Monday, November 26, 2007

quiet riot

Quiet Riot is marking a moment of silence for its fallen frontman.

Kevin DuBrow, the zebra-pantsed singer for the hit-making heavy metalheads, was found dead in his home in Las Vegas Sunday. He was 52.

News of DuBrow's death was announced on Riot drummer Frankie Banali's Website.

"I can't even find words to say," he wrote. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend, Kevin DuBrow."

Police and paramedics were alerted by a concerned neighbor Sunday afternoon.

"We got a call to do a welfare check," a Las Vegas Metro Police spokeswoman told E! Online, adding that there were no signs of foul play.

The rocker was pronounced dead at approximately 5:20 p.m.

The cause of death has not been announced. The Clark County coroner will conduct an autopsy and toxicology tests this week, but the official results won't be known for several weeks.

In a statement posted online, Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni asked fans to reserve judgment until the coroner issues a report.

"I ask that no one here offer any speculation or opinions, theories or other things that could be construed as negative or, and I'm sorry for this, even sympathetic, right at this immediate time," Garni wrote on a tribute Website dedicated to Riot cofounder Randy Rhoads.

"I am already, within hours of this, having to deal with untrue rumors and speculation and that only adds fuel to that. There is a tendency for the subject of Kevin to incite flames on every board, and now is not the time for that. I will explain to everyone here the facts and the truth in the next 24 to 48 hours as I realize this will affect us all. So please, until then be patient."

According to MTV.com, DuBrow appeared to be in good health and was in New Orleans just before Halloween to celebrate his birthday.

With DuBrow on vocals, Quiet Riot became the first hair metal band to score a Top 5 hit with its cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize" off the monster 1983 LP Metal Health, thanks to heavy video airplay on MTV. The album itself made history as the first metal release to top the Billboard album charts, supplanting the Police's Synchronicity.

Quiet Riot was formed by Rhoads and Garni in the mid-1970s, with DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth. The band broke up when Rhoads left to play guitar for Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. After Rhoads died in a 1982 plane crash, DuBrow relaunched Quiet Riot without any of the founding members.

The rebooted band reached its zenith with Metal Health, which sold 6 million copies and spawned the Top 40 singles "Slick Black Cadillac" and "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)."

While the follow-up Condition Critical was certified platinum and scored two hit singles, "Party All Night" and another Slade cover, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," the band was eclipsed by other hair bands.

After a succession of lineup changes, Quiet Riot disbanded again in 1989, with the other members actually firing DuBrow after the end of a tour.

The metal mavens reunited in the mid-'90s and continued to play the club circuit. After a brief breakup in 2003, DuBrow issued the 2004 solo album In for the Kill, before the band once again reformed for a 2005 tour with Cinderella, Ratt and Firehouse.

In October 2006, the band released its final studio album with DuBrow, Rehab, on Chavis Records.

"As I mourn his death with a heavy heart, I will remember hearing his voice and the music for the very first time on the radio back in 1983," said label boss Bill Chavis. "I will remember all the great music Kevin and Quiet Riot gave to so many of us over the years, and I will say, 'Thank you, Kevin. May you rest in peace.' "

Funeral plans have not yet been finalized.



Quiet Riot offstage in 2002
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California
Genre(s) Heavy metal, glam metal
Years active 1975–1980
1982–1989
1992–2003
2005–Present
Label(s) Pasha, Sony Music
Associated
acts House of Lords
Members
Frankie Banali
Chuck Wright
Alex Grossi
Former members
Kevin DuBrow
Carlos Cavazo
Rudy Sarzo
Paul Shortino
Drew Forsyth
Randy Rhoads
Kenny Hillery
Kelly Garni
Sean McNabb
Neil Citron
Tony Franklin
Billy Morris
Wayne Carver
Tracii Guns
Tony Cavazo
Juan Croucier
Bobby Rondinelli
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band, whose 1983 & 1984 success contributed to launching the 1980s glam metal scene. They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, and the original lineup featured lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow, Kelly Garni, and drummer Drew Forsyth.

Some have guessed that the name "Quiet Riot" comes from a phrase in John Barth's 1960s novel Giles Goat-Boy and/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 and available here, 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". They are ranked at number 100 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." But Quiet Riot's main success of two songs, 'Cum on Feel the Noize' and 'Mama Weer All Crazy Now' are remakes of English band Slade's classics.

Quiet Riot also has one of the most famous and iconic heavy metal mascots in history[citation needed]. Their mascot resembles a man (sometimes lead singer Kevin DuBrow) in a metal facial mask and in a straightjacket (somewhat similar to Hannibal Lecter) 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.

