My Top 20 albums for 1978 no 16

1978 saw the arrival of Kate Bush in the UK - Her debut The Kick nside is featured here
Kate's Debut album which includes UK no. 1 'Wuthering Heights' The Kick Inside 1978

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1) Moving
2) The Saxophone Song
3) Strange Phenomena
4) Kite
5) The Man With The Child In His Eyes
6) Wuthering Heights
7) James and the Cold Gun
8) Feel It
9) Oh To Be In Love
10) L'amour Looks Something Like You
11) Them Heavy People
12) Room For The Life
13) The Kick Inside
AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
Kate Bush's first album, The Kick Inside, released when the singer/songwriter was only 19 years old (but featuring some songs written at 15 and recorded at 16), is her most unabashedly romantic, the sound of an impressionable and highly precocious teenager spreading her wings for the first time. The centerpiece is "Wuthering Heights," which was a hit everywhere except the United States (and propelled the Emily Brontë novel back onto the best-seller lists in England), but there is a lot else here to enjoy: The disturbing "Man with the Child in His Eyes," the catchy rocker "James and the Cold Gun," and "Feel It," an early manifestation of Bush's explorations of sexual experience in song, which would culminate with "Hounds of Love." As those familiar with the latter well know, she would do better work in the future, but this is still a mightily impressive debut.

The Kick Inside is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush. It was released on 17 February 1978 and contains her UK number one hit, "Wuthering Heights". The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.[2] The production included efforts by several progressive rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.

Background and recording

Having written a number of songs from the age of 11, Kate Bush recorded a number of demos with the assistance of her brothers, who were also musicians. A friend of theirs, Ricky Hopper, brought some of these tapes to various record companies in 1972, when Bush was 13. The tapes were passed over, but Hopper played them for Dave Gilmour, who was a friend of his. Gilmour was immediately intrigued and went to meet with the Bush family and was impressed with Kate's talent for songwriting. He arranged for her to record some better quality demos, which he financed. While Pink Floyd were recording their album Wish You were Here at Abbey Road studios, Gilmour played the tapes for some of the record company executives. EMI Records were impressed and agreed to sign her, offering her an advance of £3,000.[4] Two of the demos were recorded in June 1975 and were included on her debut album, which was still nearly three years away from being released, these were "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" and "The Saxophone Song".

During 1976 Bush's contract was finally agreed by her family and Kate continued to compose songs. In preparation for the recording, she embarked on playing with the KT Bush Band around various pubs. According to her brother Paddy, who also played with her on stage, these started out as very small affairs with little interest but grew to larger audiences over the months. Finally, in July and August 1977, the rest of the songs were recorded at AIR Studios in London, helmed by producer Andrew Powell. Bush was keen to keep the line-up of the KT Bush Band for the recordings, but the record company insisted that they use properly experienced session musicians. Powell used the services of Ian Bairnson, Duncan Mackay and Stuart Elliott among others, many of whom he had worked with before.
It was also around this time that Bush had started to study dance and movement as a way of presenting the songs and subsequently credited her dance teacher Lindsay Kemp on the album. The song "Moving" being inspired by him. With the album recorded, the record company began to work on Bush's image and how they would promote her. This led to a disagreement with Bush over the use of a certain shot which emphasized her cleavage on the picture sleeve for the first single. Initially, the record company had selected "James and the Cold Gun" as the first single, but Bush herself insisted it must be "Wuthering Heights". The record company relented and the single was due to be released in November 1977. However, due to the disagreement over the picture sleeve, the single was withdrawn and the release date was pushed back into the new year of 1978. The song became a big hit and reached No.1 in the UK Singles chart in March.[6] The single stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks, becoming one of the biggest selling songs of the year and was the first time a female singer-songwriter topped the charts with a self-penned song.

The album, titled The Kick Inside was released in February 1978 and featured 13 tracks. Her cinematic and literary influences, two qualities which went on to be considered her trademarks, were most obvious in the song "Wuthering Heights". The song was not initially inspired by Emily Brontë's novel but by a television adaptation, although Bush read the novel later in order to (in her own words) "get the research right".[8] Further influences can be found when she references Gurdjieff in "Them Heavy People", while the title song is inspired by the ballad of Lizie Wan.[9] Bush also writes openly about sexuality, particularly on the erotic "Feel It" and "L'Amour Looks Something Like You". "Strange Phenomena" questions unusual coincidences, premonition, and déjà vu.

