Quiet Riot

Quiet Riot biography

Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet Riot in May 1975. The original line-up featured Rhoads and lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow, Garni, and drummer Drew Forsyth. Their current lineup features no original members from the Randy Rhoads era, and consists of lead vocalist Scott Vokoun, drummer Frankie Banali, bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Alex Grossi. They are ranked at No. 100 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

In a radio interview given by the band in 1979, DuBrow said the band's name was born of a conversation with Rick Parfitt of British band Status Quo in which Parfitt said he'd like to name a band "Quite Right". With his thick English accent, it sounded like he was saying "Quiet Riot".

Kevin DuBrow, lead singer of the band for the majority of its existence, was found dead in his Las Vegas, Nevada home on November 25, 2007. The cause of death was ruled a cocaine overdose. Quiet Riot temporarily disbanded after his death, and was revived by Banali in 2010.

History

Early years (1973-1982)

Quiet Riot were one of the more successful hard rock acts in Los Angeles in the mid to late 1970s. They often opened for Van Halen in several L.A. clubs including the Starwood and KROQ's "Cabaret" nightclub, before either act had a record deal. The co-influence can be heard between Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen since both their bands played together often. Nonetheless, Quiet Riot was unable to procure a US recording contract. By 1977 they were able to secure a deal with Sony, but their records would be released only in Japan. The original four members recorded their debut album Quiet Riot, or QR I, in 1977. The second album Quiet Riot II, or QR II, was recorded at The Record Plant and released in Japan in 1978. Once recording was completed, bassist Kelly Garni left the band. Although Garni's replacement Rudy Sarzo was pictured and credited on QR II, he did not join before its recording. In 1979, guitarist Randy Rhoads auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne's new band (the Blizzards after the editors of a small, Los Angeles based magazine, Raw Power, asked future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum to contact Rhoads to see if he would be interested. Osbourne himself has stated that he hired Rhoads immediately. Kevin DuBrow and Drew Forsyth tried to keep the band together following Rhoads' departure, with the addition of guitarist Greg Leon and former Suite 19 bassist Gary Van Dyke. During this period of 1980-1982, the band changed its name to DuBrow and also played shows with former Gamma drummer Skip Gillette.

Sarzo was holidaying in LA when he received a phone call from Kevin asking him to play on a track called Thunderbird, which had been recorded as a tribute to Rhoads. It turned out the band Kevin had formed included two other members of Quiet Riot: guitarist Carlos Cavazo and drummer Frank Banali. They had so much fun together recording the track they wound up recording half of their album in the process. In order to bring Sarzo back into this current line-up, they sacked their bass player.

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