Cherry Wainer (March 2, 1935 – November 14, 2014) was a South African-born musician, best known as a member of

Lord Rockingham's XI Lord Rockingham's XI was a group of British session musicians, led by Harry Robinson (1932–1996), who had a No. 1 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1958 with "Hoots Mon". The group was created to perform as the resident band on the pop TV pr ...

and a soloist on the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Biography

Wainer was born in

East London, Eastern Cape East London ( xh, eMonti; af, Oos-Londen) is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, the daughter of a music promoter. A piano player since childhood, she once said: "I was going to be a classical pianist and at the age of eight, I performed a concerto with an orchestra." When taking up the Hammond organ, she was influenced by American jazz organist Jimmy Smith. In her first recording she collaborated with accordionist

Nico Carstens Nicolaas Cornelius Carstens (10 February 1926 – 1 November 2016) more commonly known as Nico Carstens, was a South African musician, accordionist, and songwriter. Early life Born, 10 February 1926, in Cape Town of Afrikaner parents, Carstens g ...

on an early South African

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

10" LP titled ''Flying High''. On moving to the United Kingdom in 1958 with drummer Don Storer, her future husband, her flatmate, the singer Georgia Brown, introduced Wainer to her manager,

Tito Burns Tito Burns (born Nathan Bernstein, 7 February 1921 – 23 August 2010) was a British musician and impresario, who was active in both jazz and rock and roll. Biography Early life The son of a cabinet maker, he was the sixth and youngest chil ...

, who managed to gain spots for her on the light-entertainment programme ''Lunchbox''. She became a regular on ATV-Midland's ''Lunchbox'' from Birmingham, which was hosted by

Noele Gordon Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...

. From summer 1958 Wainer was the featured Hammond organist in groundbreaking young producer Jack Good's ABC-TV '' Oh Boy!'', one of Britain's first teenage all-music 'Live' TV shows following Good's resignation from his BBC-TV hit show ''

Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...

''. ''Oh Boy!'' (named by Good after

Buddy Holly & The Crickets Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

' 1957 hit single " Oh, Boy!") featured rock and roll regularly, with

, serving as the house band used to support singers, which was led by Harry Robinson and included Benny Green and Red Price. Their single, "

Hoots Mon "Hoots Mon" is a song written by Harry Robinson, and performed by Lord Rockingham's XI. It was a number-one hit single for three weeks in 1958 on the UK Singles Chart. It is based on the old Scottish folk song " A Hundred Pipers". It was also o ...

", was number one in the UK charts in 1958. She occasionally sang vocals on the show, and became close to one of the acts who appeared regularly in ''Oh Boy!'', the teenage

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, effectively serving as his chaperone. Along with the band, Wainer played in the 1959

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

, held at the

Palace Theatre, Manchester The Palace Theatre, Manchester, is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its sister theatre the Opera House on Quay Str ...

. In 1960, she appeared as herself in the musical ''

Girls of the Latin Quarter ''Girls of the Latin Quarter'' is a 1960 British musical film directed by Alfred Travers and starring Bernard Hunter, Jill Ireland and Sheldon Lawrence. Plot Under the terms of a will, a young man stands to inherit a fortune if he can he turn the ...

''. Wainer married drummer Don Storer with whom she appeared regularly as a duo during the 1960s. They appeared regularly in a German television series, ''Beat! Beat! Beat'' (1967). Wainer released several solo albums and singles, none of which made the UK charts. Wainer and her husband moved to Las Vegas in 1968, working in cabaret. She later retired from music but remained in Las Vegas and worked in a gift shop. Her husband died in 2006. Wainer died on November 14, 2014 in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, aged 79.

Albums

* ''HMV JDLP 10007, Cherry Pink'', (1957), (released in South Africa), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer * ''Columbia 33JS 11007, Flying High'', (1959), (released in South Africa), Cherry Wainer &

* ''HMV JDLP 10006, Cherry Rock'', (1959), (released in South Africa), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer *''Waltzes In Swingtime'', (1960), (released in UK), Cherry Wainer and the Knightsbridge Brass *''Cherry Wainer And Her Magic Organ'' (released in the Netherlands) * '' Discs K 1237, The Sound of the Sixties - Showtime in Your Club - Wainer's a Winner'', (released in Germany), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer *''Rhythmus Im Blut'', (1964), (released in Germany), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer *''It's Hammond Time!'', (1965), (released in the Netherlands), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer *''Musik Im Blut'', (1966), (released in Germany), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer *''Cherry Wainer – Hammond Organ Light And Lively'', (1969), Cherry Wainer & Don Storer, A compilation of Rhythmus Im Blut and Musik Im Blut albums

References

External links

* *''Complete collection of Cherry Wainer's music & TV videos on the Internet Archive'' *''Complete collection of Cherry Wainer's music & TV videos on Mega (Service)'' *''Open collection of photos & videos of Cherry Wainer & husband Don Storer on Google Photos *''Partial collection of Cherry Wainer's music & TV videos on Youtube'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wainer, Cherry 1935 births 2014 deaths South African organists Women organists South African expatriates in the United States Lord Rockingham's XI members