Copyright, Music, My Stories

How Valuable Are Things?

I just helped my in laws move a lot of stuff out of a storage facility and into their new house. They’ve had their stuff in storage since Feb, 2013. Over 6 years.

And guess what happened when we started to move their stuff out of storage.

Most of it went to the rubbish tip. I threw a tonne out for $390 in tipping fees

So I was curious as to how much my in-laws would have paid for storage over these six years and I almost drowned on the water I was drinking when they told me $33K.

$33K to store things which they thought as valuable years ago and it ended up in the tip.

I said to em, “you know how nice you could have fitted out your house with new furniture for $33K.”

Would you pay $33K to store stuff?

I wouldn’t.

I’m either a seller or a giver to the local charity or a tipper. The only thing I’ve moved from each house move has been my record collection.

And it got me thinking about my record collection (Vinyl, CD and Cassettes). I saw them once as valuable. I had all of it under lock and key in an alarmed room, once upon a time.

These days, I don’t have them secure at all. While I still love listening to the music, having the record in hand doesn’t have the same feeling as it once did. Maybe because my eyes can’t see the lyrics anymore, especially when they are tiny. I still collect them because I am a collector, but in the end what’s the point, I’m thinking.

My Dad has a pretty massive record collection and after he got his stroke and faced death in the face, his priorities became very different.

In the end, value is in the eye of the beholder. What I see as valuable, another person won’t. And I remember reading an article about how Elvis memorabilia has gone down in value because people who normally buy it, are dead or they have enough of it, which they are also trying to sell.

So how valuable will our collections and the artists works be in 40 years time?

That’s why the Copyright Corporations like the record labels are trying to lock up the rights of creators works for their whole life plus 70 years after death (and they are trying to get laws passed to make it 90 years after death).

Because there will be value to some.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

1978 – Part 3 – Power To The Rock N Roll Outlaws

Australian artists had a certain sound which seemed to connect with the world.

Being oceans apart from the many other continents aided this sound as music didn’t travel that fast to get to the land down under, which meant we had to listen to our albums with the same songs a bit more longer, or listen to the same songs on radio a little bit more longer or watch the live pub shows with the same songs a little bit more longer.

And when you went to a pub show and heard a certain sound/style rocking the joint and getting people into it, well it was a no brainer that if you formed a band, your style would have some of those elements.

And here my folks is Rose Tattoo.

Rose Tattoo – Rose Tattoo

The real Bad Boys of Rock N Roll, cut from the cloth of Heavy Metal Thunder and various pub brawls in Australia. And they had a singer called Angry Anderson, who didn’t mind spilling blood on stage either. At their Reading performance, he kept banging his head against the amp head until he spilt blood.

I saw a picture of the band once and I thought they would motor in on their Harley’s and bash everyone they saw.

Rose Tattoo is tied to biker culture the same way “Born To Be Wild” is. Maybe it’s got to do with Angry’s up bringing and how his Uncle was a biker.

Motley Crue and the Gunners have nothing on these guys. And Gunners covered “Nice Boys” on their live EP, which Rose Tattoo introduced as a Gunners song when they opened up for them on the “Use Your Illusion” tour down under in the early 90s.

“Rock N Roll Outlaw” starts off with the opening lyrics of “I don’t need lots of people telling me what to do”. Defiance and rebellion encapsulated in just a few words.

“Nice Boys”  don’t play rock and roll and “Remedy”is “Long Way To The Top” on steroids. 

AC/DC – Powerage

The ascendancy to world domination is almost there.

Who would have thought that in almost 2 years time, Bon Scott would be dead?

“Rock N Roll Damnation” is a great opening track. Musically, its typically AC/DC and Bon Scott lyrically, is growing into a beast of a writer.

Especially in the section when he sings; “Damnation, left a happy home, Damnation, to live on your own”.

And it continues in that vein, with Bon Scott singing “Damnation” and then something else after it, like “you got dollars in your eyes” or “chasin’ that pie in the sky”.

