Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, and vocalist Kevin DuBrow.
The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth, though that version of the band was mired in turmoil that would eventually see Garni fired for making death threats towards DuBrow. Their most commercially successful lineup consisted of DuBrow alongside guitarist Carlos Cavazo, bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Frankie Banali, and in 1983 released their breakthrough album Metal Health, which is known for being the first heavy metal album to top the Billboard album chart. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Cum On Feel the Noize", and "Metal Health ". The band is ranked at No. 100 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Despite several lineup changes and brief breakups, Quiet Riot continued to record and tour until DuBrow's death from a cocaine overdose in 2007. Although there are no original members left in the band, Banali reformed Quiet Riot in 2010, and by 2020, it had consisted of himself on drums, lead vocalist Jizzy Pearl, bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Alex Grossi. The band has continued to record and tour following DuBrow's death. In 2014, they released their first album in eight years, titled Quiet Riot 10, which was followed by Road Rage in 2017 and Hollywood Cowboys in 2019. Banali died in August 2020 following a sixteen-month battle with pancreatic cancer. About three weeks after his death, the surviving members of the band announced that they would move forward without Banali, who wished that they continue by keeping the Quiet Riot name alive; he was replaced by Johnny Kelly. In August 2021, Quiet Riot released a statement saying that bassist Rudy Sarzo would be rejoining the band, as well as announcing the departure of Wright. The new lineup made plans to release new music and tour throughout 2022 and 2023.
In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time", placing them seventh.
History
Early career, first two albums and first breakup (1973–1981)
Formed in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, Quiet Riot became one of the more successful hard rock acts in Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1970s. Originally known as Mach 1, the name was soon changed to Little Women before the name Quiet Riot was finally settled upon in May 1975. The band's name was inspired by a quote from Rick Parfitt of the British band Status Quo. Parfitt stated that he thought the name "Quite Right" would make a good band name, and DuBrow amended this to "Quiet Riot".Drew Forsyth, who had previously played with Rhoads and Garni in a band called Mildred Pierce, was hired as the new group's drummer, and a Los Angeles photographer named Kevin DuBrow was hired as lead vocalist. DuBrow was not at all what Rhoads had in mind for his new band, and he was not well-liked by his Quiet Riot bandmates, a situation that caused a great deal of tension within the band. Rhoads had envisioned a frontman in the vein of Alice Cooper or David Bowie, but Dubrow was persistent and would not take no for an answer. In the end, Rhoads and Garni decided that if nothing else, DuBrow shared their enthusiasm and he was hired.
Rhoads became the focal point of the band, both musically and visually. The "polka-dot theme" he incorporated onstage became Quiet Riot's visual signature during their time on the L.A. club circuit, with many fans showing up at the band's shows wearing polka-dot bow-ties and vests in emulation of what the guitarist wore on stage. Musically, Rhoads' talent as a lead guitarist began to spread by word of mouth, and hard rock fans from across Los Angeles began frequenting the band's gigs to hear what the fuss was about.
In the 1970s, Quiet Riot developed a friendly but intense rivalry with Van Halen before either act had signed a record deal. While Van Halen signed to Warner Bros. in 1977 and released a debut album that would achieve Gold certification, Quiet Riot's contract with Sony would see their first two albums released only in Japan, albums that to this day have never been released in the US. The band recorded their debut album Quiet Riot, or QR I, in 1977.
Coupled with their inability to secure an American recording deal, tensions between vocalist DuBrow and bassist Garni began to tear the band apart. According to Garni, "I was on a constant quest to get him out of the band and get a different singer. I hated him, he hated me and we could not find any way whatsoever to get along which caused a lot of tension in the band and it put a lot of stress on Randy to try to be neutral." Their second album Quiet Riot II, or QR II, was recorded at The Record Plant and released in Japan in 1978.
As Quiet Riot II was being recorded, the relationship between Garni and DuBrow finally reached its breaking point. After robbing a bar the previous night and stealing liquor, a drunken Garni unsuccessfully attempted to convince Rhoads to replace the vocalist. Garni drunkenly fired a handgun through the ceiling and a fistfight between him and Rhoads ensued. Garni then hatched a plan to drive across town to the Record Plant and kill DuBrow, who was there recording vocals for Quiet Riot II. Garni was arrested for drunk driving before he reached the studio, and the plan to kill his bandmate waned after he sobered up. Nonetheless, Garni's time in Quiet Riot came to a swift end. Future Mötley Crüe founder Nikki Sixx auditioned to replace Garni, but Sixx "didn't know the names of the notes and couldn't play the instrument" at that point, according to DuBrow. Rudy Sarzo, an acquaintance of DuBrow's, was hired and was pictured and credited on the album QR II, though it was actually Garni who performed on the album. Though he downplayed the inner conflict within the band, DuBrow would confess years later that this period of the band's existence had been extremely frustrating: "We had one of the best guitar players ever in our band and we couldn't get arrested!"