The album's second single, "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", reached number six in the UK. Three other singles were released over the world during the next two years: "Them Heavy People", "Moving" (which reached number one in Japan) and "Strange Phenomena". "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" also charted on the American Billboard Hot 100, Bush's only single to do so until 1985. It peaked at number 85. Bush made an appearance on Saturday Night Live in December 1978. Despite this publicity, The Kick Inside failed to enter the top 200 of the Billboard albums chart.

The album peaked at No.3 on the UK Albums chart and remained on the chart for much of the rest of the year. Eventually clocking up 71 weeks in the chart.[10] It was certified platinum and remains one of Bush's biggest selling records.
Release

Six different varieties of the album's cover are known:[11] the regular UK cover, a variant UK cover, the US cover, the Canadian cover, the Yugoslavian cover, the Japanese cover, and the Uruguayan cover, the Uruguayan cover being the rarest and most expensive due to its unusual head-on photo of Bush.

In the UK, it was released (twice) as a limited edition picture disc. This is housed in a full colour outer sleeve ('Kite' picture by Jay Myrdal). It sports a sticker declaring that it's a picture disc (cat. no: EMCP 3223). Two versions were actually released: The first edition has a circular sticker stating that it is a picture disc (usually in the top left hand corner). The second pressing (apparently aimed at the US market, where the first pressing had proven popular) has an oval sticker (usually top centre). The second disc also states "manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Ltd." as part of the copyright notice printed on the disc. The first edition does not have this wording.

In later reviews, the album continued to receive universal praise. Pitchfork said of the album, "It is ornate music made in austere times, but unlike the pop sybarites to follow in the next decade, flaunting their wealth while Britain crumbled, Bush spun hers not from material trappings but the infinitely renewable resources of intellect and instinct: Her joyous debut measures the fullness of a woman’s life by what’s in her head." It spoke highly of every track, but had slight lyrical reservations for "Room for the Life".[20] In a BBC review, writer Chris Jones said in 2008, "Using mainly session musicians, The Kick Inside was the result of a record company actually allowing a young talent to blossom. Some of these songs were written when she was 13! Helmed by Gilmour's friend, Andrew Powell, it's a lush blend of piano grandiosity, vaguely uncomfortable reggae and intricate, intelligent, wonderful songs. All delivered in a voice that had no precedents." He says that the record company wanting to push "James and the Cold Gun" as the first single was a mistake as he labels it the album's "dullest track".[Allmusic's Bruce Eder said that the album is "the sound of an impressionable and highly precocious teenager spreading her wings for the first time" and called it "a mightily impressive debut."[22]
Track listing

All tracks are written by Kate Bush.
Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Moving" 3:01
2. "The Saxophone Song" 3:51
3. "Strange Phenomena" 2:57
4. "Kite" 2:56
5. "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" 2:39
6. "Wuthering Heights" 4:28
Side two
No. Title Length
7. "James and the Cold Gun" 3:34
8. "Feel It" 3:02
9. "Oh to Be in Love" 3:18
10. "L'Amour Looks Something Like You" 2:27
11. "Them Heavy People" 3:04
12. "Room for the Life" 4:03
13. "The Kick Inside" 3:30
Personnel

Kate Bush - piano, lead vocals, backing vocals
Andrew Powell - arrangements, keyboards (2), piano, Fender Rhodes (3), bass guitar, celeste (6), synthesizer (9), beer bottles (12)
Duncan Mackay - piano, Fender Rhodes (1, 10), synthesizer (3), Hammond organ (4, 6, 7), clavinet (4)
Ian Bairnson - electric guitar, acoustic guitar (except on 2), backing vocals (9), beer bottles (12)
David Paton - bass guitar (1, 3, 4, 7, 9-12), acoustic guitar (6, 9), background vocals (9)
Stuart Elliott - drums (exc. 2, 5, 13), percussion (9, 12)
Alan Skidmore - tenor saxophone (2)
Paul Keogh - electric guitar, acoustic guitar (2)
Alan Parker - acoustic guitar (2)
Bruce Lynch - bass guitar (2)
Barry de Souza - drums (2)
Morris Pert - percussion (3, 4, 6), boobam (12)
Paddy Bush - mandolin (9), backing vocals (11)
David Katz - orchestral contractor (for an unnamed orchestra on all tracks exc. 4, 5, 7, 8, 12)

