Latest / Classic Hitz with Hitman / Hitman talks to Michael Bluestein from FOREIGNER

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Hitman talks to Michael Bluestein from FOREIGNER · Classic Hitz with Hitman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Corpus Christi's classic hits, Big 93.9. It is Hitman with you.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: And I've got on the phone right now, Michael Blustein. Hey,
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  Speaker 1: how are you, sir?
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  Speaker 2: I am great, man. Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Now, if people are wondering, Michael Blustein, who's that? You're
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  Speaker 1: with Foreigner. Hey, big congratulations. Happy anniversary for 50 years
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  Speaker 1: with Foreigner.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, what a ride. Mick always says he never imagined
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  Speaker 2: that this many years later, 50 years later, the band
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  Speaker 2: would still be rocking and the radio would still be
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  Speaker 2: playing the songs and people would still be coming to
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  Speaker 2: the shows. So it's a pretty blessed place to be.
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  Speaker 1: So what can people expect when you guys come to
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  Speaker 1: the Hilliard Center on October 14th?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they can expect a lot of classic tunes that
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  Speaker 2: they know and love. and a lot of excitement both
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  Speaker 2: on the stage and in the crowd, and we always
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  Speaker 2: have a great time.
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  Speaker 1: Now, was it recently, well, we just recently did this,
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  Speaker 1: and a big congratulations to Toulouse Midway High School's choir.
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  Speaker 1: They are going to be singing with you guys on
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  Speaker 1: stage for the song I Want to Know What Love Is.
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  Speaker 1: How long have you guys been doing that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've been doing that, gosh, pretty much since I
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  Speaker 2: joined the band, you know. This has been a a
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  Speaker 2: campaign that we've done for a really long time and
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  Speaker 2: it's really proud of it. It's just something to raise
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  Speaker 2: awareness about music and arts programs in schools. Right. It's
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  Speaker 2: a collaboration with the, with music cares and the Grammy foundation.
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  Speaker 2: You know, these music and arts programs are often the
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  Speaker 2: first things to get cut when there are budget cuts
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  Speaker 2: in schools. So, you know, we help raise money for
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  Speaker 2: these programs, raise awareness about how important these programs are.
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  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of us in the band were
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  Speaker 2: products of, music programs and school bands and you know
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  Speaker 2: active music and arts lives when we were younger so
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  Speaker 2: we want to keep that tradition going and make sure
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  Speaker 2: kids have the opportunity to explore.
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  Speaker 1: That now besides you touring with with foreigner uh i
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  Speaker 1: noticed that you also have a couple of solo projects
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  Speaker 1: that you do and you've put some stuff out on
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  Speaker 1: spotify how's that going.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great. Well, thanks for noticing. Yeah. I like
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  Speaker 2: to stay active, creating my own stuff, putting out music,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I've got a few different, I have a
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  Speaker 2: sort of lo-fi chill instrumental project called Beat Glider that
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  Speaker 2: I do, which is just kind of like part of
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  Speaker 2: that chill, relaxing music space, which is something I've always
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  Speaker 2: really enjoyed creating. My wife and I have a little
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  Speaker 2: duo called Tina Blue, which is a, We do original
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  Speaker 2: and cover songs, and actually we're working on a kid's
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  Speaker 2: album right now. And yeah, I've put out my jazz records,
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  Speaker 2: original pop things, and yeah, it's fun to stay creative,
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  Speaker 2: and it's just, you know, there's no end to what
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  Speaker 2: you can do, you know, and then technology is such
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  Speaker 2: these days that you can create a lot in your
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  Speaker 2: own home studio. You don't have to be a wizard anymore.
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  Speaker 2: engineer anymore do it you know some of those skills
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  Speaker 2: do help but it's just really fun to produce your
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  Speaker 2: own stuff and put it out so I.
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  Speaker 1: Do a lot of that We're talking with Michael Blustein
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  Speaker 1: from the band Foreigner, celebrating 50 years of Foreigner, coming
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  Speaker 1: to the Hilliard Center on October 14. Tickets are still
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  Speaker 1: on sale right now at Ticketmaster.com and also at the
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  Speaker 1: box office. You need to tell me about your mom,
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  Speaker 1: because I noticed also on your Facebook page, she's a
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  Speaker 1: great storyteller. She makes some great stories.
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  Speaker 2: That's true. I'm really glad you brought that up. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: she's actually a published novelist. And she wrote a historical
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  Speaker 2: novel set in Renaissance Italy. It's called Botticelli's Muse. It's pretty,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I may be biased, but I really, I've
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  Speaker 2: passed this book on to a lot of people and
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  Speaker 2: across the board, people have loved it. It's a pretty
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  Speaker 2: epic novel, which, you know, overlaps with some historical Italian
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  Speaker 2: figures like Botticelli and, you know, da Vinci and, it's,
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  Speaker 2: it's pretty amazing novel. So anyway, yes, she does that.
