davidjett

Sandy West, R.I.R.

From the AP Newswire:

Sandy West, whose ferocious drumming fueled the influential all-female `70s rock band the Runaways, which she co-founded with Joan Jett, has died of lung cancer. She was 47. West died Saturday night at a hospice in San Dimas, east of Los Angeles, her manager Mara Fox said. She was diagnosed a year ago.

West was only 16 when she started the Runaways in 1975 with Jett, a singer and guitarist. Along with band members Lita Ford and Cherie Currie, they had such hits as "Cherry Bomb" and "Born to Be Bad."

Having worked in record stores (yes, I still call them that...) for the past several years, I've gotten into the habit of doing my own little music tribute for musicians who have died. The day I heard the news, I would place one of the deceased's cd's into the store's overhead play system. I think that's kind of a cool thing if you're into music. Let's say you are into The Clash, and on the day or the day after Joe Strummer dies, you walk into a record store and you hear "London Calling" or something from his solo cd's. You instantly know you're in a place where people care about music; where music means something in their lives other than a nice 30 seconds when NPR goes to break. Music stores are losing that "personal" touch more and more these days. And that's why they are going out of business. Not file sharing or Best Buy. Music stores have stopped hiring music people. They hire people who wouldn't care if they were selling a cd or a taco or chicken nuggets.

I would have loved to play some Runaways at my current job today. But the place I work at now...well, let's just say I can't really do my little tribute thing unless Jim Brickman, Diana Krall and the Broadway cast of "Mama Mia" all die in some kinda weird "adult contemporary" plane crash tomorrow. Probably due to Andrea Bocelli flying the plane...

So I'm moving my "rock death" tribute to this blog. "Q" magazine, a British import which is far superior to Rolling Stone (actually, "Seventeen" magazine is far superior to Rolling Stone, but that's another rant,) pioneered the concept of printing a quote from a recently deceased rock star on the spine of its magazine the next month. "Blender," which is the recent American version of "Q," has done the same thing. I've always liked that little tribute. So I'm starting a new tradition on the David Jett Show. Here're some lyrics from a Runaways song called "Right Now," written by Sandy West. (and, by the way, R.I.R. stands for "Rest In Rock." When I go, I hope it's in peace. Maybe. But when I'm gone, I hope I'm still rockin'. And I hope Sandy is, too.)


I look for your face in every crowd
I know you're with me in every town
I still can feel you a thousand miles away
I got no doubt this magic will stay
Right now, I wanna be with you
Right now, I wanna feel you and touch you
Right now, I gotta see you just one more time
Right now, I wanna lay with you
Right now, I wanna reach out and hold you
Right now, I gotta play with you one more time
I look in you eyes and see my heart
I touch your hand and I know we can't part
My feelings for you keep going on strong
I know with you there is no wrong
Right now, I wanna be with you
Right now, I wanna feel you and touch you
Right now, I gotta see you just one more time
Right now, I wanna lay with you
Right now, I wanna reach out and hold you
Right now, I gotta play with you one more time
Right now
Right now
Right now
All of those good times when we're at play
There's so much inside me there's so much to say
It's only for me and I know my place
People know you put a smile on my face
Right now, I wanna be with you
Right now, I wanna feel you and touch you
Right now, I gotta see you just one more time
Right now, I wanna be with you
Right now, I wanna reach out and hold
Right now, I gotta play with you one more time
Right now, I wanna be with you
Right now, I wanna feel you and touch you
Right now, I gotta see you just one more time


Rest In Rock, Sandy West...