Bad Girl

Cherry Vanilla, “Bad Girl” (RCA, 1977)
Cherry Vanilla was a Warhol scenester in the late ‘60s, had some sort of involvement with Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, and stuck around Max’s Kansas City long enough to be in on the first wave of punk rock in NYC. This is her first album, and it’s got hints of Little Richard, the Shangri-Las, Sticky-Fingers-era Stones, but all very stark and urban. Picture Patti Smith if she leaned more toward the New York Dolls than toward Television. But Patti Smith never rocked quite as hard as 2 or 4, fast ones with frantic, monotone piano, snarling guitars and Ms. Vanilla’s kooky-tough-gal vocals. The slower, vampire stuff is awesome too, particularly 1 and 8