Production

Andrew Powell - producer
David Gilmour - executive producer (2, 5)
Jon Kelly - recording engineer
Jon Walls - assistant engineer
Wally Traugott - mastering

"Moving"

[Verse 1]
Moving stranger, does it really matter?
As long as you're not afraid to feel
Touch me, hold me, how my open arms ache!
Try to fall for me

[Chorus]
How I'm moved, how you move me
With your beauty's potency
You give me life, please don't let me go
You crush the lily in my soul

[Verse 2]
Moving liquid, yes, you are just as water
You flow around all that comes in your way
Don't think it over, it always takes you over
And sets your spirit dancing

[Chorus]
How I'm moved, how you move me
With your beauty's potency
You give me life, please don't let me go
You give me life, please don't let me go
Oh, you give me life, please don't let me go
You crush the lily in my soul
La-la-la-la-lily
Soul
La-la-la-la-lily
Soul
La-la-la-la-lily

The Saxophone Song"

[Verse 1]
You'll find me in a Berlin bar in a corner, brooding
You know that I go very quiet when I'm listening to you
There's something special indeed
There's something special indeed

[Pre-Chorus 1]
In all the places where I've seen you shine, boy
There's something very real in how I feel, honey

[Chorus]
It's in me, it's in me
And you know it's for real
Tuning in on your saxophone
Da-bah-da-bah-doo...

[Verse 2]
The candle burning over your shoulder is throwing
Shadows from your saxophone, a surly lady in tremor
The stars that climb from her bowels
Those stars make towers on vowels

[Pre-Chorus 2]
You'll never see that you had all of me
You'll never see the poetry you've stirred in me
Of all the stars I've seen that shine so brightly
I've never known or felt in myself so rightly

[Chorus]
It's in me, it's in me
And you know it's for real
Tuning in on your saxophone
Da-bah-da-bah-doo...

"Strange Phenomena"

[Verse 1]
Soon it will be the phase of the moon
When people tune in
Every girl knows about the punctual blues
But who's to know the power behind our moves?

[Verse 2]
A day of coincidence with the radio
And a word that won't go away
We know what they're all going to say
"G" arrives, funny, had a feeling he was on his way

[Chorus]
We raise our hats to the strange phenomena
Soul-birds of a feather flock together
We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us
Sure enough, he has the answer
He has the answer, he has the answer
Om mani padme
Om mani padme
Om mani padme hum

[Verse 3]
You pick up a paper, you read a name
You go out, it turns up again and again
You bump into a friend you haven't seen for a long time
Then into another you only thought about last night

[Verse 4]
You hear your sister calling for you
But you don't know where from
You know there's something wrong
But you don't want to believe in a premonition

[Chorus]
We raise our hats to the strange phenomena
Soul-birds of a feather flock together
We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us
Sure enough, he has the answer
He has the answer, he has the answer
Om mani padme
Om mani padme
Om mani padme hum

[Outro]
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum

Kite"

[Refrain]
Come up and be a kite

[Verse 1]
Beelzebub is aching in my belly-o
My feet are heavy and I'm rooted in my wellios
And I want to get away and go
I want to be
From all these mirror windows
I want to be home
I look at eye level, it isn't good enough
And then I find it out when I take a good look up
There's a hole in the sky with a big eyeball
There's a hole in the, there's a hole in the sky
Calling me

[Chorus]
Come up and be a kite
And fly a diamond night
A diamond kite, a diamond kite
Ooh, what a diamond!
A diamond kite on a diamond flight
Over the lights, under the moon
Over the lights, under the moon
Over the moon, over the moon

[Refrain]
Come up and be a kite

[Verse 2]
I feel a rush along my body, like a bullet
I'm 2D after a push-and-pull feeling
And I want to get back to safe home
I want to be
I love the homeland dome
I want to be home
I got no limbs, I'm like a feather on the wind
I'm not sure if I want to be up here at all
And I'd like to be back on the ground
I'd like to be, I'd like to be down
But I don't know how to get down-down-down

[Chorus]
Come up and be a kite
And fly a diamond night
A diamond kite, a diamond kite
Ooh, what a diamond!
A diamond kite on a diamond flight
Over the lights, under the moon
Over the lights, under the moon
Over the moon, over the moon

[Refrain]
Come up and be a kite
Come up and be a kite

The Man with the Child in His Eyes"

[Verse 1]
I hear him, before I go to sleep
And focus on the day that's been
I realise he's there when I turn the light off
And turn over
Nobody knows about my man
They think he's lost on some horizon

[Pre-Chorus 1]
And suddenly I find myself
Listening to a man I've never known before
Telling me about the sea
All his love, 'til eternity

[Chorus]
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes

[Verse 2]
He's very understanding
And he's so aware of all my situations
And when I stay up late
He's always waiting, but I feel him hesitate
Oh, I'm so worried about my love
They say, "No, no, it won't last forever."

