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Where would 80's heavy metal been without Quiet Riot.
Quiet Riot was formed in 1973 by Randy Rhoads (later with Ozzy) and bass
player Kelly Gami (Rudy Sarzo joined in 1978). The band originally
started out as "Mach 1", then they changed their name to "Little Women",
and finally to Quiet Riot in 1975 as the band picked up vocalist Kevin
Dubrow and drummer Drew Forsyth.
In their early Los Angeles days, Quiet Riot was on the
club circuit with Van Halen. They secured a record deal with Sony
in 1977, but their initial album, and their follow up 1978 album, were
only released in Japan. By 1979, Rhoads had been hired by Ozzy
Osbourne, and the band hired a couple of new guys and changed their name
to Dubrow. In 1982, DuBrow resurrected the name Quiet Riot and
hired the crew we know today as Quiet Riot: Kevin Dubrow on
vocals, Carlos Cavazo on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and drummer Frankie
Banali. The result was a record deal with CBS records and the 1983
release of
Metal Health.
Many of you will remember the 1973 Slade cover song "Cum on Feel the
Noize", the first metal song to chart in the top 10 Billboard Hot 100
Singles Chart. The song "Metal Health" from the same album charted
at number 1, which made Quiet Riot the first metal band with a number 1
and number 5 song on the charts during the same week.
Although Quiet Riot continued to produce, they were never
able to reach the same level as success as they had in 1983. The
band's 1984 release, Condition Critical, was not a total loss,
after all, as they received some success by covering the Slade song
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Around this time, DuBrow became rather
outspoken regarding Quiet Riot's contribution to heavy metal, which
subsequently resulted in Rudy Sarzo leaving the band (he re-surfaced in
Whitesnake) and DuBrow's firing in 1987. The band continued on
shortly with all new members.
As the years went on, the original Mental Health era
members of Quiet Riot reformed to release new material and go on tour.
The band was seen not only in the studio, but also no heavy metal
reunion tours throughout the USA. In 2007, DuBrow died of a
cocaine overdose, and Quiet Riot did continue on henceforth with various
new vocalist. At the time of this writing, the Quiet Riot
Discography was as follows:1977: Quiet Riot
1978: Quiet Riot II
1983: Metal Health
1984: Condition Critical
1986: Quiet Riot III
1988: QR
1990: Winners Take All
1993: Terrified
1993: The Randy Rhoads Years
1995: Down to the Bone
1996: Greatest Hits
1999: Alive and Well
1999: Super Hits
2000: The Collection
2001: Guilty Pleasures
2005: Live and Rare Volume 1
2005: New and Improved
2006: Rehab
2007: Extended Versions 1983
2008: Quiet Riot Playlist The Very Best of Quiet Riot
2012: Live at the USF Festival 1983 |
