Showing posts with label Glam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glam. Show all posts

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The Gunslingers - "Better Out Than In" (CD, EGO - 1995?)

I found this on ma hard drive courtesy of our good friend Steve. That's a MEGA RARE item of a fuckin' amazing rock & roll band from UK. I remember told him not to give away the link cause I wanted to post it in here and through all my fallen times, Steve waited and kept his promise. Thanks buddy! So it's time to fulfill mine. I know this 'Gunslingers' name has too many claiming its paternity but these guys are the ones, you really need to know! And if you are already a glam punk & roll fan, I bet you're familiar by now to their classic 'Never a Dull Moment' (if not, Midnight Rambler took care of you here). The sad thing's that there's not too much info out there and I really wonder why? You get loads of crap from stupid mediocre sleaze bands and when it comes to those that really matters, you have nothing, zero, nada...
Anyway, for all of you guys and gals having a Facebook account, I found this page for them, so if you ever get there tell them Mihaleez sent you, he-he.
And you know, what I hated on most sleaze bands (not all) and adored to the glam punk, were the same things from a different angle: The influences, the style and the production. The sleaze bands were more of a hairdresser's salon artifact in a time the glam punks were the streetwise motherfuckers of your bad fame corner. The first ones stole the Johnny Thunders rulebook and became millionaires and the last ones were the cursed flame torchers that stayed forever to a cult status but won the dignity and the appreciation of the true rock & rollers! And the Gunslingers were right up my alley with their Faces on puss and boots approach! Let's not forget the Crybabys connection... Not to mention they supported Motorhead... Hope someday someone pick on their stuff and make a proper re-release...


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The Crybabys - "What Kind of Rock & Roll?" (CD, Castle/Sanctuary - 2003)

You know what, what's best in The Crybabys is not their bloodline (Honest John Plain of the Boys/Lurkers, Darrell Bath of Dogs D' Amour, U.K. Subs, Nikki Sudden among others, Robbie Rushton of Whizz Kids, Gunslingers and Leslie Riggs – Cheap & Nasty, The Godfathers), even though the credits from the past and future outfits, reel of a lot for the band's DNA. The Crybabys were a British institution on dirty, street and most importantly good time rock & roll not unlike or less important than those of the Stones, Faces, Mott and T-Rex trademarks and I'm not fucking joking! Too gifted to be press darlings (for some strange reason, Kerrang's readers voted them as the best band then...), too real to exist long, too ugly to become a girls room poster (that's a compliment, we're talking about rock n' roll here - don't fuckin' forget it!) and in general a fine example of the ‘too much too soon’ curse that's haunting the all prime movers. And for some strange reason my (utterly disturbed) brain have place them in the same position with The Georgia Satellites but this gang of drunk pirates (a tip to Johnny Depp, next time by-side of Keef try these nasty cockeyed motherfuckers...It's time to make a penny or two alright?!) were more colorful. Where the Satellites 'ave used the Malcolm Young boogie school riffology,the 'Babys tried instead Marc Bolan's. Something of a Dirty Strangers next morning personality crisis of a wild gang bang party with Slade the night before and you're getting close. Forget the bleach blonde anorexic fake wild ones of the era, they're not worth a shit in comparison!

PS: That's the MK I Crybabys complete (?) recordings. For more on this GREAT rock & roll mob look at the SOTD training school. BTW, even though I don't use the so-called 'social networks' shit, I noticed that the 'babys have an official page on Facebook, constantly updated with cool pics and information. So, if you have an account already, be sure to take a walk in there.  

