Sandy West

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Sandy West
West in 1976
West in 1976
Background information
Birth nameSandra Sue Pesavento
Born(1959-07-10)July 10, 1959
Long Beach, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 21, 2006(2006-10-21) (aged 47)
San Dimas, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Drums, vocals
Years active1972–2006

Sandy West (July 10, 1959 – October 21, 2006)[1][2] was an American singer, drummer and songwriter. She was one of the founding members of The Runaways, the first teenage all-girl hard rock band to record and achieve widespread commercial success in the 1970s.[3]

Early life[edit]

Sandy (born Sandy Pesavento) was born in Long Beach, California. When she was 9 years old, her grandfather bought her a drum kit, and being an avid fan of rock and roll acts of the 1960s and 1970s, she began practicing rock music immediately and regularly. In 4th, 5th, and 6th grade, she was the drummer in the Prisk Elementary School orchestra. She proved to have a natural talent and quickly became a proficient drummer.

By the age of 13, she was the only girl in local bands who played at teenage parties. West attended Edison High school in Huntington Beach California with actor Willie Aames, playing drums in school bands as Sandy Pesavento, one of those bands was Witchcraft that featured Jimmy "Trash" Decker that later went on to form the punk band The Crowd in 1977.

At 15, she met Joan Jett and producer Kim Fowley, who co-created and formed The Runaways.[4]

The Runaways[edit]

Driven by her ambition to play professionally, she sought out fellow musicians and other industry contacts in southern California with the idea of forming an all-girl band. In 1975, she met producer Kim Fowley, who gave her the phone number of another young musician in the area, guitarist Joan Jett. Joan and Sandy met shortly thereafter. The women subsequently played for Fowley, who agreed to help them find other female musicians to round out the band, most notably Lita Ford and Cherie Currie.

Post-Runaways years[edit]

After four years of recording and touring the world, the Runaways disbanded in April 1979. West made varied attempts to continue her career as a professional musician, playing with other acts in southern California, releasing a solo ep, The Beat is Back,[5] and forming the Sandy West Band. None of these ventures produced significant income, so West was forced to spend most of her post-Runaways years working outside music. West later claimed that ex-Runaways' manager/producer Kim Fowley had not paid the members of the band what they were entitled to. "I owe him my introduction to the music business but he's also the reason I'm broke now," West said.[4]

West appeared in Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, a documentary about the Runaways produced and directed by the band's former bassist Victory Tischler-Blue, providing some of the more poignant interview segments, describing the things she had to do post-Runaways for money. She worked mostly in construction, and spent a small amount of time as a bartender and a veterinary assistant.[6][7] In other parts of the Edgeplay interviews, she alludes to having engaged in criminal activity in order to make ends meet (e.g., she describes how she had to break someone's arm for money they owed). West spent time in jail on multiple occasions following her career in the Runaways,[8] which she alluded to in Edgeplay.

Personal life and death[edit]

According to her bandmate Lita Ford, West was lesbian.[9] West died on October 21, 2006, at the age of 47 from lung cancer diagnosed a year before.[10] West was never married and had no children.

Film[edit]

Sandy West was portrayed by actress Stella Maeve in the 2010 film The Runaways.[11] The film also featured Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Scout Taylor-Compton, who portrayed Joan Jett, Cherie Currie and Lita Ford, respectively. During the audio commentary on the DVD extras, Jett dedicated the film to her.

Legacy[edit]

Time Magazine described West as a "pioneering rock drummer".[12]

Discography[edit]

Runaways albums
Post-Runaways releases
  • 7" – F-13
  • 4 song tape
  • The Beat is Back

References[edit]

  1. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JBZW-3YC : accessed August 3, 2013), Sandy West, October 21, 2006.
  2. ^ "Sandy West Biography" (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1653627/biowas)
  3. ^ "USA Today October 24, 2006". Usatoday.com. October 24, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Garth Cartwright (October 25, 2006). "Obituary: Sandy West". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Sandy West – Biography & History – AllMusic". AllMusic.
  6. ^ "Sandy West". IMDb.
  7. ^ "The Runaways, 1977. • r/OldSchoolCool". reddit. April 11, 2016.
  8. ^ Cherie Currie Vs. Lita Ford: The Runaways Reunion Fizzles http://joanjettbadrep.com/Interviews/2001/cherievslita.shtml
  9. ^ "Lita Ford Reveals She Quit the Runaways Because Her Bandmates 'Were All Gay'". February 29, 2016.
  10. ^ "Runaways Drummer Sandy West Dies". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "The Runaways (2010)". IMDb.
  12. ^ "Sandy West: Milestones (TIME Magazine. October 29, 2006)". Time.com. October 29, 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2011.

External links[edit]

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