Sandy West
| Sandy West | |
|---|---|
West in 1976
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sandra Sue Pesavento |
| Born |
July 10, 1959 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 21, 2006 (aged 47) San Dimas, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, drummer |
| Instruments | vocals, drums, guitar |
| Years active | 1975–2006 |
| Labels | Mercury, Cherry Red |
| Associated acts | The Runaways, the Sandy West Band |
Sandy West (July 10, 1959 – October 21, 2006) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and drummer. 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.
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. At 15, she met Joan Jett and producer Kim Fowley and formed the Runaways.
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-woman rock band. In 1975, she met producer Kim Fowley, who gave her the phone number of another young musician in the area, guitarist Joan Jett. When Joan and Sandy met shortly thereafter (Joan took a bus to Sandy's home to play through some songs) there was a palpable synergy between them, and the inception of the eventual Runaways arguably took place that day. 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.
After four years of recording and touring the world, the Runaways disbanded in 1979. As is often the case in the recording industry, the musicians, including West, were not left with much of the revenue produced during the band's tenure. 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, 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.
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