Life is about taking risks. You can stay at home and be comfortable or you can live.

“Down Payment Blues” has some of the best lyrics about life.

“Living on a shoestring, a fifty cent millionaire, open to charity, rock n roller welfare”

Life is not easy trying to make end meets as a rock and roller.

“I’ve got holes in my shoes and im way overdue, down payment blues”

One thing you can’t escape in Australia is repayments. Miss one and you get a letter. Miss two and you are on notice. Miss three and the whole world is coming down.

“Get myself a steady job, some responsibility, cant even feed my cat on social security”

Government welfare payments, which are less than the minimum wage are there, but if you can’t find a job in time, these payments are not really there. It’s spent on day one and then you have to wait 13 days for the next payment.

“Gimme A Bullet” has this awesome guitar groove which just gets your head nodding and foot tapping. And to my ears, it’s the embryo to what would become “You Shook Me All Night Long”.

“Riff Raff” and “Sin City”  make it a perfect five-0.

“Riff Raff’ is basically a re-write of “Let There Be Rock” and it has riff that Motley Crue used in “Rattlesnake Shake”, a decade later. And the lyrics,  man, Bon Scott was onto climate change.

“See it on television every day, hear it on the radio, it aint humid but it sure is hot, down in Mexico, boss man tryin to tell me, beginning of the end.”

Is there a better song that “Sin City” and that verse riff?

“Ladders and snakes, ladders give, ssssnakes take, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief”.

The sin city always win, its why it has survived and everyone who has ventured there has turned to dust.

“Kicked In The Teeth” is another re-write of “Let There Be Rock” and I love the lyric, “kicked in the teeth again, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

Relationships are try and try again.

Songs like “What’s Next To The Moon”, “Gone Shootin’” and “Up To My Neck In You” are good songs, but the ones mentioned above are my go to songs.

UFO – Obsession

If only the band spent the same amount of time creating as they did partying and taking narcotics, who knows how big they would have been.

Because while a lot of the 70’s bands got a second chance in the 80’s on the back of MTV, UFO didn’t and neither did Michael Schenker, although the label tried and ex-partners and managers did their best bankrupting them.

There are no hits on this album, but a band following their muse and creating.

“Only You Can Rock” is rooted within the Free/Bad Company/ELO roots.

“Pack It Up (And Go) is heavily influenced by “Immigrant Song” and a perfect UFO song which gets no attention.

“Arbory Hill” should have been made into a song instead of a short minute instrumental. It sounds like something from a Genesis album with Peter Gabriel singing.

“Cherry” has a bass riff in the verses, that I swear appeared on a “Joy Division” or “New Order” album a few years later. It’s like the seed of the New Wave movement.

“Hot N Ready”, “You Don’t Fool Me” and “One More For The Rodeo” are songs from UFO we know and they would have served the existing fanbase well, but for me, it’s those songs that had a few things just a little bit different that really connected with me.

Doobie Brothers – Minute By Minute

I have to admit, I dig the song “What A Fool Believes” and those ball squeezing falsettos in the Pre-Chorus and Chorus.

The Police – Outlandos d’Amour

As soon as they appropriated the reggae and put it into the mix, it was a different ballgame.

Because while the opening track “Next To You” is rooted in blues rock and roll, the second track “So Lonely” is a cross between reggae and rock and roll.

So when “Roxanne” kicks in as the third track, its mix of reggae guitars over a flamenco bass guitar riff in the verses, and a pop rock Chorus, well, you can hear something special was in the air.

So it’s no surprise that the biggest songs on the album had that reggae feel, like “Can’t Stand Losing You”, “Roxanne” and “So Lonely”.

But “Truth Hits Everybody” is my favourite. It’s a melodic rock song.

Joe Walsh – But Seriously Folks

“Tomorrow” and “Shandi”.

What came first?

And with the Kiss reference to close of Part 3, Part 4 will begin with a Kiss-a-ganza.

Part 1 can be found here.

Part 2 can be found here.

