Up next in 10
Thanks for watching our video about Ray Theriault's career and about who is the new manager at Bowling Green GM?
If you want to learn more about Ray Theriault's career, you can visit our channel to watch our videos.
This video covers the following subjects:
- Bowling Green GM plant gets new manager
- Who Is Ray Theriault?
- Being a Plant Director at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant
***********************************
We have a new Plant Director at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. And on this episode of CORVETTE TODAY, you get to meet him, up close and personal.
Your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett, introduces you to Ray Theriault. Ray has be with General Motors for over 27 years. His employment with them has taken him around the world!
On this episode of CORETTE TODAY, you'll get to know Ray on a personal and professional basis. He talks about his career with GM and the future for BGA.
Your new Plant Director at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant is here on CORVETTE TODAY!
***********************************
If you wish to learn even more about who is the new manager at Bowling Green GM, I suggest you check out our various other video clips:
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Spotify: {https://open.spotify.com/show/0Y0740uG8m9swbp4WlE2Pv }
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***********************************
Our video explores Bowling Green GM plant gets new manager, who Is Ray Theriault, and being a Plant Director at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.
Have I responded to your concerns about who is the new manager at Bowling Green GM?
Your insights matter to us! Please feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions in the comments below.
******************************************
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0:00
[Music] welcome to Corvette today the show that
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talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum
0:13
president of the Corvette club of Kansas City Missour and radio disc jockey at the number one radio station in Kansas
0:20
City for over 45 years here's Steve
0:27
Garrett thanks for listening and watching Corvette today the show that talks about everything Corvette and the
0:33
only current podcast dedicated to Corvette I'm your host Steve Garrett I appreciate you tuning in Corvette today
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is brought to you by wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit
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forum welcoming Corvette enthusiasts from around the world my guest on today's show is the new plant director
3:18
at the Bowling Green assembly plant you know there's so much going on at BGA right now and you're going to meet him
3:24
now up close and personal his name is Ray Terio Ray welcome to Corvette today
3:30
thank you so much for having me on the show today Steve I really appreciate it I really appreciate you taking the time
3:35
because like I said I know how busy you guys are there at the Bowling Green assembly plant so let's talk about you
3:40
let's get to know Ray Tero a little bit better first of all Ray Corvette Nation does welcome you to our family but tell
3:47
me about your upbringing I know you grew up close to the Milford Proving Grounds didn't you I sure did in fact when I was
3:53
6 years old my family and I moved to Milford which for those who may not be familiar with it it's about an hour
3:59
Northwest of Downtown Detroit and especially when I was young it was a sleepy rural community it had many parks
4:06
and lakes still does and somehow hidden away within that Community is the crown jewel of Automotive Test Facilities
4:12
General Motors Milford Proving Grounds and so I grew up seeing all of the new models around town regularly and in fact
4:20
my best friend through grade school lived at a white farmhouse that is literally right at the end of General
4:26
Motors road that leads into the entrance of the Milford Proving Grounds wow and he and I used to spend so much time
4:32
trying to peek through the fence or listening to the cars that were on the track or just paying attention to what was going on in that mysterious area
4:39
called the Milford Proving Grounds it was an absolute joy for a young person growing up in that area and seeing
4:44
everything that was new first really General Motors kind of rubbed off on you in an early age didn't it it absolutely
4:50
did it's kind of funny because I've never actually worked at The Proving Grounds but I've certainly been around it my whole life that's awesome now talk
4:56
about your family right talk about your siblings did you grow up in a carf family well I did a bit so I am the
5:01
second oldest of four siblings I have an older brother and two younger sisters my parents have been married for over 55
5:08
years now so they're certainly setting the example of how to have a successful marriage my father worked in the Auto industry his whole career he started as
5:15
an hourly worker and then retired in management actually at a competitor's company I spent most of my time growing
5:21
up at home with him in the garage helping maintain our own vehicles and working to actually keep our tractor and
5:28
our car running and I I think some of that experience helped influence my career choices and then my mother stayed
5:33
at home and she took care of my siblings and I but really she kept watch over the whole neighborhood and she also was able
5:39
to glimpse into the future a little bit because before computers were even a thing she was able to find somebody who
5:46
had a home computer up in an attic and she would take me there once a week so that I could go learn what computers
5:51
were all about and learn to program a little bit and I'm certain that had some influence on me as I started to make
5:56
professional decisions and then later of course I got married it's my wife Amanda we've been married 29 years next month
6:03