[Pre-Chorus 2]
And here I am again, my girl
Wondering what on Earth I'm doing here
Maybe he doesn't love me
I just took a trip on my love for him

[Chorus]
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes

Wuthering Heights"

[Verse 1]
Out on the wiley, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you too

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

[Chorus]
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window

[Verse 2]
Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back, love, cruel Heathcliff
My one dream, my only master

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

[Chorus]
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window

[Bridge]
Ooh, let me have it!
Let me grab your soul away
Ooh, let me have it!
Let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy!

[Chorus]
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold
Let me in-a-your window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy
Come home, I'm so cold...

James and the Cold Gun"

[Verse 1]
James, come on home
You've been gone too long, baby
We can't let our hero die alone
We miss you day and night
You left town to live by the rifle
You left us to fight
But it just ain't right to take away the light

[Pre-Chorus]
Remember Genie, from the casino?
She's still a-waiting in the big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whiskey back
'Till they get out of hand and wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life that they led with their old friend

[Chorus]
Ooh-wahoo-ooh-ooh
Wahoo-oohoo-oohoo-ooh
Wahoo-oohoo-oohoo
James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?

[Verse 2]
Where lies your heart?
It's not there in the buckskin, baby
It's not there in the gin that makes you laugh long and loud
You're a coward, James
You're running away from humanity
You're running out on reality
It won't be funny when they
Rat-a-tat-tat you down

[Pre-Chorus]
Remember Genie, from the casino?
She's still a-waiting in the big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whiskey back
'Till they get out of hand and wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life that they led with their old friend

[Chorus]
Ooh-wahoo-ooh-ooh
Wahoo-oohoo-oohoo-ooh
Wahoo-oohoo-oohoo
James, are you selling your soul...
Oohoo-hoo-hoo
Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo
...to a cold gun?

Feel It"

[Verse 1]
After the party, you took me back to your parlour
A little nervous laughter
Locking the door, my stockings fall onto the floor
Desperate for more
Nobody else can share this, here comes one and one makes one
The glorious union
Well, it could be love, or it could be just lust
But it will be fun
It will be wonderful

[Chorus]
Oh, feel it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Oh, feel it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Oh, I need it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Feel it
See what you're doing to me
See what you're doing to me

[Verse 2]
God, but you're beautiful, aren't you?
Feel your warm hand walking around
I won't pull away, my passion always wins
So keep on a-moving in, keep on tuning in
Synchronise rhythm now

[Chorus]
Oh, feel it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Oh, feel it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Oh, I need it, oh, oh, feel it, feel it, my love
Feel it
See what you're doing to me
See what you're doing to me
See what you're doing to me

"Oh to Be in Love"

[Verse 1]
As the light hits you
As you shift along the floor
I find it hard to place my face
How did I come to be here, anyway?
It's terribly vague, what's gone before

[Verse 2]
I could have been anyone
You could have been anyone's dream
Why did you have to choose our moment?
Why did you have to make me feel that?
Why did you make it so unreal?

[Chorus]
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again

[Interlude]

[Chorus]
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again

[Verse 3]
All the colours look brighter now
Everything they say seems to sound new
Slipping into tomorrow too quick
Yesterday always too good to forget
Stop the swing of the pendulum
Let us through

[Chorus]
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again
Oh, to be in love
And never get out again

"L’Amour Looks Something Like You"

[Verse 1]
You came out of the night
Wearing a mask in white colour
My eyes were shining
On the wine, and your aura
All in order
We move into the boudoir
But too soon
The morning has resumed

[Chorus]
I'm hanging on the Old Goose Moon
You look like an angel
Sleeping it off at a station
Were you only passing through?
I'm dying for you just to touch me
And feel all the energy
Rushing right up-a-me
L'amour looks something like you

[Verse 2]
The thought of you sends me shivery
I'm dressed in lace, sailing down a black reverie
My heart is thrown to the pebbles and the boatmen
All the time I find I'm living in that evening
With that feeling of sticky love inside