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Music, My Stories, Stupidity

Surveillance

Tom Morello posted the following on Twitter on the 24 October 2019;

Surveillance breeds conformity and obedience. Fuck that Shit.

There is a link to a buzzfeednews article which covers how musicians and activists stopped creepy, racist facial recognition technology from ruining live music events, and why we have to stop it everywhere.

It’s important, even more so today than ever before.

With the exponential rise in technology and our take up of devices to be connected, we are under surveillance more than ever before. Our text messages and mobile phone calls are stored for years. Our search histories are stored and any key words that law enforcement are on the lookout for, are immediately sent to the right department. Our purchases go through a database to see if dangerous stuff purchased separately end up at the same address.

Criminals once they get access to our devices or computers put us under surveillance, tracking our clicks and cyber movements until they have enough information to take our identity and empty our bank accounts. And there is no one there to help with the trauma that comes from this.

We have more surveillance in democracy than totalitarian regimes have.

The Electric Eye in the sky is really watching.

Computer algorithms can scan your face and decide if you are drunk or if you look suspicious. Once you make it through the screening, facial recognition tech can then track you the whole time you are in the area, like a concert venue, a spirting stadium or an airport. Ever been pulled out of a line for a desperate pat down or scan at airport security. Well it was your face that did caused the problem, because it had something the algorithm didn’t like.

And businesses who stand to profit will lie to any investors or government officials, just to protect their business models.

If we thought the nuclear arms race was a threat, well I guess we ain’t seen nothing yet. The clock is ticking and it’s two minutes to midnight.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories

The Pirate Vault #3

Motley Crue – Raw Tracks/Painkillers

“Raw Tracks” is a Japanese release and “Painkillers” is a bootleg of a live recording and studio outtakes from the “Too Fast For Love” sessions.

It was the first time I heard “Stick To Your Guns”. I wasn’t a fan of the song overall, but the lyrics resonated, about sticking to your guns because what is right for you, ain’t right for everyone.

On the “Raw Tracks” tape side, I added the tracks from the 12 inch “Without You” single as well. No point in wasting the precious blank tape reel.

And it’s the first time I heard the term “Original Leathur Mix”, which meant I was on a quest to acquire this legendary self funded independent album.

King Diamond – The Eye/Conspiracy

I had a King Diamond spell because of guitarist Andy LaRocque.

When I heard his riffs and solos, it was at a time in my life circa 1990, which had a lot of the hard rock bands delivering stock standard bubblegum music, like Brinty Fox, Roxx Gang and Skin N Bones and LaRocque was very different.

He combined hard rock influences with this feel that I call Euro Rock. And King Diamond has a unique voice between Rob Halford/Pavarotti like falsetto highs and a low gravelly tone like Lenny.

And both albums are concept records.

Listen to “Eye Of The Witch” for it’s groove or “Sleepless Nights” for its technical riffs.

Twisted Sister – Under The Blade and King Diamond – Them

I needed some music for my Walkman and I remember dubbing these from my cousin Mega.

This is the Secret Records release of “Under The Blade” which has a mix I prefer over the Atlantic re-issue.

Kiss – Alive III

It’s my favourite Kiss live album. A casual pop friend picked it up on CD, told me about it and I was over there in a flash with a blank cassette to copy it.

And somehow I had room on side A, so I included a Jovi cut, so I don’t waste the tape reel.

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories

Surroundings

There is a billion dollar industry telling people that the only way to get better is to surround yourself with better people.

As author and motivational speaker Jim Roth once said, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” And in that small five person group, there will be family members and friends known as “Locusts” (great song from Machine Head by the way) who sap your strength and undermine your efforts to improve.

It’s why it’s important to take the midnight train out of your small town or small circle and arrive into a bigger town or bigger circle, and find people who share your values, and push you and inspire you to be your best self. You can even do it today without leaving your bedroom, but sometimes, behind the blue screen, you don’t know what kind of person is really there.

Even “Spotify for Artists” has a whole team devoted to surrounding writers and composers with some of the best talent, so they can either write a song from scratch, have people play on their song, have people mix and master their song or just give them feedback.