we have three adult daughters Jessica Anna and Sarah obviously my wife is an angel as she has stuck with me through
6:08
this amazing journey around the world Hadad with General Motors that's fantastic and mlof to your mom and dad
6:14
for 50 years and the same to you for 29 years of marriage that's fantastic yeah it's absolutely a milestone for sure
6:20
we're happy now when did you realize Ray that you were a car guy well it would probably be back to that time spent in
6:25
the garage that I mentioned earlier with my father we were consistently repairing and doing the upkeep on the family car
6:31
but also my father had an old Ford 9N tractor and this tractor was older than
6:36
most of the tractors that were actually on display at Henry Ford Museum and between the cars and the tractor we were
6:42
constantly outside doing work and from as young as I could remember my father would show me how to take things apart
6:47
in an early fashion what all the tools were to do it properly and then how to actually get the repair made and get the
6:53
vehicle back on the road it was very important to us because that tractor especially that was necessary to follow the snow as you could imagine imag in
6:59
Michigan to actually get out of the rural neighborhood where my parents lived and where I grew up to get my father to work or to get the family
7:05
groceries yeah we have that same situation here in Kansas City we need a truck with a tractor and a blade yes
7:11
absolutely and I can tell you that sometimes when people ask me hey how do you deal with the stress of being a plant manager my answer to them is oh
7:18
it's nothing I used to hold the flashlight for my father as he was working on the family car so being a plant manager is no big deal that's
7:24
awesome that's awesome so when did you realize Ray that you were a Corvette guy was Corvette your favorite car growing
7:30
up or were there other cars too do you know I think the moment that I realized that the Corvette was special was in
7:35
second grade and when I think back to second grade my teacher's name was Mrs bliznik and she had the coolest car I
7:41
had ever seen and at least in my memory Steve it was a 1977 hand Coupe Corvette
7:47
from that moment that I saw her roll up to the elementary school in her Corvette I dreamed of having one myself someday I
7:53
stated that dream enough to my parents and those around me that when I turned 15 my mom and dad knew that I loved vets
8:00
so they actually got me a 1980 vet and told me that if I wanted to drive when I was 16 I needed to start rebuilding the
8:07
engine so my dad and I worked on it you know imagine complete shade tree mechanic work we had a cable strug
8:12
across a couple trees with a Come Along on it to pull it apart to get the engine out and then we worked on rebuilding the
8:18
engine and putting it all back together by the time I was 16 and I'm happy to tell you that we were successful a
8:23
couple months before my 16th birthday that car in fact ran that's the good news the bad news is that vet was not a
8:30
Corvette but a chette it probably knew from the factory it should have had about 60 horsepower I
8:36
think and after our rebuild I was probably lucky to be in the 40 horsepower range but it was my
8:42
horsepower and it was my car and and so that chave ET was definitely not a Corvette but it continued me on the road
8:47
of absolutely loving engines and horsepower and performance and being Hands-On fantastic story Ray that's
8:53
awesome well let's take our first break and when we come back we're going to talk more about your educational career
8:58
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1550 you're enjoying the only current podcast on Corvettes Corvette today hey
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thanks for checking out Corvette today on podcast and YouTube it's the only current podcast dedicated to Corvette
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Corvette today is brought to you by wheelcraft you want your Corvette looking its best right we'll dress it up
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639 4231 I'm your host Steve Garrett with me is the new plant director at the Bowling
11:34
Green assembly plant Ray Terio in the second segment we're going to talk about Ray's education and how he got his job
11:41
at GM Ray let's talk about your educational career what did you study where'd you go to college and what
11:46
degrees do you hold well Steve I got my undergraduate degree from Lawrence Technological University which is a
11:52
smaller private school outside of Detroit and I chose to go there because thankfully I was afforded a full
11:59
academic scholarship which was too good to pass up wow and I'll share with you that I be chose to become an electrical
12:04
engineer because of maybe all that time in the garage with my dad or just other experiences I had I sort of figured that
12:10
if I stared at something mechanically long enough I could figure it out but I knew I could stare at printed circuit
12:15
boards and computers forever and probably not figure them out so I chose to go the electrical engineering Road
12:20
for my undergraduate degree smart and later I was able with
12:25
financial support from General Motors to actually go to the university of Michigan where I got my master's degree in engineering and its concentration is
12:32
automotive engineering and Manufacturing as well and so yes when you think about me being a Michigan alum for those
12:38
listeners maybe that you have that passed by Bowling Green assembly during the national championship game that Michigan recently won it was not a
12:45
coincidence that we had as close as we could get to Ma and blue cars out front on display here at the factory to
12:50
support the team that I'm a fan of in fact to that point one subtle thing that we do here is that we often have a
12:57
reason for the color cars that we display out front so if folks want to stop by and take a picture at those cars
13:02
and maybe take a guess as to why we've chosen the colors we have there's usually a reason behind them very cool
13:08
