Quiet, FFS?

Quiet? What’s the point of that? Surely, nobody in heavy metal history has ever picked up an instrument, or joined a band with the intention of playing quietly. It’s the stark opposite. Classic Heavy Metal bands are supposed to be loud. To leave their audiences with serious earache after a show. To make people wonder whether their brains are going to start leaking out after the sonic assault.

Or quiet in the context of a riot? Riots are supposed to be loud and violent – that’s how they get their name. ‘Let’s riot guys, but only quietly,’ said nobody ever.

To be honest, The Hawk started out writing this blog today not knowing much about Quiet Riot, and having never listened to much of their music. Maybe he was subconsciously put off for exactly the above reason. But, it’s a name The Hawk came across often enough when getting into Classic Heavy Metal in the first place, and they certainly fit into the correct era. Besides, writing a blog should be an opportunity for learning and growth. A journey of discovery. So for that reason, The Hawk has decided to write a ‘Quiet Riot 101’ type of post, aimed at similar newbies as himself. (Existing Quiet Riot fans should therefore feel free to click elsewhere – nothing to see here. Try this entertaining post on W.A.S.P. instead for example, one among many excellent articles on here.).

As for the newbies, The Hawk is doing the hard work here so that you don’t have to, and promises to approach the task in a suitably open-minded way. So let’s strap in, and see what are the must-knows about QUIET RIOT.

Not so stupid

Let’s deal with that business of the band name first. And it’s a relief to find that Quiet Riot did not ever have any intention to play quietly. In fact, the name was inspired by a mis-heard quote from Status Quo* singer and guitarist Rick Parfitt. Parfitt had said that he thought ‘Quite Right’ would make a decent band name. Mis-hearing Parfitt’s southern British accent as saying ‘Quiet Riot’, the band were suitably inspired and Quiet Riot were (accidentally) born.

(Classic Metal Hawk is surprised to find himself quoting Status Quo on this blog, and can confirm that he currently has no plans to write anything further about them. I know we’re being flexible with the definition of Classic Heavy Metal on here, but that would be getting a bit too near the knuckle.) 

Guitar Greatness

The next surprise for The Hawk (and here he’s laying bear the depths of his ignorance) was that the original line-up for Quiet Riot featured none other than guitar legend Randy Rhoads, who of course also had fame later in his career playing in Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band. So, forgiveness please.

Yes, Rhoads was actually one of the founding members of Quiet Riot along side bass player Kelly Garni, going all the way back to 1973 in Los Angeles – a city which of course would become the global hotbed on Glam Metal, with Quiet Riot as one of the trail blazers. So, not at all Status Quo then, and as far as the Hawk is concerned, any band with Rhoads on guitar can have a spot in his Classic Heavy Metal pantheon.

Rhoads set the early direction for Quiet Riot both musically, (as he was already establishing his reputation as a guitar virtuoso even on those early days) and sartorially (sporting a polka-dot theme on stage which was often copied by the fans).

Singer trouble

The only problem was with the singer. Quiet Riot have changed their line-up obsessively over the years, but on the vocals side, the singer most associated with the band is Kevin DuBrow, who was with them from pretty much from the start until his death in 2007. Technically, he was fired by the band in 1987, but sued for the right to keep the Quiet Riot name for himself. The only remaining original band member by that time, a court agreed that it was his.

DuBrow’s longevity with the band was impressive for a number of reasons, not least of them being that the band never really wanted him in the first place. Rhoads and Garni had imagined someone along the lines of Alice Cooper fronting their band, not an LA photographer. DuBrow managed to talk his way in, impressing the others with his commitment to the cause, even if not his style –  they eventually agreed to give him a shot.

The decision was a cause of regret almost immediately though, at least in some quarters. Garni had never really accepted DuBrow, and launched himself on a mission to rid the band of the singer. Tensions were anyway racheted up by the lack of any early commercial success. Quiet Riot had signed with Sony, and recorded a couple of albums in the mid and late 70s, but these were only released in Japan. An American deal was still elusive in spite of the quality of Rhoads on guitar, and that, combined with the constant sniping between Garni and BuDrow, caused the band atmosphere to reach boiling point.

It all culminated in a plot hatched by a drunken Garni to kill DuBrow. He drove across LA with a gun, only to be arrested on his way for drunk driving. Garni came to his senses quickly enough after he’d sobered up and DuBrow survived to tell the tale. But the band knew it couldn’t carry on like this, and threw out Garni.

Death and Rebirth

Rhoads himself was anyway getting tired of the constant turmoil in the band, and auditioned for Ozzy in 1979. He was hired, and so quit Quiet Riot, being immediately followed out of the exit door by Garni’s replacement on the bass, Rudy Sarzo. Quiet Riot not only lost 2 members, but also a good deal of material, as Rhoads took many of his ideas to Ozzy. The writing appeared to be on the wall. DuBrow tried to stagger on with a new guitarist, but eventually admitted defeat, and the band broke up, seemingly for good, in 1980.

Indeed, the hiatus lasted for a good 2 years in total – possibly the length of time it took DuBrow to recover from his various Quiet Riot traumas. But when he asked for Rhoads’s permission to reform under the ‘Quiet Riot’ banner, Rhoads gave his blessing. He tragically never lived to see the band’s triumphant return, dying in a plane crash in 1982.

Triumph and Decline

For a triumph it would be, at least to begin with. Upon reforming, Quiet Riot were now, finally, able to secure a recording deal in the US, and in early 1983 would release their greatest ever work, the album ‘Metal Health.’ It made history as the first ever metal album to top the US album chart, and its most successful single topped out at #5, also breaking new ground as the first metal single to even crack the top 100.

Classic Metal Hawk is not going to dwell for too long on the fact that the single in question was a cover of Slade’s ‘Cum on Feel The Noise‘, but I guess the Glam roots ran deep. And as much as many heavy metal fans have no time for Glam, the fact is that it still helped to pave the way for the commercial successes of other Glam acts, and indeed heavier bands later on. Quiet Riot had radio play, MTV rotation, and as such started to build a new fan and bigger fan base.

In a further claim to fame, Quiet Riot appeared at the famous 1983 heavy metal festival at Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany – the one where Iron Maiden killed their mascot Eddie live on stage. Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson got drunk after the show, interrupted a Quiet Riot photoshoot, and inserted his penis in Kevin DuBrow’s ear. Now that doesn’t happen every day. That story is direct from Dickinson’s autobiography, ‘What Does This Button Do?’, so not a word of a lie.