-Pic taken from the Crybabys FB page-


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The Dogs D'Amour - "...Straight??!!" (CD,China - 1990)

I'm writing these lines the day before my second round of vacations. At fuckin' last! I'm feeling a wreck with almost done batteries and the feel of a neurasthenic. In one word, EXHAUSTED! And I don't know yet if the place we 're gonna stay has an internet connection. My wife's booked it so I suppose that is not going to have (for the obvious reasons)... OK my mobile has, but you can do much from it. Thinking of this, I thought to post something before my way to some cool beach with lots of bikinis (hopefully) taking a walk in front of my eyes (Am I sounding like a dirty old man or what?!) and some cold beer tankards!
On our subject now, I suppose many of you have this, right? It's not something rare or not well known. And some Dogs D'Amour fanatics rate it as the starting point for the years to come deep gutter dive. But who cares? That's the first Dogs thing I ever bought and I still like it as much as the (broad example of ) 'In The Dynamite Jet Saloon'. But I kinda agree too that it was their last dazzle of the sparkling era. You know what I like most on all these classic DDA albums? The contrasts! They looked and acted like some pirate incarnations that had nothing else to do in this boring age than to play rock & roll. It was their way of stealing women, drinking heavily and travelling around the world perhaps. And all this mix it up now with the beautiful lyrics of Tyla, damned poetry kinda, something of a Byron or a Rimbaud clothed in Chuck Berry riffs. But what I dig the most are the influences, cause a good 80% of these bands, had the Dolls as role models and not the more b(l)ooze British Invasion pattern. These UK brats knew where to look for inspiration, trust me. The Faces and their cheap wine and women feel emerged from every song with the Dogs D'Amour signature on. So, on the downright ironic titled 'Straight??!!' , Tyla and the gang is one step before the fall with all its good and bad reflections. What a beautiful disaster!

See ya in a two weeks (more or less) mates. Keep the rocks rollin'!














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The Dogtown Balladeers - 'Antique Wine & Roses" (CD, Perris Records - 1996) & "All Dressed Up In Dreams" (CD EP, Perris Records - 1995)

Oi! Everything’s fine out there? 
You know, I’m in the mood for nothing! I’m bored like a lazy dog in the street’s corner. We‘re having down here one of the hottest summers the last 10 years at least, so I believe you can imagine the state I'm in under an every day 40 degrees of Celsius body baking… All I have in my mind is one word and that is ‘VACATIONS’. Two more weeks and then, ha-ha, remember me I’m gone! I tried a couple of times to find something to write about, but laziness conquered every move. Actually laziness is the reason why I’m writing this too. I’m in the office and (guess what…) I’m bored again! JP’s on vacations already (you lucky bastard!). We’re working on  some ideas (well, to put it better we’re trying to try to put our selves into this mode but it’s not fully working as you can guess easily) for a new WAX ‘release’ but we both have empty batteries – take some rest buddy, we have a full winter ahead! And I finally finished this great Keith Richards book, ‘Life’. Absolutely brilliant, hilarious and perhaps the best companion for your beach/mountain excursions. I mean, it’s totally understandable through this why the guy was able to write such great songs - fantastic storyteller, and the life he lived... sometimes you find yourself envy his luck! Great read indeed. 
Where was I? Ah yes, one of the emails WTS inbox swallowed all these days of absence was by Steve, a great guy as it turned out. He brought me some of my requests and along with these, a present...these ones here. Thanks man!I had Dogtown Balladeers CD in a small bit-rate old download and nothing else. What a band! They sure deserved some better fortune. I mean, I love dearly the Quireboys (especially their matured "Rock N Roll" phase) but the Dogtown guys were way better. Stonesy/Faces songwriting, Hanoi Rocks feeling (Sam Yaffa was the man behind the board), a cool guest set throughout the recordings - from Izzy Stradlin to members of Electric Angels, The Throbs, Kix, Blackeyed Susan and Black Crowes, and a good impression of a big fuckin' party full of empty bottles and mountain flush ashtrays. Semi-electric /semi-acoustic rock & roll,with obvious Motown influences, great lyrics, cool harmonies and melodies destined to be loved by every fan of good ol' time rock & roll. As the band said, "Three chords, a cloud of dust and a bad attitude"! 
Later!