now during your college career were you involved in SAE I asked because a lot of our guests on Corvette today have talked
13:14
about how much they enjoyed that experience during their college career do you know I was involved with SAE
13:20
through college and early in my career although I didn't participate in probably the big banner SAE events like
13:26
formula sa as a lot of my colleagues have I was certainly involved with the group and attended meetings and conventions and was also supportive of
13:33
those teams because I had many friends that were active on them my culmination with SAE actually happened in 2008 where
13:40
I received the young manufacturing leadership award from the SAE foundation
13:45
and that was a very proud moment for me in my career because that event I was actually recognized and was able to give
13:51
a short speech and it was attended by some of the titans of the automotive industry like Rick Wagner and Alan
13:56
malali were both there at that moment and Alan malali also received an award at the same event so yes I've been
14:01
involved with sa and SAE has been very good to me throughout my career wow congratulations that's a great story how
14:07
cool is that it it's definitely a proud moment for me absolutely so did you get your job with GM right out of college
14:13
Ray I did not during college and actually after graduation I worked for Detroit Diesel Corporation when it was
14:20
owned by racing Titan Roger Pensky actually I was an electrical controls engineer where I would design and
14:26
improve the equipment that actually machined and assembled in this case diesel engines at that company and it
14:31
was a great job and I worked with a lot of wonderful people in fact that job really emphasized to me the atttention
14:37
that I needed to have to detail because when you're designing a piece of equipment that a team member is going to use not only do you have to know the
14:44
technical aspects of the product that you're manufacturing of the machine to actually manufacture it but to be
14:49
successful you have to understand the details of the team member that is actually there working the line to make
14:55
it all happen that job really taught me that attention to detail and to appreciate that every job is important to make fantastic products very cool and
15:02
then a few years into that career is when I transitioned to General Motors now everybody always has a fun story
15:07
about interviewing with GM Ray can you give us one of those stories for everybody that listens and watches
15:12
Corvette today do you know I actually can the way that I came to work for General Motors was one day again at
15:18
Detroit Diesel Corporation and you know I'm going to ask you to think back this was desk phone and answering machine
15:23
days right everything had wires still wow I picked up my desk phone and it was actually General Motors calling a
15:29
manager from General Motors anyway asking if I was interested in switching companies and working for General Motors
15:34
nice it was a bit of a cold call and what I had later learned the backstory was that one of my colleagues his name
15:40
was Russ spring he had been looking for a different job he had accepted a new job by the time General Motors called
15:45
him so when this manager talked to Russ the manager really didn't take no for an answer he said okay Russ if you're not
15:50
interested in General Motors do you know anybody that may be and Russ Brink actually referred me to General Motors and had this manager call me to be
15:56
honest I wish I could get in touch with Russ because haven't been able to tell him you know kind of what the road I've been on right since that moment that he
16:02
referred me to General Motors but it was just a few short months after that phone call that I ended up working for General
16:08
Motors and had switched companies very cool story now I know you've worked for General Motors for over 27 years talk
16:14
about some of the previous positions you've had in the company prior to coming to the bowling greent assembly plant so at GM I started as a controls
16:21
engineer as I described before but I was working for General Motors powert train at the time and their new and major
16:27
program group so I was responsible for specifying purchasing and really installing and ramping up the equipment
16:34
used for powertrain component manufacturing early in my career you know and from that position I became an
16:39
engineering supervisor and then progressed into several other manufacturing roles including things
16:44
like maintenance plant engineering Machining and assembly production and more I had a headquarter role where I
16:50
started to work with our vehicle plants to help focus on improving quality there and then one September weekend in 2011
16:57
the important moment happened where my manager phoned me and asked if I was interested in going to China my family
17:03
and I decided to take the risk and go and we spent five years living in Shanghai China where I was responsible
17:10
for all of General Motors manufacturing quality for Asia Africa Australia and at
17:16
the time we were doing business in Russia as well so it was a big job that took me to lots of interesting places in
17:21
the world to see where we manufacture and sell our vehicles wow that's pretty amazing it was absolutely an amazing
17:29
assignment an amazing moment for myself professionally but also for my family to experience everything that we did during
17:34
that time when I repatriated from China I went to Flint truck where I was the assisted plant manager and actually the
17:41
experience there was very analogous to what has recently happened at Bowling Green assembly because we were building
17:46
out of the K2 heavy duty pickup truck and launching the newer generation T1 but to do that just like Bowling Green
17:53
has done for the Mid Engine it meant a new paint shop a new body shop and a massive tear up of General assembly so
17:59
although I wasn't here at Bowling Green for the moments there we've done that for Mid Engine I certainly am familiar with what it took and can appreciate
