurd and obscene. So, I have a really tough time playing the current vinyl game. I mean, c’mon — $50 for a brutally abused LP copy of Captain Fantastic, simply because some super-geeker website says that’s what it’s worth? No thanks! Hence, I remain diligent in my flea market, thrift store, and garage vinyl endeavors.
Occasionally, though, I will cave. Recently, my savvy local record dealer spotted a Near-Mint LP copy of Beauty’s Only Skin Deep on her in-store Google machine. It would have to be shipped from some exotic, faraway land overseas AND it would cost me $60, but after chasing the record domestically (and for a realistic price) for 45 years, I reasoned that I’d now run out of options.
Knock! Knock!
“Who’s there?”
“It’s the Amazon guy. And you’ve got a package!”
“Thanks, dude — marry me!”
Unlike many forward-thinking albums produced during that time, Beauty’s Only Skin Deep sounds exactly like it was recorded in 1978 — like a vivid Polaroid or a beautiful, self-contained audio time capsule. Real guitars — yep. Authentic drums — yep. Auto-tuned, digitized vocals — NOPE! Still dealing with something of an identity crisis, the LP pivots from rock to pop, from pop to rock, with a splash of new-wave desire.
A bona fide rocker, “Call Me at Midnight” is a crisp, contagious opener, combining Currie’s compelling vocal with crunchy guitars and punchy horns. Not to be confused with the song of the same title on her next record, the heart-tugging “I Surrender,” along with the more delicate title track, represent the record’s shinier pop fare.
Of the other numerous highlights, “Science Fiction Daze” is a Bowie-inspired standout, while Currie’s duet with twin sister Marie on “Love at First Sight” is a dirty little rocker — sassy and irresistible. Capturing Currie’s “Neon Angel”-style “F-you” energy, “Young and Wild” is a high-octane, corset-worthy closer.
In sum, Beauty’s Only Skin Deep said what needed to be said — in 1978. While not sounding exactly fresh and new, it’s still a fun one to revisit. However, if fresh and new is your intended destination, you GOTTA check out Currie’s most recent solo set, Blvds of Splendor — arguably the strongest, best work of her incredible near-50-year career.
(4/5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Beauty’s Only Skin Deep Track List
SIDE ONE
- Call Me at Midnight (Steven T.) – 3:21
- I Surrender (Bizeau) – 3:46
- Beauty’s Only Skin Deep (Currie, Carr, Fowley) – 3:51
- I Will Still Love You (Strauss) – 3:33
- Science Fiction Daze (Steven T., Fowley) – 4:06
SIDE TWO
- I Like the Way You Dance (Steven T.) – 3:09
- That’s the Kind of Guy I Like (Steven T.) – 3:14
- Love at First Sight (Bizeau) – 4:01
- The Only One (Currie, Steven T.) – 3:45
- Young and Wild (Steven T., Fowley) – 2:52
