Cherie Currie Playing NYC in November; Tickets on Sale Friday

It's been a long time coming but Cherie Currie, who gained fame as the lead singer of The Runaways, is touring again, and will play New York's Gramercy Theatre on November 6th. Tickets are $33.50 with fees and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

 Cherie Currie (holding microphone) at a promotional appearance for the movie "The Runaways" with (left to right) Floria Sigismondi (the film's director), Dakota Fanning (who plays Curie in the movie), and Kristen Stewart (who plays Joan Jett). Photo: Jon Lebkowsky (weblogsky) on Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Runaways were a trailblazer for having an all-female lineup, and after Currie left the group she released a few albums on her own, including one with her twin sister Marie. And she gained attention for her acting in the movie "Foxes," opposite Jodie Foster.

But Currie spent limited time in the public eye after that, save for occasional roles in TV in film (including the "Twilight Zone" movie and episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" and "Matlock"). She re-emerged in people's consciousness a few years back when doing appearances and interviews in connection with the movie "The Runaways." Other than that, she's been content to lead a relatively quiet life, creating wooden works of art with a chainsaw... until now.
Fortunately for music fans, Currie is hitting the road again. She played a few dates in May and will be touring throughout the U.S. during August. She may well have other dates in November in addition to the New York gig.

It's not known if has been recording any new music to play on this tour, but in any case it's great to see one of the pioneers in female rock playing out again. Welcome back, Cherie Currie!

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Other notable New York concerts going on sale soon:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Restavrant at Warsaw, Fri., Oct. 4th. On sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck at the Beacon Theatre, with Al Jardine and David Marks, Tues., Oct. 15th. On sale Friday at 12 Noon.

On sale now:
The Both (Aimee Mann and Ted Leo) at Warsaw, Wed., Sept. 11th.

The Donnas Celebrating 16th Anniversary with Tour and Greatest Hits

Happy anniversary to The Donnas, who this year are celebrating their Sweet 16 as a band. The ladies aren't resting on their laurels, of course, and are gearing up for a summer tour with two pioneers of women in rock, Pat Benatar and Blondie.

The new Donnas collection, called The Donnas Greatest Hits, Vol 16, will drop July 7th and is said to include unheard B-sides from their last album, Bitchin'.

According to an e-mail from the band yesterday, the album will also include:
"... Live versions of hits "Take It Off" and "Fall Behind Me", and two previously unreleased tracks from the band’s earliest days together. The band also re-recorded five tracks, remixed one and included two alternative versions of songs from their Lookout! Records catalog (1998-2001), one of which is sung by original producer/co-writer Darin Raffaelli."

For full track listing and Donnas tour dates see this article on Alt-Sounds.

In addition, The Donnas have some songs from their early bands that can be streamed on their MySpace page. You can find more songs from those bands, Ragady Anne and The Electrocutes (their later name), at MySpace pages for those bands, where you can also buy some of the tracks.

The Donnas summer 2009 tour starts on July 16th in San Diego and ends on August 23rd in Houston. The Donnas will be headline some of the shows. You can find more information about The Donnas on their Web site (in first paragraph) or on their Twitter feed.