18:05
what the team went through to get it all done and then I moved really through a series of quick assignments that went all the way back to components plants
18:12
including sagona metal castings or Bas City components I did uh stinton Spring Hill at our plant there and then was a
18:19
consultant for battery pack assembly operations for a very brief period of time before getting here at Bowling
18:24
Green assembly which really is my dream job this is a job that I dreamed about for a long time and public stated that
18:29
it was my dream job very cool I was going to ask you if being at the Bowling Green assembly plant has been the culmination of your career at General
18:36
Motors and it obviously has absolutely you know if you are a car guy and you are a factory guy and I am both of those
18:42
there is no place else in the world I would rather be that sounds fantastic well buddy let's take our final break
18:48
when we come back we're going to talk about your transition to the Bowling Green assembly plant coming up next here
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podcast with Steve Garrett thanks once again again for watching and listening to Corvette today
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the show that talks about everything Corvette Corvette today is brought you by wheelcraft you want your Corvette
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looking its best we'll dress it up with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft ccom and learn about
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their Advanced PVD chrome finishing they can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange and you get a 5-year warranty
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too visit wheelcraft decom today or give them a call 833 639-
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4231 I'm your host Steve Garrett with me is the new plant director at the Bowling Green assembly plant Ray Terio in this
21:32
third and final segment we're going to talk about his transition over to Bowling Green Ray I know you got that
21:38
phone call to come to Bowling Green assembly and that had to be exciting because I know you just said that this is your dream job tell me that story oh
21:46
I sure will and that story has a little twist to it as well because actually before I was appointed to the Bowling
21:51
Green phys I had actually been told that I was going to go on International assignment again and I was getting
21:57
excited about that opportunity as well then one day shortly before the announcement was ever made my manager
22:03
phoned me and told me there was a change of plans you know he take the deep breath and wonder uh oh what's this going to be and and I remember saying I
22:09
think you'll like it and he told me that I'd been appointed to the Bowling Green assembly position instead so needless to
22:15
say I was over the moon excited about it and in fact I still am that's awesome and once the announcement was made you
22:21
know obviously I got phone calls from many many people congratulating me and also asking what options they should get
22:27
on their car a little early for that but one of the people that called me was a trusted
22:33
Mentor that IID had for General Motors for a long time he had actually retired a number of years ago and he said to me
22:38
he said Hey do you remember about 20 years ago when you said bowling green plant director was your dream job and I
22:44
told him I sure do and in a couple years I'll let you know if it should have been but that's fantastic but absolutely I'm
22:50
excited to be here at my dream job building dream cars this is a great place to be that's fantastic now as you
22:56
transition with k spandy into the new position there at Bowling Green talk about the learning curve for the
23:02
assembly plant and how that all went you know my transition with Kai was really good we were afforded I think ample
23:08
opportunity to transition well to make sure that the team here continued to be very well supported and to be honest he
23:14
and those that came before him like Jeff lamarsh and others they've done such good work here that it's very straightforward to continue on the path
23:20
that they've set out for the plant and our relationship with the Corvette Community the part of the job that's actually new for me is not the
23:27
manufacturing people because I've been around plants for a long time and I'm used to transitioning into plants and I've done that all over the world the
23:33
part that's new is really the public facing interaction of this job with people like you Steve but also with all
23:39
the Corvette enthusiasts and customers to make it here to Bowling Green or have so much passion for the car and I have
23:45
to tell you that this aspect although it's new to me I'm really loving it I get a lot of energy and Joy from the people I interact with and I do my best
23:52
and I really feel this is one of my key roles as plant director is to translate that energy back into the people in the
23:58
factory because everybody here everybody here has a job that's important and a job that is necessary to build the dream
24:05
cars that our customers expect and so I want everybody to understand that joy and understand how important it is that
24:11
they exceed the customers expectations as we buildt well said my friend very well said now tell me something as you
24:17
transitioned into your dream job there Bowling Green assembly plant what impressed you the most what maybe
24:23
surprised you or impressed you the most as you got into your new job well the big advantage that the Corvette plant
24:30
has is the excitement that the team has for the product and actually building
24:35
dreams The Pride that that translates to in their work and the drive that they have to make every car perfect is
24:42
undeniable and it is certainly key to the secret sauce of building a Corvette and the part that also excites me
24:49
specifically is that that enthusiasm really spills outside of the factory too our plant both hourly and salary
24:55