Kevin DuBrow, lead singer of the band from its inception, was found dead in his Las Vegas home at approximately 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, November 25, 2007. The cause of death is uncertain.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Early Years
1.2 Success with "Cum On Feel The Noize"
1.3 Later Years
2 Pop culture
3 Band members
4 Discography
4.1 Studio albums
4.2 Compilations
4.3 Singles
5 Videos
5.1 Music videos
6 External links



History

Early Years
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. The second album Quiet Riot II, or QR II, was recorded at The Record Plant and released in Japan in 1978. Although Garni's replacement Rudy Sarzo was pictured and credited on 'QR II', he did not join before its recording.[1][2]

In November 1979, after failing to release an album in the U.S., Rhoads followed his friend Dana Strum's advice and joined Ozzy Osbourne's band. DuBrow and Forsyth tried to keep the band together following Rhoads' departure. From 1980-1982 the band's name was changed to DuBrow.

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 re-joined the band on bass, and Rudy's friend, drummer Frankie Banali, completed the lineup.

In September 1982, with a little help from producer Spencer Proffer (who'd produce W.A.S.P.'S 2nd album The Last Command in 1985), they were signed to CBS records in America. On March 11, 1983, their American debut album Metal Health was released. (Their two previous albums, QR I and QR II, have still not been released in the United States).


Success with "Cum On Feel The Noize"
On August 27, 1983, Quiet Riot's second single "Cum on Feel the Noize" / Run For Cover was released. Cum On Feel The Noize, 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) and it was the first of a string of Slade sound-alikes recorded by the group. 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. Their success was aided in no small part to the "Cum on Feel the Noize" video's heavy rotation on MTV. Arguably, Quiet Riot were the first heavy metal band to receive such treatment, opening the door for the later MTV success of Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe.

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 movie Footloose, as well as another heavy rotation video on MTV.


Later Years
The group's follow-up, Condition Critical, was released on July 7, 1984. It was a relative disappointment, critically and commercially, selling only 1 million units. This release included yet another Slade cover (the single, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" - a UK chart topper for Slade) 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 VH1 "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.

This led to Sarzo quitting the group in 1985. (In 1987 the bassist went on to Whitesnake) The bass slot in Quiet Riot was filled by erstwhile collaborator Chuck Wright (of Giuffria). Next, the band released QRIII in 1986, another commercial failure. 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 band fell apart after a tour that ended in Hawaii in 1989 and DuBrow fought to keep control of the name. 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 Kenny Hillery (d. 5 June 1996, Suicide) (bass). Quiet Riot, with Chuck Wright again on bass, hit the road in support of 'Terrified' with Wisconsin's Slam I Am.

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). Hillery left in 1995 and committed suicide on June 5, 1996; 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 (2001).


DuBrow performing.Quiet Riot officially broke up in February 2003, and Sarzo joined Dio in the following year. However, it 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 2005 tour along with Cinderella, Ratt, and FireHouse.

Kevin DuBrow released a solo album titled In For The Kill in 2004.

As of January 2006, 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. Other recent members of Quiet Riot have included guitarists Billy Morris and Neil Citron, and bassists Tony Franklin, Sean McNabb and Wayne Carver. In an interview with rock & roll comic C.C. Banana in August 2006, Frankie Banali attempted to clarify the matter of Quiet Riot's recent rapid-fire membership rotation, indicating that both Alex and Chuck were both back in the band again.

Quiet Riot's new album was released on October 3, 2006 and is entitled Rehab. The lineup on the album consists of DuBrow, Banali, Franklin, & Neil Citron. Former Deep Purple bassist and singer Glenn Hughes also makes a guest vocal appearance on the album.

On July 13, 2007, Quiet Riot performed at glam metal festival "Rocklahoma." Then on September 19 they gave a free show to service members on Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS

On November 25, 2007, The Vegas Eye website reported that Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his apartment that day.[1]. Banali confirmed the death in an email to Spain's The Metal Circus.[2]Banali wrote:

"Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend Kevin DuBrow."


Pop culture
In 2007, Quiet Riot were featured in radio promos for ESPN Radio, parodying their status as dated rock and roll icons. Dubrow mentions that they are not completely dated, since they're still touring, to which Banali replies "Yeah...in your minivan."
Quiet Riot are mentioned in Ben Folds - "Rockin' the Suburbs" (2001). "I'm rockin' the suburbs, just like Quiet Riot did. I'm rockin' the suburbs, except that they were talented"
In the 2005 episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star", the band 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."
Quiet Riot's track "Metal Health" is used as the title theme to the video game Showdown: Legends of Wrestling. The same song also appears in the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, while their version for Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize" is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, both playing on Rock radio station V-Rock. It was also used in the Crank soundtrack. It was also used in a scene for the film Footloose.The song "Bang Your Head(Metal Health)" is in the game Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s is a playable song.

Band members

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