Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer, Papa Used to Write All Her Songs would blast over and over from Gary Scarbrough’s orange-and-tan, plastic record player.
Scarbrough’s parents had bought the Sonny and Cher album for his 11th birthday in 1973, and he was hooked instantly. Relatives and friends started buying him Sonny and Cher posters and magazines, and after that, Gary collected everything he could find.
In the late 1980s, Scarbrough sent photographs of his now-huge collection of Sonny and Cher memorabilia to Cher’s management company.
“They were blown away,” says Scarbrough, “especially because I had the entire collection of Cher’s television series, all concerts available on video, all music videos and films and all of the Sonny and Cher TV shows, except for two that are missing from the master archive.”
Cher’s agency called Scarbrough and asked for help in compiling footage to use for the video montage during Cher’s Heart of Stone concert tour, which was coming up. That was his first opportunity to work with Cher’s people, which led to the ultimate first-time meeting with Cher backstage.
“I was invited to the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City on Aug. 19, 1989,” says Scarbrough. “I wore a tuxedo and was ushered to the front row for the concert and then brought backstage. Cher had seen pictures of my collection and was very impressed. We had our photo taken together and through it all, I was very calm. Since I had been collecting for so long and knew so much about her, I felt as if I had known her my entire life.”
Scarbrough, a Dublin resident and banquet manager for Marriott International, continues to gather Sonny and Cher mementos to this day.
He has a complete line of toys, including a phonograph, travel trunk and jewelry box. He has all 106 Mego Cher doll outfits – each designed as an exact replica of a Cher costumes, and each on its own Cher doll – and all six of Sonny’s outfits and dolls. He also has hundreds of magazine covers and 60 album covers, which caught the attention of Cher’s team once again.
The team asked Scarbrough for the opportunity to photograph the album covers for the Living Proof farewell tour program in 2002. Scarbrough worked with the team on that tour and saw the show 12 times that year, sitting in Cher’s private box during the shows.
Word got out that not only did Scarbrough have the largest collection of Sonny and Cher items around, he had a photographic memory and could recall any detail about the TV shows, her dresses, exactly what date she wore them on and what song she sang. In 2006, Julien’s Auction House contacted Scarbrough to provide information regarding Cher’s gowns and their history, and he has worked on and off for it ever since.
Cher had Julien’s auction off the entire contents of her house, including furniture, art, cars, costumes and jewelry, with a portion of proceeds going to the Cher Charitable Foundation. Gowns sold from $1,650 for a floral sheath dress to $60,000 for the iconic “Turn Back Time” concert outfit designed by Bob Mackie.
Scarbrough purchased his first Cher gowns at that auction in 2006. He now has 19, ranging from a backless blue sheath worn on The Sonny & Cher Show to the costume she wore in the film Mermaids. He learned the hard way that beaded gowns cut on the bias cannot be hung because they will stretch, and that they can be folded because beading doesn’t wrinkle.
He obtained 12 mannequins from Kohl’s and then set out to create a more realistic form to display the costumes. He hired a sculptor to form Cher’s face and then hired an artist to paint the face and make the wigs exactly to replicate Cher’s hair when she wore the particular dress that he is displaying.
“I handle the gowns with gloves and it’s a ton of work,” says Scarbrough. “But it’s my hobby. I’m not trying to impress, I just enjoy it.”
Scarbrough says he’s not done collecting, but he is very selective now. Auction houses continue to send him catalogues and seek his help. He’s never sold any part of his collection, but might consider it one day. In the meantime, he still has a few dreams of his own.
“I would love to acquire the yellow beaded dress with the bare midriff and palazzo pants that Cher wore to the 1972 Oscars,” he says.
He would also love to join forces with a charity and exhibit his entire collection for the public to view and appreciate. He pictures the gowns displayed on their individual Cher mannequins with a TV monitor by each, playing the video clip of her performing in that outfit – “I Got You Babe” playing on one and “The Beat Goes On” booming from another, as admirers walk through a maze filled with decades of Cher’s musical memories.
Colleen D’Angelo is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