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The Hollywood Brats - "The Hollywood Brats" (Cherry Red, Re-issue 1994)

In Greece we have an expression for Jekyll & Hyde situations that says: "Every coin has two sides". Probably you guys and gals from anyplace you’re coming from got it too or something similar anyway, but that's not our subject. Ever heard about New York Dolls evil twin? No? Too bad cause their Brit boyfriends and half the pattern of my beloved Hanoi Rocks’ sound (and from there of about a million more androgynous punk rebels) was the ‘other side’ of the aforementioned coin, probably as cheap as a penny and for sure as valuable as the Dolls.
This goddamn masterpiece believe it or not, had to wait in the can for seven long years! Recorded back in 1973 but came out for the first time in 1980... Think now what happened during those seven long years and what may have happened if this fucker was out on time! The Hollywood Brats would have now sickle Dolls saga. Truly outrageous, full of feathered boas, mascaras and stuff but without the all too feminine Dolls stylebook, championed by loonies like the prime minister of them, Keith Moon (the president would have been no other than Screamin’ Lord Sutch) and set the first step of one of my very fave bands ever, the Boys!
Did I say “The Boys”? Oh well, the all time sleaze break-up tune of “Sick On You” and “Tumble With Me” can be found here in all its prime savagery like the Faces of “Ooh La La” in drag, with campy piano playing that owes more to Esquerita than to Little Richard (listen to those first notes of “Chez-Maximes”, seconds before the guitars fire burn entry!) and thee syllable to syllable snotty edge that if you’re 15, bored to death and fat full of exploding hormones naturally becomes your national anthem (I’m not talking of course ‘bout good boys)! And the similarity with New York Dolls doesn’t stop here… Thunders gang ADORED 60s girls groups with most notable example this of Shangri-Las. Hollywood Brats fixation with the Crystals transformed into the best rock & roll adoption (“Then He Kissed Me”) of the Phil Sector’s finest gals songs (I love the Ronettes but sorry not as the sometimes Darlene Love fronted wildcat crew) along with the Fallen Angels “He’s A Rebel” take! The production was more garage oriented without the big stomping sound of the other glam acts in the UK, but hey, we’re talking about a punk band here, right?! Ha, I forgot to tell you that these brats were at first call themselves Queen! An out of control Freddie Mercury (well...kind of) one night at the Marquee crashed and demanded to change their name. Of course our boys kicked the shit outta him but they forced (I guess…) to change it in the end when the moustache fronted combo had its first hit.  On the 1994 Cherry Red re-issue CD, the few words in the liners almost like a blog post of A. Matheson made me realize why the dude was such a clever punk and why he was able to write such amazing lyrics!
“The HollywoodBrats was born of disgust. We simply couldn’t stomach anything that was happening in music at the time. It was all denim and drum solos. Where was the excitement, the danger, the outrageous clothes, the aggression, the glamour that made rock & roll the erotic narcotic we craved?” (…) “Next stop Olympic Studios where we continued to outrage all and sundry and trouble dogged our heels like a mutt with a fetish. We lorded over the Eagles, the Bee Gees, and Donovan because they were relegated in the mighty studio A while were relegated to the lowly B and C.Take up thy gongs and leave... The battle raged as producers and engineers kept trying to tone us down and smooth off our rough edges. Only we knew what the sound was supposed to be. We clawed like tigers in tantrum and soon the hired help wilted and slunk off down the corridors muttering death threats and left us to our devices” (…) “ We had made the music we wanted to make with no compromises or apologies but it was apparently too much, to soon. That’s life!”
Punk rock pioneers or what? 


pic taken from http://www.hollywoodbrats.com/


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Iron Virgin - "1974 Scottish Glam Rock" (Rave Up, 2007)