And we used to get upset when our favourite bands used to lose band members, for musical differences or some other bs line. But sometimes, members left our favorite bands to surround themselves with better musicians and sometimes those band members got booted so a more talented musician could be brought in.

But talent doesn’t make a great band. We all know that talent without effort and grit and resilience and a quest of self-development means nothing.

And the glue that binds it all is trust. So surround yourselves with talented people that you trust.

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A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Shine

Michael Sweet is one of the hardest working musicians these days. The arena days of the 80’s are long gone, but if creating music was all about playing arenas, then Sweet would have packed it in a long time ago. From his work ethic, the need to create is more important than anything else.

And each album has a track which makes me pay attention.

“Shine” is the one on his newest solo album “Ten”.

The riffage, the chorus vocal melody and the music under the Chorus, are all very similar to the songs he writes for Stryper. In other words, Michael Sweet is Stryper and Stryper is Michael Sweet.

Times are tough
The waves get rough
And it’s hard to see the land

Man, times are tough, especially if we let our small lizard brain control everything. You need to remember, the human body is designed to fight or flight.

In other words, it’s designed to survive. It’s been that way from the sabre tooth days and it’s still wired that way, even when you lay down in the comfort of your bed. So when those times are tough and your mind is telling you to give up, remember that you are designed to survive.

You’ve seen it all
And taken falls
And you’ve stood the test of time
You’re a conqueror, a warrior
And your spirit is sublime

Living makes you experience failure and success.

How you deal with setbacks and success, is how you survive.

Hey – there’s only one of you
Hey – don’t let life run you through
Hey – you’re one of a kind
You don’t have to hide
All you have to do is shine

Damn right, you only have one life, so don’t throw it away focusing on past wrongs or allowing toxic people sap your energy and light.

And the Guitar solo by gunslinger Ethan Brosh, is worthy of attention. But will anyone care in our noisy society.

And straight after “Shine” comes “Let It Be Love”, a stellar ballad with one of Sweet’s best vocal performances, which goes into “Never Alone” and “When Love Is Hated” (with its “Immigrant Song” from Led Zeppelin groove merged with the “Lady Of The Lake” from Rainbow groove), basically the four best songs on the album, back to back.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

1984 – VIII – Loose Feet In The Pleasuredome

This is the final 1984 post where everything else fits in. This is the music which came into my life from music television, movies and the older siblings from my friends, or my brothers friends.

And if you look at some of the sale numbers from the albums, these albums became so big it was hard to avoid the songs on them as radio played em and music television played em.

Here is the playlist.

Footloose

The movie was everywhere.

It’s music was everywhere.

There wasn’t a person alive in 1984 that could have missed this cultural phenomenon.

And it’s funny how the same repeat offenders appeared on the same big soundtracks.

Kenny Loggins delivers a stellar title track, with roots in the 60’s Rock and Roll movement. He also wrote “Danger Zone” for the “Top Gun” movie in 1986 , “Hearts On Fire” for “Rocky IV” and “Meet Me Half Way” for Stallone’s “Over The Top” which also had a killer Sammy Hagar track in “Winner Takes It All”. Stan Bush was another artist who had his songs appear in movies.

Ann Wilson (from Heart) and Mike Reno (from Loverboy) deliver a stellar ballad in “Almost Paradise”.

Bonnie Tyler’s anthem, “Holding Out For A Hero” appears while “Somebody’s Eyes” by Karla Bonoff is very Police like; just think of “King Of Pain”, even Gotye would have been inspired by it.

“The Girl Gets Around” from Sammy Hagar is on the soundtrack, but it’s not on the Spotify version of the soundtrack, but then again, a lot of the Sammy stuff is missing from Spotify Australia.

The original soundtrack ended with the song “Never” from Moving Pictures. And that synth lick to kick the song off, sounds heavy on distorted guitar. Plus it has a galloping riff in the verses which reminds me of “The Trooper” verses.

