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Rehab Proves Quiet Riot Are No Quitters

The day was slightly overcast with occasional bursts of snow flurries as the lovely Miss Dawn and I left Syracuse to head for Wilkes-Barre, PA to see 8o's Metal Legends: Quiet Riot. Both Dawn and myself are big fans of the band, and were quite psyched to say the least.
The ride down was rather uneventful, with the exception of me feeling sick. I popped some Day-Quil gel caps to beat my cold into submission, and it seemed to do the trick. As we drove south, Dawn and I chatted about the upcoming show and listened to Quiet Riot's newest album: Rehab.
We made a short stop for lunch at Wendy's (and the Burger King across the street so Dawn could get a Veggie Burger) and then we were back on the road.
We arrived at The Woodlands Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre right at four o'clock.
As we made our way inside the building, a giant skeleton of a cave bear startled us. It was Awesome! The skeleton was nearly 10 feet tall inside a glass display with lights directed onto it.
It had a plaque that explained the bear's history. The skeleton was from an extinct species of bear that lived in Russia between ten thousand and 1.6 million years ago. The creature was an ancestor of the modern Grizzly and was hunted by the Neanderthal people that evolved approximately 250,000 years ago.
The club, called Evolution, acquired the skeleton from a German scientist a few years ago. Since its arrival, Russia has banned the removal of all cave bear remains making this skeleton the last one available in the foreseeable future. (It was incredible to look at. I wanted it for my office, but how would I get it home? LOL.)

mp3 Interview
with Kevin DuBrow

Official Website

Dawn and I made our way around the resort, looking for where the band would be playing. We found a small room with a stage being built, but it wasn't Quiet Riot's stage, so we kept looking. Moments later, we found the Grand Ballroom which was covered in balloons and Rock 107 banners. That was the place.
We made ourselves at home and relaxed until I found the band's all-purpose road guy, and one man crew: Mike. I introduced myself and he told me he would let Frankie Banali know I was there.
About twenty minutes later, Frankie Banali and Kevin DuBrow came in and shook my hand. Frankie told me I would be interviewing Kevin and we went off to the band's dressing room.
I sat down with Kevin DuBrow, pulled out my questions and we got down to business. Kevin also pulled out some stuff, a bag of pills, but they were all vitamins and dietary supplements. He made himself a turkey sandwich and then signed my Metal Health album, Dawn's Metal Health CD, and a photo of me with the classic Quiet Riot line-up. With that out of the way, we got down to business on the interview and it went very well.
Kevin is a wonderful guy to talk with. He was very open and well spoken, exactly what you would expect from a guy that is well known for his "Motor Mouth".
We talked about the band's history, working with Randy Rhoads, and the new album.
The whole interview is twelve and a half minutes long and is free to download and save.
At 51 years old, Kevin looks great for his age. It is hard to believe that he looks so young with all the stuff he and his band have been through. The history of Quiet Riot is a wild ride.
Quiet Riot is undoubtedly one of the most popular of the 80's era bands. Public interest in Quiet Riot is still astounding and the band continues to be a staple of VH-1 Rock and Metal shows such as "I Love The 80's" in which Kevin DuBrow and Frankie Banali have been featured guests. During my interview, Kevin said he will not do any more of the VH-1 shows because "they talk to me for three hours, and then use five seconds of it…"

Quiet Riot also has one of the most famous and iconic heavy metal mascots in history. Their mascot resembles a man (sometimes lead singer Kevin DuBrow) in a metal facial mask and in a leather straightjacket which has appeared on almost every single Quiet Riot album. This mascot has been considered along-side Megadeth's Vic Rattlehead, Iron Maiden's Eddie the Head, and Motörhead's "Snaggletooth" as the all-time most familiar heavy metal symbols.
Quiet Riot's success in 1983-1984 contributed to launching the 1980s' Glam Metal scene. They are ranked at number 100 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." In September 1982, with help from producer Spencer Proffer, Quiet Riot were signed to CBS records in America.
On March 11, 1983, their American debut album Metal Health was released and Quiet Riot became the first Metal band to top the Billboard Pop chart with a debut album. To date, Metal Health has sold over Ten Million copies worldwide. Not too shabby…
The Los Angeles quartet appeared to become an overnight sensation thanks to their monster smash album, but the band had actually started years before…
Some have guessed that the name "Quiet Riot" comes from a phrase in John Barth's 1960s novel Giles Goat-Boy or to be a pun on the title of "White Riot" by The Clash. However, in a radio interview given by the band in 1979, DuBrow said the band's name was born of a conversation with Richard Parfitt of British band Status Quo in which Parfitt said he'd like to name a band "Quite Right".