Hi there! You know, this must be the second most ridiculous name ever after this of (come on, it doesn't need Stephen King's imagination...) Iron Maiden, haha! I mean, Iron Virgin?! What in the hell you have thinking of guys? There was no chance make it big or to be hanged on a teen gal's room wall, right? But this by itself make them quite punk even if they weren't... or maybe were they?
These Scottish glamsters probably never make it further than those three singles in here (but don't bet on my side also...), which gathered by the good folks at Rave-Up some years ago and it's already a sold out. I first heard them on the Nuggets like for glam rock "Velvet Tinmine" compilation and they blew me! I mean OK, it's obvious now where Kim Fowley and the Runaways stole their "California Paradise" from, "Rebel Rules"! Note to note! As Decca used to do then, ignored band's material and force them to cover toons by others. "Jet" by Macca and the Wings (yaaack....), "Teenage Love Affair" by Rick Derringer (I always liked him, go on - shoot me!) and "Shake That Fat" by Jo Jo Gunne, all in BETTER versions than the originals in my humble opinion, fully glittered and thumped. I wish Rave Up people have use back sleeve's American football Virgins image (check some mo' in the way cool Crazee Kids Sound blog) than this of the original single for the front, but there's always I guess a second chance to reissue the reissue in a better package and with better sound... The legend says that for all these, we must thank Thin Lizzy's producer Nick Tauber who discovered our beloved sleazees but whom must we blame for the total reject it's the one million dollars question. I mean OK, were no Hector or Silverhead but they completely deserved better fortune. If "Rebel Rules" had Sweet's brand on, I'm sure would have sold millions! Anyway, this is it, grab it and crank it. One more thing, if any Giuda member ever crash this page, please do me a favor and cover your hooligan way this glam junk raver, you owe it to yourselves. Rebel Rules Again!
Later!

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Guttercat & The Milkmen - "Ballad Of A Drunk Man/Rock 'N' Roll Lingers" (7"- WISH 001, 2008) & "Lonely Tears In The Dark/Love Is Better In A Dream" (7" - WISH 002, 2008)

Another cool dump finding! You know, when me and my wife moved to our new house three years ago, naturally (for her and most women I guess…) and sadly (for me and all the guys came through this, basically all married) MANY things wouldn’t fit to our new home’s formation (grrrrr!). What can you do, democracy is democracy and you have to live with your own decisions (OK it’s not that bad and of course I'm joking, but I never gulped the fact that I have to live separately from many of my books, some of my zines and quite a lot of my CDs)… The good part of this is that from time to time I go down there to see what can I resurrect for me and for you (and find some privacy with the good excuse of settling a little the basement). Guttercat & the Milkmen was (is still?) a cool French band. And I mean way cool. OK obviously they not reinvented the wheel, but they play rock & roll in a way I like to hear it (or for better the way I like to hear it). The fact that Guttercat was once a member of Baby Strange made them fancy instantly (I never said I’m objective person, OK?). I’m quite sure I sent them an apology when our zine died and informed them for the cancellation of our scheduled interview but still (even if I’m excused I believe) no justice paid from my side. This is a CD-R Guts had sent me which includes their two singles for review. I remember clearly I was about to place them in my column as the best for that issue. And how’s not? The triptych of Jacobites/Only Ones/Tyla (of Dogs D’Amour fame) rules every song in here (the 'ballad' single actually has a front sleeve as you can see very lookalike with Tyla's solo works). Drunken electric ‘ballads’ with something more than visible presence of Johnny Thunders’ ghost and for sure an Ian Hunter during the Mott days, touch. There are still copies if you‘re interested, so grab them. I wish I could catch ‘em live. Great band!
 

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Bad Losers - "Bad Losers" (GMG, 1986)

Hi there! Glam punk anyone? You know, for a quite long period I was hooked DEEPLY with this fusion. My affection for the Dolls/Heartbreakers familia drove me to bought (m)any CDs and LPs with every possible Johnny Thunders/Jerry Nolan clone in it, sometimes with dubious results. This one was one of the best detections, hands down. I believe these Bad Losers should be by now legendary in their country (France) and I really don't know shit about them. Except that they were absolutely fabulous! The Hanoi Rocks reference is not only for the looks. Just like Finnish legends the 'copycat' tag evaporates from the first spin. They know how to filtrate the obvious influences via their own angle and create street rock & roll sounds,
profoundly rooted in the Stones 'Sticky/Exile' era and Mott the Hoople. Their take on "One of the Boys" just rips! Unlike the Heartbreakers, knew how to look for a good sounding result and the presence of Dave Goodman (Sex Pistols) behind the board I believe did justice to their essays. A hidden jewel? Perhaps. For sure a great addition to your record collection, in the shelf you guard the Crybabys and Dogs D' Amour albums!



