Reporting by the mainstream media was so fast as to have been overlooked, but on October 21st, 2006 drummer Sandy West of the influential rock band the Runaways died after a lengthy battle with cancer. West was only 47 years old at the time of her death. The Runaways, largely credited with being one of the first all-girl rock & roll bands, propelled guitarists Joan Jett and Lita Ford to moderate levels of stardom during the '80s, and provided vocalist Cherie Currie a degree of notoriety for her 1989 "tell-all" book about the band, Neon Angel.

The Runaways were formed in 1975 by Jett, West and bassist Michael Steele with help from songwriter Kari Krome. Performing as a three-piece band, they came to the attention of songwriter/producer Kim Fowley, a permanent feature on Hollywood's rock music scene, who became the band's manager. Lita Ford was subsequently added as a second guitarist and Currie was recruited to front the band. After trying out a couple of different bass players, Jackie Fox filled out the band's best-known line-up. Steele would go onto join the Bangles.

The Runaways were signed to Mercury Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1976, the disc yielding the classic song "Cherry Bomb." The teen aged quintet was breaking new ground, challenging male-dominated rock & roll with a pre-punk West Coast sound that was every bit as thrilling as what the New York Dolls or the Dictators were doing on the East Coast. Although the band was dismissed by many critics at the time as mere "jailbait rockers," they toured the world to enthusiastic reception, building an especially large fan base in Japan.

The band released its second album, Queens Of Noise, in 1977 and followed it with Live In Japan (an import LP not available in the U.S.) later that year. Bassist Jackie Fox left the band, to be replaced by Vicki Blue; Currie also left around this time and Jett took over on vocals as the band carried on. The Jett-fronted line-up released Waiting For The Night in late-1977 and when the album failed to chart, Fowley jumped ship as the band's manager. And Now...The Runaways, the band's swan song, was released in 1978 following the departure of Blue, who was replaced by Laurie McAllister for live shows until the band's final break-up in 1979.

Sandy West was the Runaways drummer throughout the band's entire half-decade existence. A steady hand behind the kit, West was one of the band's secret weapons, a talented musician that provided strong rhythms in spite of the seeming revolving roster of bass players. After the Runaways, West played with Lita Ford for a while before forming the Sandy West Band in the early-80s. West eventually went into construction to make a living, but continued to play music, sometimes appearing with Currie. Director Paul Hone has posted a number of video clips of Sandy West onstage on YouTube (such as the one below).

The Reverend has to admit to a certain fascination with the Runaways. I was a big fan of the band at the time and, of course, as a teenage boy I found the band's sexy "jailbait" imagery to be attractive in a prurient way. At different times I had a serious lust going on for Jett, Ford and Sandy West. I was living in Detroit when I found a copy of Live In Japan in the wonderful Dearborn Music store (which carried a lot of import 45s and LPs). The album included five individual 12"x12" cardboard pictures of each band member inside the deluxe gatefold album sleeve; I think that they might still be packed in a box somewhere.

Click on album covers to go to Amazon.com

At the time, none of us would have thought that the Runaways would become as influential and iconic as they have (especially us cold-hearted music critics), but artists as diverse as Courtney Love, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, the Donnas and L7 among many others have all credited the Runaways as one of their favorite bands. West was an integral part of the Runaways and fans will always remember this talented, if overlooked, musician.