Now that I look back even the rough times were good. How many teenage girls get to do what we did in a lifetime? We used to stick together, go to bat for each other, support each other. A lot of people think all we did was fight with each other, but that’s not true. We had a lot of great times.
wiki:
Sandra Sue Pesavento, known professionally as Sandy West (b. 7/10/59 – d. 10/21/06) 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. She was born in Long Beach, California. The most athletic of seven sisters, Sandy was an avid surfer and water skier. According to an interview with her that I found on YT, she started out trying to play the violin but put that aside. She found a drum kit and took up the drums from there. (interview posted below) From 4th through to 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. She played the drums in the marching band and in school bands as Sandy Pesavento.
While looking for quotes from Sandy, I came across this mini-bio on imdb:
At age sixteen Sandy co-founded the seminal all-female rock group the Runaways in 1975. She was an important member of the band for four years and wrote all her own drum parts. While the Runaways failed to achieve much commercial success in America, they were a huge smash in Japan, where they performed in arenas to sold out crowds and released a live album that went gold. Alas, the Runaways broke up in 1979. West formed her own group the Sandy West Band and released the solo album “The Beat is Back.” Unable to support herself as a musician, Sandy worked mainly in construction as well as a small amount of time as both a bartender and a veterinary assistant in order to keep herself afloat. However, she did continue to perform live in concert with former the Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie on several occasions throughout the years. Moreover, West was widely acknowledged as an exceptionally fine and proficient drummer who influenced many women rock musicians to start playing the drums. She’s featured as an interview subject in the 2004 documentary “Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways.” Sandy was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 and died at the tragically young age of 47 on 10/21/06.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders
Official website of The Runaways here non-working website
Kind of a shaky old VHS recording, but hearing it directly from Sandy is important, I think:
Caveat on this next video. There are some “statements” pasted over some of the video that may or may not be true. I’m posting it because I like the video of Sandy drumming on it and her talking at the end:
BONUS video. After Sandy’s passing, a memorial concert was organized and held. Here’s a video of at least some (maybe all?) of it:
Tao Talk 
Thank you for this. I really enjoyed learning a little more about one of the women that formed the forefront of women in rock.
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You’re welcome, Violet. Buckle up, because you’re going to learn about several other members of The Runaways this WMM :)
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Such a shame a pioneer such as Sandy had to struggle so. Thanks for sharing her story.
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Randy, you will be learning more about The Runaways in the coming days that may help you understand the struggles.
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I really like the shaky video of her talking about the beginning…I never knew any of that. Such a sad story of her passing so young…really good drummer!
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Max, I watched several videos to find the ones I did. It is a shame that such an important musical group in history got such “shaky” coverage. What also shocked me during the research for the members of the group was how expendable they were by the management. In addition to being The Runaways, they were The Throwaways in their manager’s eyes (may he not RIP!)
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Kim Fowley was not the greatest human being around…he used and abused them in a lot of ways. Bad managers…there were plenty out there at the time….and probably now as well. Hopefully most newer bands have learned. CCR and Badfinger had terrible ones.
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Agreed on management practices that can make or break a band. Yet, Kim was a special kind of evil, preying on underage girls.
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He was obsessed with it…he created more all female bands that didn’t make it.
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Called “ongoing perv supply.”
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What a tragic end of life. R.I.P. Sandy
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I love her spirit and it is a tragic way to go.
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You can feel their influence all over the place. That’s too early to leave this world…(K)
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I agree, K. They were amazing! Most of the remaining posts were members of the band.
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Great post, Lisa. While I feel nowadays it’s no longer as uncommon to see a female drummer, it certainly was a different situation back in 1975 when The Runaways were formed. I guess they started around the time when Fanny broke up. The Runaways, the Go-Go’s and the Bangles identified Fanny as a key influence.
The fact Sandy West passed away at such a young age is very sad. Meanwhile, her bandmate and Runways co-founder Joan Jett is still rockin’ on. In fact, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have a busy touring schedule lined up for this year!
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Thanks, Christian. I do like seeing women drummers. I am liking learning how they fit into musical history. I’m planning on covering Joan Jett this WMM also. Glad to hear she’s busy making music :)
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Cool, I love rock & roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby! :-)
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