Formed 1975, U.S.A.
Albums:
1978
Quiet Riot
1979
Quiet Riot II
1983
Metal Health
1984
Condition Critical
1986
QR III
1988
Quiet Riot
1990
Winners Take All
1993
Terrified
1993
The Randy Rhoads Years
1995
Down To The Bone
1996
Greatest Hits
1999
Super Hits
1999
Alive And Well
2000
The Collection
2001
Guilty Pleasures
2005
Live & Rare Volume 1
2006
Rehab
History:
Quiet Riot helped usher in the return of heavy metal to the music mainstream
in the mid 1980's, and enjoyed slightly more than fifteen minutes of fame. The group
became the first metal band to hit #1 on the Billboard charts, but things went
downhill from their initial success.
Quiet Riot was formed in Burbank, California, and were a bigger draw
than Van Halen during the mid seventies Hollywood club scene. However the band,
Kevin DuBrow (vocals), Randy Rhoads (guitar), Kelly Garni (bass)
and Drew Forsythe (drums), had trouble getting signed to a major label and their
first two albums were only released in Japan only. This version of the band fell apart,
with Rhoads going on to become a legend with Ozzy Osbourne (before
his untimely death in 1982), and DuBrow left to pick up the pieces and start again.
For their smash 1983 album, DuBrow had recruited Carlos Cavazo
(guitar), Rudy Sarzo (bass) and Frankie Banali (drums). Metal Health
became a monster success, topping the pop charts and spawning a top five single in
their cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize", on its way to selling over
five million copies. But success was short lived; due in part to DuBrow's
outspokenness and verbal attacks on other bands of the genre, and public
disdain for the band grew. Sarzo left (to later join Whitesnake) and
was replaced by Chuck Wright for QR III, but by then few people cared anymore.
The final nail was driven into the coffin when the band fired DuBrow
from his own band before recording the self-titled 1988 album. The new front man was
Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino with Sean McNabb replacing
Wright on bass, but the album stiffed and the band just faded away. In 1990
DuBrow, Cavazo and Banali (who had played with W.A.S.P. and
Heavy Bones) regrouped with Kenny Hillery for the ignored Terrified.
Hillery would later commit suicide, and it wasn't until the return of Sarzo
in the late 90's that a full reunion occurred. The band continued to tour and record
on a much smaller scale, even despite DuBrow claiming bankruptcy in 1999, until
the band's split in late 2003. DuBrow and Banali resurrected the name for a new album called
Rehab in 2006
with Neil Citron (who replaced Tracii Guns who had joined on guitar for a brief time) and
Tony Franklin (bass). On November 25th, 2007, lead-singer Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his home
in Las Vegas, thus leaving behind a legacy that helped bring 80s hard rock to millions of fans.
Links:
The Official Frankie Banali Page
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