volunteers throughout the community certainly at Corvette vet events but also at stem events and charitable
25:01
outreaches throughout Bowling Green when we have a chance to do this it makes a difference for future Corvette owners
25:07
but also the brand and the community where we live and work and this is very meaningful to me as a person because
25:13
I've always leaned into volunteerism as well whether it be coaching at a ynca or helping a charity or helping improve the
25:19
parks where I live that Spirit of volunteering has always been important to me and here at the Corvette plan it's
25:24
on steroids the other really impressive thing I think about Bowling Green the facility itself the team that has come
25:29
before me has done such a fantastic job of Designing a process that can handle the amount of customization that our
25:36
customer expects a lot of high volume manufacturing facilities the customization that Corvette offers would
25:41
drive the facility crazy but here we've designed a process to handle it and handle it seamlessly that's a real
25:47
credit to the folks that put a lot of thought into the process design as the facility was constructed so my hats off
25:52
to them and it's also very impressive very nice now I know as you start to build e-rays your previous jobs have got
25:59
to be a big part of the integration like you're being senior manager of the EV supplier integration and stuff like that
26:05
that has to really help as you guys start rolling out eay doesn't it do you know it does the time I spent in the EV
26:11
space certainly helped me understand better the r-ray battery pack and how it's engineered and constructed and
26:16
integrated into the vehicle you know that said I think it's important for everyone to understand that the eay is
26:21
really not what we consider an EV it's really a Performance Hybrid that was designed in hats off to the engineers
26:28
because I really think the way that they've integrated that electric drive into a Corvette was brilliant to really
26:33
enhance the Driving Experience you know my eay is a test vehicle it's amazing I have well over 20,000 miles on it
26:40
probably 24 25,000 miles I would think this morning wow and I can tell you that when I use launch mode I better have my
26:47
head on the headrest because it is wicked fast off the line I did try it in snow and ice because two weeks ago here
26:53
in Bowling Green we did have a couple inches of snow and I will say that before I put it in weather mode it was
26:59
maybe the car I wish I had when I was 16 right where it was pretty easy to have fun and do some active driving but once
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you put it in weather mode the car is so surefooted that it's a very comfortable and competent vehicle to make its way
27:12
across the icy snowy roads through town here so much fun and Taj Josh and the team that designed it have absolutely
27:18
done an amazing job they really have and I'm glad you brought that up because I think a lot of people miss the fact that
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this is not an EV or a hybrid that battery is there for performance not for distance driving like so many EVS that
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are in the world today really the r-ray was designed with that battery for more performance purposes rather than
27:37
anything else yeah absolutely you know we still answer a lot of questions one of which could be where do I plug it in
27:43
and you don't right it really is a Performance Hybrid it is not a plugin and the whole purpose of that electric
27:48
Drive is to really enhance the driving experience and give you that instant torque instant acceleration off the line
27:54
which makes it the fastest Corvette ever to 60 miles per hour as you know absolutely right well Ray thank you so
28:00
much for taking the time to be on Corvette today we welcome you into the Corvette family I look forward to seeing
28:05
you at The Bash coming up in late April well I look forward to meeting you in person there as well and I do thank you for having me on the show today you know
28:12
I really enjoy talking to Corvette enthusiasts and our customers and I've been doing my best to lean into the
28:17
Corvette World you know I mentioned before the display that's out front of my office here and I'll tell you that when I have a spare minute which isn't
28:24
as often as I would like but I I do enjoy going outside and talking to the folks that have stopped by to see the
28:29
display or maybe take a picture there in fact just this morning I was out talking to a gentleman who spent the last two
28:35
days driving into Bowling Green from Long Island New York and he was so happy to be here and see the cars on display
28:40
so I guess I would say as well thank you for having me on the show and hopefully when you come to the bash you can stop by and see what cars we have on display
28:47
at that moment and I look forward to our next chat absolutely I always do I always take pictures of my car in front
28:52
of the gate guards there at Bowling Green assembly so I'll do that again and we'll stop by and say hi hi all right
28:58
absolutely I'm looking forward to it thanks again for listening and watching Corvette today and be sure to tell your family friends and other Corvette
29:04
enthusiasts about the Corvette Today's Show and thanks to our sponsors wheelcraft want to dress up your
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Company at retire withth true.com also aari Wheels get $100 off your purchase
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Hendrick Chevrolet in Kansas City at Chevy usa.com thanks for checking out Corvette
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today on podcast and YouTube if you'd like to contact Steve with ideas for Corvette today you can email him at
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Steve Garrett DJ atgmailcom Garrett has two RS and two T's that's Steve Garrett
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[Music]
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