By 1979, Rhoads began to tire of the turmoil within Quiet Riot as well as their failure to sign a US recording deal. Late that year he auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne's band upon the urging of future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum. Osbourne said he was immediately blown away by the guitarist's talent and hired him immediately. Shortly thereafter, bassist Rudy Sarzo followed Rhoads to Osbourne's band and Quiet Riot's future seemed very much in doubt. As Quiet Riot was expected to disband at this point, Rhoads incorporated many riffs and fragments of early Quiet Riot material into the new material he was working on with Osbourne. According to Sarzo "a lot of the Quiet Riot songs ended up on the albums under different titles. Obviously Randy thought we'd never use those songs again so he'd give the riffs to Ozzy who'd come up with new words." For example, the main riff of the Osbourne song "Suicide Solution" originated as a secondary riff during the verse of a Quiet Riot demo recording entitled "Force of Habit".Juke Magazine October 22, 1983 - "America Calling" section featuring Quiet Riot by Tamara Handii, p. 16.
According to DuBrow, Rhoads' departure from Quiet Riot in 1979 appeared to be the end of the line, saying that the loss "didn't derail the band, it ended it." He and Forsyth attempted to carry on under the Quiet Riot name for a short time with the addition of guitarist Greg Leon before the band officially broke up in 1980. Leon was very succinct when asked why his time in Quiet Riot was so brief, saying "Kevin DuBrow was impossible to work with." Following the demise of Quiet Riot, Dubrow recruited former Gamma drummer Skip Gillette and played shows in the L.A club circuit for approximately two years under the band name DuBrow.
Rebirth and ''Metal Health'' success (1982–1984)
In early 1982, having recruited drummer Frankie Banali, bassist Chuck Wright, and guitarist Carlos Cavazo, DuBrow contacted Rhoads to ask if he had any objections to him reviving the name Quiet Riot for his new band. Rhoads gave him his blessing but said he wanted to check with Rudy Sarzo first. Sarzo had no objections, and Quiet Riot was thus reborn after a two-year hiatus. Rhoads died in a plane crash while on tour with Osbourne in March 1982, and Sarzo subsequently left Osbourne's band a few months later, having a difficult time coping with the grief of losing his close friend and bandmate. The reformed Quiet Riot was recording a new song called "Thunderbird" as a tribute to Rhoads, and DuBrow called Sarzo to ask if he'd like to participate in the recording. The lineup of DuBrow, Sarzo, Cavazo, and Banali had so much fun recording the track that they wound up recording more than half of the new album in the process. Bassist Wright had already been briefly replaced by Gary Van Dyke, but the arrangement was not working out and Sarzo was subsequently welcomed back to Quiet Riot as a full time member. Coming so soon after Rhoads' death, there was some question over the appropriateness of the new band using the Quiet Riot name. Rhoads' mother Delores encouraged the band, and in the end it was decided that "although Randy wouldn't be in it, the original spirit of the band was back," according to Sarzo.In September 1982, with help from producer Spencer Proffer, Quiet Riot finally signed a US recording contract with CBS Records and the album Metal Health was released on March 11, 1983. The group's landmark single "Cum On Feel the Noize" was released on August 27, 1983. A cover of a 1973 song by Slade, the single spent two weeks at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1983 and made history as the first heavy metal song to ever crack the Hot 100. The success of the single was instrumental in ushering in a new era of unparalleled success for heavy metal music in the 1980s and helped carry the album Metal Health to the top of Billboard album chart, making it the first American heavy metal debut album to reach No. 1 in the United States. On November 26, 1983, Quiet Riot became the first heavy metal band to have a top 5 hit and No. 1 album in the same week. Their success was aided in no small part by the "Cum On Feel the Noize" video's heavy rotation on MTV. Exposure in the popular film Footloose helped spark airplay of the title track. Metal Health displaced The Police's Synchronicity at No. 1 and stayed there for just a week until Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down took over the No. 1 spot.
Metal Health's title track charted in early 1984 and peaked at No. 31. The song was placed at No. 41 on VH1's Top 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. The album Metal Health would ultimately sell over six million copies in the US.
In support of Metal Health, Quiet Riot toured North America as the opening act for ZZ Top on their Eliminator Tour for selected dates in June, July and September 1983, and Black Sabbath on their Born Again tour from October 1983 through March 1984.