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Taxi - "Like a Dog" (Dead Beat, 2003)

You know, there’s a hype going on the last few months (in the good sense of the word and I’m part of it as you can see) about Giuda and their blast under the name “Racey Roller”! And how not, cause this pill’s probably the coolest piece of plastic in Rock & Roll for so many years (let's not forget Johnny Throttle's releases). It has the street wise almost hooligan strength of Cock Sparrer in their prime, along with almost every Junkshop Glam 45 that kicked ass (no wonder the front sleeve it’s a remonstrance of Bilbo Baggins’ glitter punk sparkler - in the vein of Little Richard, “Saturday Night”!) with maybe some added Iron Virgin nasty hard edged bubble (did I wrote all this by myself?..I mean, WOW!)! The sad thing’s that Giuda were not long ago Taxi, the BEST punk rock outfit came out of Europe the last ten years and with many kilometres distance from the second one! I know I’m bit steep most of the times here, but that’s the way I love things and believe me, at least this time every word I use has been chosen carefully (I repeat myself again, right..?). Anyway, Taxi had no glam bootboy statements (OK maybe a little but imperceptible), were a 100% kick ass punk rock gang with their minds totally focused on the good bands of KBD/Bloodstains comps and maybe Chuck Berry if the MAN was younger and a member of the Bad Brains.  And the Chuck Berry reference wasn’t placed there incidentally. Unlike many 1977 bands and their kids, Taxi had catchy and well hooked songs, just like the ancient art of rock & roll demands. And I always loved the way sang them in English or French (especially the last)! On “Je Tombe En Bas” and “Slot Machine” you think you’re listening to the Kids singing in their mother language (hope not making a mistake here and the Kids are from the German speaking area of Belgium…) and generally you have the sense that all these blasts are unique re-births of songs by bands like PVC, the Vibrators or the Rezillos (with the often expecting on this genre touch of Stooges). “Rabies is a Killer” it’s the definitive highlight of the album since it is a cover song from a completely unknown (to me...) glam new wave of British heavy metal act (Agony Bag), which btw looked like a troupe of transvestites in a mixed situation with the Droogs (talk about taste!). This is if I’m right their first and to my tastes the best release as Taxi. Never too late for Rome’s first rate hools!

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Slade - "Get Yer Boots On: The Best Of Slade" (Shout! Factory, 2004)

Aaaahhhhh, Slade! You know what, I FUCKIN’ LOVE Slade (Miriam Linna as well)! How can someone to not? I mean, these brats had all the right elements a good ol’ party rock & roll band needs. And the word “party” doesn’t take its place in that line accidentally. This Mihaleez nick is actually a Slade-ified version of my real name which is Mihalis. I remember my English mistress (a slender 26 yo - at the time I was 14 - always to the laps with a minor slashing in the right down side tight dress woman, and her old fashioned glasses to make things even worse...gosh i loved her class) to chide me repeatedly for making this violation to the English words. “C’mun” ( I was afraid to go further by writing it CUM on!!!), “crayzee”, “luv”, “gudbuy”, “skweeze”! Haha, I still go in to do it! And forget all this glam hype crap. There was no glam here. I mean, what is glam anyway? There's nothing more stupid in the music business (leave out the ones so many years are holding many peoples luck) than to name a movement by a fashion trend! What's in common for Slade or Sweet with Queen or Elton John? Nothing against glam ‘trend’ of course, but Slade predated and outlasted the whole ‘genre’. To me they were always some kind of bubblegum AC/DC. Boogie & filthy hooligans with loud choruses (not unlike those of the football/soccer fans) and even louder guitars. From the In-Be-Tweens days (see Miriam's piece on 'em and the Stooges here), to the almost MC5-ish live document of "Slade Alive!" in 1972, and from the "this is how we do it kids" approach of "Whatever Happened to Slade" in the midst of the punk maelstrom (see the totally different image, almost oi!) to the almost 'artistic' (an' offensively word for sure to them) work of "In Flame", they knew how to raise eyebrows and shake some asses!
For some strange reason the US fans had to wait for (the) Quite Riot’s note to note metalized cover versions to get to know them well. Maybe were too Brit or maybe too loonies for them, who knows? Starting here with the Bobby Marchan/Little Richard soul & roll anthem (Get Down With It) and continuing the foot stomping journey to their own trademarks (Cum On Feel The Noize, Gudbuy T’Jane, Mama Weer All Crazee Now etc) this is perhaps the best to this day compilation of Slade’s finest/most known moments and a good starting point for the rookies. Of course there are MORE to discover from these mavericks (buy with no second thoughts the “Alive!”, “Slayed?” and “Whatever Happened to Slade?” LPs/CDs tomorrow) but for Friday/Saturday nights “Get Yer Boots On” is exactly what the title pronounced: A loud ass, crank the volume up, dressed to kill record, for kicks and chicks. Noddy Holder for President. Cum ON! 