In 1998, a 15th anniversary edition was released and it added “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” from Quiet Riot, “Hurts So Good” from John Mellencamp and “Waiting For A Girl Like You” from Foreigner. To me, it’s a triple home run and almost 10 million in sales in the U.S alone.

Huey Lewis And The News – Sport

This album really came out in 1983 but its success came in 1984.

Over 7 million in sales in the U.S. plus extra royalties, when Huey Lewis put in a copyright complaint against Ray Parker Jnr for using, “I Want A New Drug” and renaming it “Ghostbusters”. 

And “Walking On A Thin Line” could have come from John Mellencamp, so it was no surprise that the album crossed over to different styles.

But overall, I couldn’t relate to any of the other songs.

Weird Al Yankovic – In 3-D

“Weird Al” found a niche.

What a great concept to make parodies of popular songs, all the way to platinum sales.

“Eat It”  kicks it off, a parody of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. The clip was doing the rounds routinely on the music video TV shows so there was no way to avoid it.

There are some misses, and then “King of Suede” starts, a parody of “King of Pain” by The Police, about a discount sale happening for suede.

The “Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)” is a parody of “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor and hits the mark about a boxer who purchased a deli and is asking customers, do you want the rye or the Kaiser roll.

Billy Ocean – Suddenly

Now here is another artist that sold a lot of product, with over 2 million in sales in the U.S.

From the first four albums, that is close to 20 million in U.S sales.

“Caribbean Queen” hits the mark. Just check out the chorus vocal melody.

“Loverboy” has some cool single note pentatonic riffs in the verses and a Chorus that sounds like “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and “I Love Rock N Roll”.

“Suddenly” is a power ballad. It’s a massive song and it would work in a hard rock context. Replace the piano riffs with acoustic guitars and the song will start to sound like a Beatles/ELO blend.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome

Here is another artist that couldn’t be avoided. The film clips for “Relax” and “Two Tribes” were in constant rotation.

“Two Tribes” had this riff that reminded people of Pink Floyd and suddenly, they are crossing over into the Floyd’s fan base.

And the cover of “Born To Run” from Bruce Springsteen does the original justice.

Madonna – Like a Virgin

Regardless of your viewpoint, Madonna knew how to market herself and bend the media to her will. The film clips to “Material Girl” and “Like A Virgin” will be forgotten with time, but for anyone who lived through the 80’s they still remain in our memories from over exposure.

And my neighbour, she was into Madonna, so I kept hearing the songs mentioned along with “Dress You Up” and Stay” over and over again. And Madonna built a career on this album, with over 10 million in sales in the U.S and over 20 million in sales worldwide.

Billy Squier – Signs Of Life

Just forget about the video clip and the visuals and let the ears guide you.

“All Night Long” is a rocker, with a catchy guitar riff and vocal melody, with a hedonistic guitar solo.

“Rock Me Tonite” has a keyboard riff which sounds like it came from a Queen album and a guitar riff that decorates it nicely.

“Reach For The Sky” has this “King Of Pain” feel from The Police, like the song “Somebody’s Eyes” from the Footloose soundtrack by Karla Bonoff.

“Can’t Get Next To You” has a guitar riff that feels like it’s got a bit of “Long Way To The Top” and in the Chorus it’s a bit of “All Right Now”. Music is a sum of influences. 

Wham – Make It Big

There was no escaping Wham and their hit songs like “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” on music television and radio.

But the song on this album is “Careless Whisper”.

Listen to it, it’s a bonafide hard rock song and it crosses over easily. It’s one of George Michael’s best songs.

Seether covered it in the 2000’s and did a stellar job with it, especially how they translated the saxophone solo into a fuzzed out guitar solo. 

Zebra – No Telling Lies

It didn’t do great commercial business compared to the debut and it got the label worried. It’s not a bad album, it’s just not as good as the debut. The material feels like more filler than killer.

In saying all that, how good is the intro riff to “Wait Until The Summers Gone” and that exotic Arabian sounding lead break?

“I Don’t Like It” is a good listen.

