Sat 21st July
It’s 2018 and I’m writing a piece on Cher. HOW? Every decade this outrageous woman storms into our life in the most unexpected yet entirely natural ways. We all know the eras. We all know the wigs. But for those of you who’ve managed to ignore the past 53 years of pop (Cher’s) culture I shall so generously break it down for you.
It began in ’65, Cher swayed into the spotlight with her dark long hair and her Sonny at side. Covering Bob Dylan in sweet sunny stripped pajamas. The image of youth and free love.
Then oh boy did Cher step it up in the ‘70s, leaving her husband to produce iconic albums ‘Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves’ and ‘Dark Lady’. Mysterious, independent and incomparable.
She rotated round like a record giving us Disco Queen in ‘Take Me Home’. Go and look at the cover of that album and tell me that she isn’t giving you Princess Leia realness four years early.
In 1987 Cher burst back onto the scene in fishnets and wigs even bigger than before. Biker Cher was packaged and wrapped in layers of leather and fringe and the world was gagged.
’87 may have given us biker Cher but the mid 80s were also the height of her acting career. She would grace the Academy Awards in a headpiece beyond expectation; a showgirl cast as a movie star. Then bringing the award home in an alluring Bob Mackie design. She wore an Egyptian headpiece with diamonds dripping from every inch to promote her signature fragrance back in 1988 (Not an era but Egypt needs a revival – just dropping this out there).
90’s Cher – ‘Shoop Shoop Song’ – ‘Strong Enough‘ – ‘Believe’. We got blonde Cher, we got full auto tune and the epic cover of ‘It’s a Man’s World’. Proving that she is the apex of an evolving diva.
After the millennial we have the album ‘Closer to the Truth’ where at age of 67 Cher was giving us G-A-Y anthems. I mean who else could? Burlesque was sensational and let’s not even touch on her linguistic pursuits. Practically inventing a new language on Twitter. We are waiting to see what she’ll wear to accept her Nobel Prize for literature.
Now it is time for her role in ‘Mamma Mia 2: Here we go Again’. While the film does not have enough Cher (what film does?) she does sing ‘Fernando’ and ‘Supertrouper’! However, rumor has it that we may be getting a whole album of Cher covering ABBA. Are we dreaming?
Writing this I realise that we all frame Cher in the way as if she is our very own doll we dress up each decade and bicker over which look was better. What we forget is that the string that connects each of these diverse and eccentric looks is a woman who has successfully entertained us. A number one in every decade since the ‘60s is no easy feat. She has adapted to each movement as if it were just an extension of self, and in many ways it is. She wears the shit out of each outfit with a smile and an irrepressible spirit that transcends the limitations of most other performers. When the apocalypse finally happens I sincerely hope the roaches live for whatever Cher pulls together. This isn’t just a Woman’s World – it’s Cher’s.