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Suzi Quatro - "Can The Can" (RAK Records, 1973)

When it comes for Suzi Quatro, forget every other girl that tried to rock n' roll.
And that's a perfect debut album. Actually this one must be one of the superior debuts ever. Glam in the hooligan way of Slade, with more attention to ripped jeans than glitter clothes and chock full of dynamites! I must admit that i fell for this record immediately - just by staring at it. I still think of the front sleeve as one of the coolest in rock n' roll! Take a look at the gang, d'you really think these dudes (including Suzi) had anything in common with other (great) glam groups but lame on the looks, like the Sweet par example? I don't know why this fucker still counts as "glam" but anyway...
A true Detroit rock n' roll band, working on a formula that simply couldn't go wrong (Slade meets the Stones and then hit the gas!). From the fire-burner openers of "48 Crash" and "Glycerine Queen" to "Skin Tight Skin" and the EXCELLENT covers on "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Shakin All Over", Suzi and the gang just rips and never looks back! But don't be fooled, this thing here has no failed melody, no failed note and no failed attitude throughout its existence!
The sexiest piece of rock n' roll ever buried in a vinyl's furrow (OK i got too far here, i mean in the glam years and add to the the picture Marc Bolan too) and yes as much as cliche that is, without Suzi - No Joan Jett and no Runaways at all!
320 Kbps

 Can The Can



PS: Once i had the pleasure to interview her by email... So cool, so sexy and so down to earth after all these years!


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The Runaways - "The Best of The Runaways" (Mercury, 1987)

During their heyday, the Runaways treated like shit. Most of the so-called "rock writers", dismissed them as a commercial trick. Thankfully time was on their side and today the band has won the fans admiration as one of the very first all female bands that rocked and most important, rolled the world!
That's a very old CD. To tell you the truth i was anxious to see if this plastic thing still plays on a CD player. The date on the back cover says "1987", and my marked signature ( i used to stain all my records with my name and the date bought them) "1992"... This must be one of the first if not the first ever official conveyance of the Runaways old vinyl catalog to a digital format.
Even though since the first years of the 00s i completed with all their records my collection, this thing still gives me fond memories. It was one of the first 10 CDs of mine (for sure) and of course it played countless times on my parents home stereo at FULL VOLUME!
I'm not going to to write here the Runaways story. There is plenty of better information on the net plus a new movie on 'em with the collaboration of most Runaways members (Joan, Cherrie, Lita). I didn't see it yet but i will on the first chance. Along with the Ramones and the Pistols, Runaways were my first darlings on rock n' roll. For a teenage boy, girls with leather jackets, skin tight jeans and guitars was a blast! To tell you the truth still is. I was from the beginning a Joan Jett guy, but i stole many posters from my metalhead friends with Lita Ford in enormous SEXY outfits! Imagine "Pictures of Lily" by the Who but replace the name "Lily" with "Lita" and you'll get the picture for what Ford did to my teenage libido!
Anyway, this is a good place for starters i think. I mean after this, hunted down and get all of the Runaways material, so this must be a good place indeed.
Hats off to Kim Fowley for picking them up, promote them this way (a jailbait sleazy adolescent fantasy) and make more boys in a Prog / Disco age turn their heads on rock n' roll! And YES, sex is a good reason for someone to like Rock n' Roll!
 320 Kbps
 The Best Of..










R.I.P. Sandy West 




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