And then the intro riff starts for “No Telling Lies” and I’m stopped in my tracks. Once the vocal melody kicks in, I’m hooked. It’s not a track for the charts, it’s a track for the artist. And these kind of tracks hook in the real fans.

Armored Saint – March of The Saint

One song defines this album to me and it’s “Can You Deliver”.

It’s perfect and timeless.

The pedal point intro riff kicks it off and it gets doubled for the verses. The vocal melody starts off in one register and goes higher as it builds.

Even CC DeVille was listening intently, as it seems he used the riff for “Look What The Cat Dragged In”.

The Angles – Two Minute Warning

If you like AC/DC then you will love this album. I guarantee it or your money back. They had a bigger selling album towards the late 80’s, but this one is my favourite.

They are rock and roll royalty in Australia, with their street brawling rawk and roll.

“Small Price” has a groove reminiscent to “Long Way To The Top” from AC/DC.

“Look The Other Way” is another foot stomper in the vein of AC/DC.

“Underground” has a vocal delivery that Bon Scott delivered from the grave and “Razor’s Edge” continues the AC/DC spirit.

Running Wild – Gates To Purgatory

It’s basically Metallica’s “Kill Em All” merged with the fast songs from Iron Maiden’s catalogue, merged with the fast songs from Motorhead’s catalogue with a touch of Scorpions thrown in.

My favourite track is “Soldiers of Hell” because of the harmony guitar solos. “Preacher” sounds like a song a more popular band copied and made popular. “Prisoner Of Our Time” has a kick arse hard rock riff.

And that’s a wrap for 84. I started this series in March, 2018 and it’s finally done.

Here are all the other posts.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Music, Unsung Heroes

The Record Vault – Bond

The song “Explosive” was used as the Australian theme song, during the 2004 Athens Olympics TV coverage in Australia, so without a doubt, it sent this album and the song to Number 1 and platinum sales.

And “Classified” is the third studio album. The band still performs to this day, only changing one member, who left to have a child.

The performances are top notch and credit needs to be given to Croatian songwriter Tonci Huljic who wrote the score to the song.

To me it’s a melodic rock instrumental done in a way which is very accessible.

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories, Stupidity

Rehab

When artists get into a situation when their life feels like it is out of control, how much blame should be levied at management or band mates?

Sometimes a simple conversation over coffee can change things. Sometimes, a simple question, “are you okay?” could change things. But people need to ask those questions like the band mates.

But without good managers, it’s an uphill struggle to world domination. And you don’t get good management if you are not making money. So in order to keep the good managers, you need to be making money.

And Metallica is a worldwide cultural phenomenon. I was at a fundraiser last night for Beyond Blue, a Call centre which deals with mental health and a guitar signed by the Metallica members was the highest auctioned item.

And the people who in most cases start the downward spiral are the main people, like James Hetfield.

If Hetfield wants, he could really fire all of the other band members and it will still be Metallica. He is the riff meister, the singer and the lyric writer (well ignore that album called “St Anger” when others were made to contribute lyrics because a life coach said so and because the main writer wasn’t really interested).

So is it any wonder that James Hetfield is back in rehab. The reality is, without James Hetfield, Metallica cannot tour. And if they cannot tour, they don’t make money. And if they don’t make money, band members and management don’t get paid. So they tour, until something breaks.

But Metallica is a corporation, a business, with employees. It needs to roll on.

The band owns all of their masters, so they negotiated favourable license and royalty deals with streaming services.

A movie is released about S&M 2. They will eventually license that to streaming services and DVD/Blu-Ray replications.

They form partnerships.

Metallica with Billabong for a special run of surf clothing. Metallica with a football sporting team for a special run of jerseys with the Metallica logo. Metallica watches. Metallica whiskeys. Metallica with lipstick and nail polish companies. Metallica mugs, glasses to drink from and glasses to put on your eyes. There are other licensing deals with other companies to have their T shirts in various stores around the world.

But the main person is in rehab. And until they fix that, they are in trouble.

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