The story of Quiet Riot begins with vocalist Kevin DuBrow and guitarist Randy Rhoads, who started the band in 1975, after disbanding an earlier project named Violet Fox, and completed their first lineup with bassist Kelli Garni and drummer Drew Forsyth.
Along with local scene contemporaries like Van Halen and Xciter, Quiet Riot thrilled audiences packing the L.A. nightclubs, but found it difficult to land a record deal during the disco-dominated late '70s.
The original four members recorded their debut album Quiet Riot, (or QR I), which was released in Japan in 1977. Months later, bassist Kelly Garni left the band. After replacing him with Rudy Sarzo, the second album Quiet Riot II, (or QR II), was recorded and released in Japan in 1978. (To date, neither has been released in the US.)
In November 1979, after failing to release an album in the U.S., Randy Rhoads followed the advice of his friend Dana Strum and joined Ozzy Osbourne's band, a move that made him one of the most repected and revered guitarists of all time.
DuBrow and Forsyth tried to keep the band together following Rhoads' departure. Quiet Riot disbanded and DuBrow formed a new band under his own name, working with several musicians over the next few years before signing with independent Pasha Records. Following Rhoads' death in a plane crash on March 19, 1982, DuBrow attempted to reform Quiet Riot.

None of the other original members were interested, so Tony Cavazo's brother, Carlos, joined as lead guitarist, Sarzo quit Ozzy, pushed Wright out of the way, and brought friend and drummer Frankie Banali into the fold to complete the lineup and sessions for what would become 1983's Metal Health.

Driven by the irresistible double whammy of the title track's muscular bass line (reputedly played by Wright before his dismissal) and a raucous rendition of the old Slade chestnut "Cum on Feel the Noize," the album stormed up the U.S. charts, duly reaching the number one spot and going platinum five times over in the process. The band also recorded the song "Thunderbird" as a tribute to the late Randy Rhoads. The song is a fantastic tribute to a fallen friend.
Their unexpected success shocked everyone, not least of which the band members, who found it pretty hard to cope with sudden stardom and the pitfalls that came with it. On August 27, 1983, Quiet Riot's second single off Metal Health titled "Cum on Feel the Noize". The song, a cover of the 1973 Slade hit, spent two weeks at #5 on the Billboard chart on November 19 & 26, 1983. It was the first Heavy Metal song to make the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart (a.k.a.Pop Chart). The success of the single helped carry "Metal Health" to the top of Billboard pop album charts, making it the first American heavy metal debut album to ever reach #1 in the USA. It was #1 on November 26, 1983, making Quiet Riot the first Heavy Metal band to have a top 5 hit & #1 album the same week. A #1 album and a top 5 single was unheard of for a heavy metal band in 1983. The Metal Health album also displaced The Police's Synchronicity album from #1. Metal Health paved the way for a new, stronger commercial viability for heavy metal. Metal Health stayed at #1 for just a week until Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down took over the #1 spot for three weeks before being knocked off the top by Michael Jackson's Thriller, which returned to the top after a long hiatus from the U.S.summit.

Metal Health's title song, which was released as a single on March 11, 1983, finally charted in early 1984 and peaked at #31. This could be attributed to the song's appearance in the 1984 Kevin Bacon movie Footloose.
Pressured to capitalize on their hot streak, Quiet Riot was rushed back into the studio to whip together 1984's Condition Critical, but unsurprisingly, the album was little more than a weak carbon copy of Metal Health - even sinking so low as to include another chart-ready Slade cover in "Mama We're All Crazee Now." and numerous musical and lyrical nods to the aforementioned act; whether this was a decision made by the band or their producer is still subject to debate as evidenced in their VH-1 "Behind The Music" documentary. Reportedly frustrated, DuBrow began letting newer bands on the L.A. metal scene know that their success was in part owed to the past successes of Quiet Riot.
The album was was released on July 7, 1984. It was a relative disappointment, critically and commercially, selling only 3 million units. Fans were unimpressed, and panic set in as the band watched the record quickly sliding off the charts to make way for fresher, up-and-coming L.A. glam metal contenders like Mötley Crüe and Ratt. An incensed DuBrow went on a rampage, constantly slagging fellow metal bands, members of the press, and his own record company, in the process quite literally burning most every bridge he'd worked so hard to build.

