But on Macame the shocking news that Randy Rhoads had been killed. And by the start of 1982, a solid line-up was completed by bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Carlos Cavazo. And it was a vision he shared with DuBrow.Īfter Randy Rhoads left Quiet Riot to join up with Ozzy in 1979 – a route followed by Rudy Sarzo in 1981 – DuBrow had formed a new band under his own name. The session work paid well, but Banali wanted to be part of a band – a kick-ass heavy metal band that would sell millions of records. But the next time that DuBrow offered him a job, in 1980, Banali accepted.įollowing a brief tenure in Monarch, Banali had worked as a session drummer for artists including Billy Idol and short-lived supergoup Hughes/Thrall. At this first time of asking, Banali turned down the chance to join Quiet Riot in favour of Monarch, a power trio led by Michael Monarch, former guitarist for 60s legends Steppenwolf. On Sarzo’s recommendation, Banali was offered an audition with the band as a potential replacement for drummer Drew Forsyth. In 1978, Sarzo joined Quiet Riot in place of founder member Kelly Garni, shortly after second album QRII was released. But he didn’t intimidate me at all.”īanali attended various Quiet Riot shows with a former bandmate from New York, bassist Rudy Sarzo, who had also relocated to LA. He reminded me of everyone I grew up with in New York City. And I thought Kevin was great – so self-assured, abrasive, nonconformist. They were first to get an album released, albeit only in Japan.īanali says: “Quiet Riot was the band to see because of Randy Rhoads. But in one respect, Quiet Riot were ahead. A rivalry existed between the two bands: DuBrow was as cocky and outspoken as Van Halen’s lead singer David Lee Roth, and Randy Rhoads was an emerging guitar hero comparable to Eddie Van Halen. Banali, at 26, had recently left his hometown of New York to chase his dream of rock’n’roll stardom in LA, where Quiet Riot were already established as one of the most popular bands on the Hollywood rock scene, alongside Van Halen. And he really was bigger than life.”ĭuBrow certainly made a powerful impression on Banali when they first met in 1977. It was DuBrow who co-founded the band in 1975 and led it through the toughest times DuBrow whose voice and outsized persona defined the Quiet Riot sound, and whose bloody-minded determination inspired the band’s greatest triumphs.Īs Banali says: “Kevin was crazy, loud, with a huge ego. Kevin DuBrow, who died from a cocaine overdose in 2007, was the driving force behind Quiet Riot’s success. But the story of Quiet Riot, as Banali recounts it, is essentially a tribute to the man who is longer around to tell the tale. He is the sole remaining member from the classic line-up that made Metal Health, and he now acts as the band’s manager. In 2013, Quiet Riot is Frankie Banali’s band. They were primed for their breakthrough, and the US Festival would be their testing ground. But now, at last, Quiet Riot were signed to a major label for their third album, Metal Health. Their chief claim to fame was that the band had once featured Randy Rhoads, the guitarist who had gone on to stardom with Ozzy Osbourne before being killed in a plane crash in 1982. Headlined by Van Halen, the line-up also featured Scorpions, Triumph, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe… and, first up on stage, that aforementioned little-known band, Quiet Riot.įormed in the mid-70s, Quiet Riot had grafted long and hard to get to this point. But ‘Heavy Metal Day’, on the 29th, was the big one – with three times as many people in attendance. ‘Rock Day’, on the 30th, would feature David Bowie, Stevie Nicks and the up-and-coming U2. On the 28th, dubbed ‘New Wave Day’, The Clash topped a line-up that included Stray Cats and Men At Work. The US Festival – pronounced ‘US’ as in ‘us and them’ – was the biggest rock event of the year in America.
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