Cheri magazine no 286 includes DVD

Product Information

The May 1977 cover dons Rialto Report favorite, Alexandria, the notably flexible star of many New York adult films. The accompanying interview describes her life on the edge of the New York music scene with her musician boyfriend.

Suzanne Feele wrote a humorous piece about auditioning for a Gerard Damiano film, destined to be his follow-up to Let My Puppets Come. In fact, Wolff brought a number of ideas with him from High Society, notably assembling a group of female ‘contribution editors’ – each supposed experts in a different field of sexuality – who would pen new columns each month. Their writing would ostensibly be a form of gonzo journalism, but would include enough titillating sexual detail to appeal to the raincoat crowd. We continue our review of the history of east coast publication Cheri, looking at the magazine’s second year in business: 1977. (You can read about the first year of Cheri here.) These issues include articles and photo spreads with Jody Maxwell, Jamie Gillis and Terri Hall, Jenny Baxter, Phil Prince , Elda Stiletto, Sharon Mitchell, C.J. Laing, Gerard Damiano, Cherry Bomb, Alexandria, Veri Knotty, Liz Renay, and many more. There were photo spreads featuring a pregnant woman (“Ninth-Month Nookie”), a review of the new film ‘Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks’, a bizarre pictorial of Gloria Leonard seducing a (supposedly) underage boy scout (don’t panic – the accompanying text reveals that they got married afterwards), and a much-needed and helpful guide to breast bondage.

Other articles include Cherry Bomb writing about meeting Led Zeppelin after their Madison Square garden gig, a report on breastfeeding, and an interview with a Fort Lauderdale dominatrix. Wolff obtained nude pictures of Elizabeth Ray, taken before the scandal broke, and published them under the heading, “Meet The Beaver That Blew Washington’s Cool.” Iris De La Cruz is announced as a new columnist, writing about street prostitution in New York – a topic she knew well as she’d been a hooker for the previous decade. Iris went on to become a leading AIDS activist in the 1980s. She died of AIDS in 1991 but her name lives on with ‘Iris House’ an organization that saves lives through comprehensive support for women, families, and under served populations affected by HIV/AIDS.

Cheri’s first issue of 1977 continued the magazine’s unique vision created by chief editor Peter Wolff. Wolff differed from porn publisher magnates like Hugh Hefner and Bob Guccione in that he had little time for the fantasy world of beautiful people. He was fascinated by the sexual interests of common men – and their wives. He wanted to democratize content and involve his readers directly in the magazines he produced. Working in a band is a difficult task; often, emotions threaten to break it apart, but they can also bring its members closer together. With Uenoyama's help, Mafuyu may finally be able to express the feelings that fight to break free from within his heart. Cherry Bomb hangs out with Starz, a New Jersey heavy metal and power pop band who were supporting Bob Seger. Keaton Reynolds wakes up, in wolf form, and finds himself with a mate. He's instantly attracted, but not so thrilled to find out the man is straight. Having been in a relationship once before where his partner professed to be "Not gay" left a bad taste in his mouth. Keaton wants to make a break for it and pretend he never set eyes on Chay—but Chay is not ready to let him go.The regular columns continued – with Jody Maxwell in particular taking her writing gig seriously. She reported from Kansas, where she met with prostitution activist Margo St. James. How did editor Peter Wolff go from launching a successful magazine to getting an issue of the magazine banned – and almost getting fired himself – within the first five months? The full story is revealed here. Blueboy (Global Media Group, U.S.: 1975 - 3 issues; July/August 1975–August/September 1977 - bimonthly; November 1977 – 2007 - monthly) Wolff was fired by Ruderman after the first two issues, May and June 1976, but soon found a home at Cheri, the magazine that would prove to be his most lasting success.

This issue also introduced a new Managing Editor – someone who would play a significant role in Cheri over the next few years. Andrea Ambers was a 21 year old aspiring journalist who perfectly fit Peter Wolff’s magazine vision. She was an attractive, curious, and fearless reporter who threw herself into the daily life of the magazine, covering any topic, anywhere in the country. She was destined to go far with Cheri. Regular reporter Annie Sprinkle weighs in with an interview and photos about the joys of fisting. Fanne Foxe was given a month off from her travels and allowed to recreate scenes from U.S. cities in the comfort of a New York photo studio. Firstly, there was a controversial feature on the René Guyon Society, a possibly mythical American group that was said to have advocated sexual relationships with children. How on earth do you illustrate such an article? In this case, with children’s dolls. All very strange. We continue our review of the history of east coast publication Cheri, looking at the magazine’s third year in business: 1978. Finally the issue includes a short article about a downtown New York sex club that catered to Wall Street bankers. This article would supposedly be sourced by vice cops two months later to bust the establishment. The police action is reported in the August issue of the magazine.Continuing the adult film theme was a photo feature on Veri Knotty – whose specialty was having, in the words of Cheri, “Labes so limber, she can loop ’em and link ’em… tieing up her twanger in a bow is part of her strip act.” The regular columnists weighed in with their latest essays, and Annie Sprinkle joined the team, standing in for Kim Pope. Jody Maxwell found herself in the right place at the right time. She was in Kansas City, the location of the upcoming Republican convention. This enabled her to report on the preparation for the event – from unusual angles. This month she spoke to prostitutes in the city about their rights. Fanne Foxe, unveiled the previous month as a roving sex reporter, submitted to an interview in which she talks about the political scandal which made her famous, her sexual appetites, and her vision for her new job at Cheri: “I am going to be opening closet doors all over the country, and pulling the covers off who, what, where, why, and how the American Sexual Revolution has brought us to shedding our guilt and clothes in the newly found expression of our sexuality.”