[Chorus]
I'm hanging on the Old Goose Moon
You look like an angel
Sleeping it off at a station
Were you only passing through?
I'm dying for you just to touch me
And feel all the energy
Rushing right up-a-me
L'amour looks something like you

[Outro]
L'amour looks something like you
L'amour looks something like you

Them Heavy People"

[Refrain]
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me
(Rolling, rolling, rolling)
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me
(Rolling, rolling, rolling)

[Verse 1]
They arrived at an inconvenient time
I was hiding in a room in my mind
They made me look at myself, I saw it well
I'd shut the people out of my life

[Verse 2]
So now I take the opportunities
Wonderful teachers ready to teach me
I must work on my mind, for now I realise
Every one of us has a heaven inside

[Chorus]
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Them heavy people help me
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot

[Refrain]
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me
(Rolling, rolling, rolling)
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me
(Rolling, rolling, rolling)

[Verse 3]
They open doorways that I thought were shut for good
They read me Gurdjieff and Jesu
They build up my body, break me emotionally
It's nearly killing me, but what a lovely feeling

[Verse 4]
I love the whirling of the dervishes
(Come on, give me dervishes love)
I love the beauty of rare innocence
You don't need no crystal ball, don't fall for a magic wand
We humans got it all, we perform the miracles

[Chorus]
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Them heavy people help me
(Heavy, heavy, heavy)
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Rolling the, rolling the, rolling the, rolling the...
(Ro-rolling, ro-rolling...)

[Chorus]
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Them heavy people help me
(Heavy, heavy, heavy)
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Rolling the, rolling the, rolling the, rolling the...
(Ro-rolling, ro-rolling...)

[Chorus]
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Them heavy people help me
(Heavy, heavy, heavy)
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Rolling the, rolling the, rolling the, rolling the...
(Ro-rolling, ro-rolling...)

[Chorus]
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Them heavy people help me
(Heavy, heavy, heavy)
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot
Rolling the, rolling the, rolling the, rolling the...
(Ro-rolling, ro-rolling...)

"Room for the Life"

[Verse 1]
Hey there, you lady in tears
Do you think that they care if they're real, woman?
They just take it as part of the deal
Lost in your men and the games you play
Trying to prove that you're better, woman
But you needn't get heavy with them
Like it or not, we were built tough
'Cause we're woman

[Pre-Chorus]
No, we never die for long
While we've got that little life to live for, where it's hid inside
No, we never die for long
Oh, woman, two in one

[Chorus]
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Inside of you can be two, woman
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Mama, woman, aha

[Verse 2]
Night after night in the quiet house
Plaiting her hair by the fire, woman
With no lover to free her desire
How long do you think she can stick it out?
How long do you think before she'll go out, woman?
Hey, get up on your feet and go get it, now
Like it or not, we keep bouncing back
'Cause we're woman

[Pre-Chorus]
No, we never die for long
While we've got that little life to live for, where it's hid inside
No, we never die for long
Oh, woman, two in one

[Chorus]
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Inside of you can be two, woman
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Mama, woman, aha

[Outro]
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha
Oh, mama-woman, two-in-a-one, aha
Oh, two in one, aha
Oh, woman, woman, woman, woman
There's room for a life in your womb
There's room for a life in your womb
Two in one, aha
Two in one, two in one, two in one
Room for a life in your womb

The Kick Inside"

[Verse 1]
I've pulled down my lace and the chintz
Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius?
I'll send your love to Zeus
Oh, by the time you read this, I'll be well in touch

[Chorus]
I'm giving it all in a moment or two
I'm giving it all in a moment for you
I'm giving it all, giving it, giving it, giving it
This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind
No more under the quilt to keep you warm
Your sister, I was born, you must lose me
Like an arrow shot in the killer storm

[Verse 2]
You and me on the bobbing knee
Didn't we cry at that old mythology he'd read
I will come home again, but not until
The sun and moon meet on yon hill

[Chorus]
I'm giving it all in a moment or two
I'm giving it all in a moment for you
I'm giving it all, giving it, giving it-giving it
This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind
No more under the quilt to keep you warm
Your sister, I was born, you must lose me
Like an arrow shot in the killer storm

[Verse 1]
I've pulled down my lace and the chintz
Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius?
I'll send your love to Zeus
Oh, by the time you read this...

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