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  Speaker 2: She does a lot of short stories. I grew up
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  Speaker 2: in a pretty creative household with her. She was always
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  Speaker 2: creating stuff. She's a visual artist too. In fact, she
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  Speaker 2: did all the illustrations in her own novel too. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I've got a pretty amazing mom. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I, yeah, I'm, I'm proud of you, man. It's
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  Speaker 1: like that's have a creative family like that. It probably,
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  Speaker 1: it helped you a lot while, you know, while, you know, learning,
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  Speaker 1: you were learning piano at nine and, and starting from
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  Speaker 1: there on, it's, it's very impressive. I, your history is
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  Speaker 1: very impressive. You need to write a book.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'll let my mom do the book writing. She's
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  Speaker 2: the one who does that, but yeah, thanks. It was a,
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  Speaker 2: a great, you know, a sort of, um, because unconventional
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  Speaker 2: kind of scenario that I grew up in, you know, and, uh,
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  Speaker 2: She exposed us to a lot of great music, too.
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  Speaker 2: The turntable was always going with all kinds of stuff,
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  Speaker 2: everything from Stevie Wonder and Cat Stevens to Thelonious Monk
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  Speaker 2: and people like that. She exposed us to a lot
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  Speaker 2: of stuff. Neither of my parents were musicians, but they
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  Speaker 2: were definitely, my mom in particular, very nurturing about creative pursuits.
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  Speaker 1: Well, getting back to Forner a little bit, you guys
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  Speaker 1: have been touring for a little bit. I know you
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  Speaker 1: take a couple of breaks. I saw some great photos.
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  Speaker 1: I think it was not this year. It was last
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  Speaker 1: year or something where you and the family went to
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  Speaker 1: go to the aquarium over in Winnipeg and took some
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  Speaker 1: great photos there, which, by the way, when you come
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  Speaker 1: to Corpus, if you like going to aquariums, there is
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  Speaker 1: the Texas State Aquarium here in Corpus Christi that you'd
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  Speaker 1: probably love to go check out.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, that's a good tip. I was not aware of that.
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  Speaker 2: The family is going to be joining me in San
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  Speaker 2: Antonio soon. We've got a show there coming up and
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  Speaker 2: then a couple of days off. So they'll be coming
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  Speaker 2: out there, but yeah, so we'll be doing some family
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  Speaker 2: stuff there, but good to know about Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi,
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  Speaker 2: because I do love aquariums.
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  Speaker 1: So I asked this to all the bands and all
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  Speaker 1: artists that I talk to all the time. And it's,
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  Speaker 1: it's some great advice. You know, this, this city is
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  Speaker 1: a rock town. A lot of rock bands are here.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of great bands are performing here. What do
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  Speaker 1: they have to do to take it to the next
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  Speaker 1: level of, to where they start getting record deals and
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  Speaker 1: starting to get their name out there. What is something
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  Speaker 1: that you can give them for advice to take them
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  Speaker 1: to the next step?
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  Speaker 2: I would say just develop your own sound. Don't try
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  Speaker 2: to sound like anybody else. Just really, originality is important
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  Speaker 2: and it resonates with people. It's just have your own
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  Speaker 2: point of view and don't be afraid to take that
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  Speaker 2: as far as you can because... You know, the world
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  Speaker 2: doesn't need, you know, another, whatever, the latest newer pop
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  Speaker 2: stars or whatever. You know, it's like, just find your own,
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  Speaker 2: try to work really hard at finding what you have
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  Speaker 2: to say and making that as great as it can
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  Speaker 2: be and get out there and share it with the world.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, you know, it's a different landscape now, social media,
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  Speaker 2: TikTok and Instagram, all that stuff. You know, for better
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  Speaker 2: or for worse, it's really important and a big part of... whatever,
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  Speaker 2: you know, exploring that space, it seems to be pretty important. So, uh, but, but,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you're making great music.
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  Speaker 1: I got one more question for you. What is your
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  Speaker 1: favorite song you love to perform live.
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  Speaker 2: With the band? I would have to be cheap box hero.
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  Speaker 1: I completely agree with it. So, um, any last words
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  Speaker 1: you'd like to pass on to the foreigner fans about,
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  Speaker 1: you know, what, what to expect and, and, uh, any,
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  Speaker 1: any stuff you'd like to say to your fans?
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  Speaker 2: I'd say come on out. You know, they may get
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  Speaker 2: some unexpected treats because we're trying to change it up
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  Speaker 2: and add new, deeper cuts as well as the hits.
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  Speaker 2: So it's always an exciting show, and come sing along
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  Speaker 2: and we'll hear this.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to
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  Speaker 1: us today. Looking forward to seeing you on the 14th.
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  Speaker 1: Tickets are still available right now at Ticketmaster.com at the
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  Speaker 1: Hilliard Center for Foreigner. Hey, Michael, thanks a lot, and
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  Speaker 1: hopefully I'll get to meet you when you guys come
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  Speaker 1: into town.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, that'd be great. Awesome, man. Good talking to you.