The abusive behavior also began wearing on his band mates, and by the time they re-grouped to launch a comeback with 1986's QR III, Sarzo was long gone (later joining Whitesnake) and had been replaced by former bassist Chuck Wright, most recently working with Giuffria. A failed experiment in ultra-glossy '80s metal, QR III was a third-rate Hysteria possessing none of its predecessor's blue-collar grit and became an even bigger flop, sending Quiet Riot into an irreversible tailspin.
Mounting tension resulted in an all-out band mutiny at tour's end, with DuBrow finding himself abandoned at the hotel in Hawaii, while the remaining musicians and crew left on an earlier flight back to L.A.
Fed up with DuBrow's antics, the rest of Quiet Riot fired him from his own band and replaced him with former Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino. Wright was also fired and was replaced by Sean McNabb. The band released Quiet Riot in 1988, which was another failure. This 1988 album technically has the same name as their original first album with Randy Rhoads. The album's absolutely abysmal sales offered little consolation, and the band fell apart after a tour that ended in Hawaii in 1989 and DuBrow fought to keep control of the name. DuBrow finally gave up on diplomacy and filed an injunction against his former colleagues (apparently he still owned rights to the name), successfully bringing Quiet Riot to a stuttering halt. Frankie Banali said "good riddance" and jumped ship to join L.A. shock-metal kings W.A.S.P.
By 1991, tempers had cooled enough for the former bandmates to communicate. DuBrow and Cavazo formed Heat, but eventually switched to Quiet Riot again and released Terrified (1993) with Banali and bassist Kenny Hillery. That same year, DuBrow released The Randy Rhoads Years featuring tracks from Quiet Riot's Columbia albums and some previously unreleased material (many of which featured newly recorded vocals). Hillary left in 1995 and committed suicide on June 5, 1996 at the age of 26. Chuck Wright rejoined Quiet Riot to play bass.
The band released Down to the Bone that same year. The following year (1996), the band released a "Greatest Hits" album, which included nothing from the original two Rhoads albums and nothing from the two 90's albums, but did have a few tracks from the 1988 Shortino album. After that, Rudy Sarzo joined up again in 1997, and the band began touring.

The tour was not successful, and the band was arrested several times; one angry fan sued DuBrow for injuries sustained during a show. The group still managed to release Alive and Well in 1999 which featured new songs and several rerecorded hits. They followed this up with Guilty Pleasures in 2001. Quiet Riot officially broke up in February 2003, and Sarzo joined Dio in the following year.

However, Quiet Riot reunited in 2005. The line-up included DuBrow, Banali, Wright and new guitarist Alex Grossi. The band was featured on the 2005 Rock Never Stops Tour along with Cinderella, Ratt, and FireHouse.
The band also made an appearance on an episode of The Simpsons titled "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star". Quiet Riot is depicted as converted to a religious band called Pious Riot. When Bart calls them "a crappy rock band from the 1940s", Kevin DuBrow responds, "We've played more state fairs than The Beatles."
Also around that time, Kevin DuBrow released a solo album titled In For The Kill.
It was reported in January 2006, that Chuck Wright and Alex Grossi had left the band and former L.A. Guns/Brides of Destruction guitarist Tracii Guns had joined, only to leave two weeks later under musical differences.
Quiet Riot's newest album on Chavis Records was released on October 3, 2006 and is entitled Rehab. The lineup on the album consists of DuBrow, Banali, Bassist Tony Franklin (formerly of The Firm & Blue Murder), & Guitarist Neil Citron. The album marks a difference in sound for the band. The songs on Rehab show a matured Quiet Riot. They are well written and show a a lot of growth for the band as they try to bring their sound into something more modern. Where most of the band's older material was geared towards "Party" attitude, the new sound is much more in the style of Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, though not as heavy.
Although the song "It Sucks To Be You" brings back memories of the band's partying heyday. Former Deep Purple bassist and singer Glenn Hughes also makes a guest vocal appearance on the album doing a duet with DuBrow on a cover of the Spooky Tooth classic "Evil Woman."
Quiet Riot began the tour in support of Rehab at a Birthday Bash for Wilkes-Barre, PA's Rock 107. The event was held at The Woodlands Inn & Resort. The party was awesome, with more than 1200 people in attendance.

WEZX (Rock 107), with the assistance of sponsors Baer Sports Center, Sandone Tire, and Gebhardts Billiards & Games laid out tons of food and a GIANT cake featuring the Rock 107 station logo. As the crowd listened to three opening acts playing covers of classic rock favorites, guests ate, drank, and prepared for an explosive set by Quiet Riot. At 10:30 the lights dimmed and the bad boys of 80's Rock took their positions on the stage.

Kevin DuBrow asked if people were ready to rock and the crowd let out an appreciative roar. The band began their set with "Put Up or Shut Up" and went directly into "Slick Black Cadillac" and the song "Free" off the new Rehab disc.
The crowd ate it up like the birthday cake. The fans squeezed as close to the stage as they could get. A few small altercations took place as some jerks tried to push past people that had been in their spots all night, but for the most part, everyone had a great time.
Kevin and his band of Riot boys continued through their set playing "Red Hot Mama" and another new song titled "Old Habits Die Hard".
Quiet Riot ended the show the classics "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Metal Health" which brought the house down.
At the end of the show, I got the copy of the set list that was hanging on Frankie Banali's high-hat stand, and then Dawn and I made our way out to the car as the band signed autographs for fans.
We drove home in the cold and wind as I sat in the car shivering and feeling my cold getting worse.
Two and a half hours later, we arrived home and went directly to bed.
It had been a Riot of a day.

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