Posted on 10/24/2006 2:50:46 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Drummer Sandy West, from the '70s all-female rock band The Runaways, has died of lung cancer aged 47.
The influential musician was diagnosed a year ago and she died in a hospice in San Dimas, east of Los Angeles.
Lead singer Cherie Curry said: "It will never be the same for me again to step up on stage because Sandy West was the best and I will miss her forever."
West started The Runaways with Joan Jett in 1975. They went on to have hits with Cherry Bomb and Born to be Bad.
"We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer," said Jett.
"I am overcome from the loss of my friend. I always told her we changed the world," she added.
Before the band broke up in 1979, The Runaways toured the world several times, often headlining with opening acts like Tom Petty and Cheap Trick.
West went on to perform as a drummer, guitarist and vocalist with The Sandy West Band.
Her manager, Mara Fox, is hoping to publish the musician's memoirs which she wrote before she died.
Not really as cool
as dying by choking on
vomit (whomever's . . .).
47 is too dang young. RIP, Sandy. You always brought the beat.
Or spontaneous combustion.
When I was 16, I had a poster of The Runaways on my wall. We were the same age.
Waaaaaaaay too young.
RIP.
Bummer, I was a fan and saw them several times at the Whisky A-GoGo in Hollywood. The girls could really rock.
Ping! Sadly, I always remembered Joan Jett, Lita Ford and that chick from the Bangles being in the Runaways, but not her.
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I was on a DUmmie FUnnie thread about the DUmmies Google Bombing the ABC showing of the Path to 9/11. It made me think of this song, Cherry Bomb. Of course, Cherry Bomb is a teen girl rebelion song and I remember one of my girlfriends being a big Joan Jett fan back in the early 80's and singing this song. I liked it because she liked it.
So I downloaded it from Napster with a bunch of other songs I intended to put on my 10 year old daughter's MP3 player. As I was thoughtlessly moving files onto the player I popped out of my stupor and thought... "What! I can't put that song on her MP3 player!"
However, I can still enjoy it and think back to the 80's!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBDMthZ0c80
My three-year-old daughter is a real firecracker, and whenever I play my iPod in the car, she lights up when Cherry Bomb comes up in the playlist. She's too young to really get the lyrics, thankfully, but she finds it hilarious when Cherie Curie sings, "Hello Dad, Hello Mom..."
My nickname for her, or one of the many, is Wild Girl, and she also cracks up at the line, "Hello Girl, I'm your wild girl!"
Wow. 47 is way too young. She was only two years older than me.
Girl Punk is not my favorite genre, but at least the Runaways played their own instruments and did their own original stuff. I hold the Runaways in much higher esteem than a lot of so-called female acts or artists that get airplay today like that Spears skank or, “I’m really just a model and a lousy actress to boot” like Beyonce or either of the Simpson sisters and don’t even get me started on why Paris (I’m a talentless skinny rich girl who likes to puts out) Hilton gets a record deal. I’ve more musical talent than any of them. I guess overdubbing and studio-mixing and money works wonders.
I’ll take raw and real over that manufactured stuff any day.
Rock on girl, Rock on.
RIP, fellow female drummer.
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