RUDY SARZO Talks About 30th Anniversary Of RANDY RHOADS' Death [Archive]

Jagermeister

01-04-2012, 10:26 AM

2012 will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of OZZY OSBOURNE/ex-QUIET RIOT guitarist Randy Rhoads. Bassist Rudy Sarzo, who played with Rhoads in both Ozzy's band and QUIET RIOT, spoke to Artisan News at last month's Dimebash event about the legacy of Randy Rhoads as the anniversary of his passing approaches (see video below).

"Randy had a lot of influences, but you would never really hear them when you would hear him play, 'cause he was such a unique performer and composer that everything he did sounded like Randy Rhoads," Sarzo said. "Even when the few occasions that he was playing BLACK SABBATH songs in the set, it would sound like Randy playing BLACK SABBATH songs."

On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads, the then-lead guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE, and two others were killed at Flying Baron Estates, just outside Leesburg, Florida, when their small plane struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion.

When asked about what he remembers about that fateful day in 1982 when Randy was killed, Sarzo said, "I like to think about Randy while he was alive, not about him being dead. He's still alive in my mind. His music will live on forever. I didn't hear about it, I witnessed it. It was so painful that I'd rather not talk about it."

In a 2007 interview with Glam-Metal.com, Sarzo stated about Rhoads, "Randy was an amazing musician, teacher, musician, friend, performer and composer. Also, Randy was responsible for getting me in Ozzy's band and for keeping the plane from crashing into our tour bus and saving the lives of us who were sleep in the bus."

He added, "Randy's legacy is still growing. Almost every day, I get messages [online] from young fans who have discovered him through their parents' CD collection."

Regarding the fact that he was the only person to have performed with Randy in both QUIET RIOT and OZZY OSBOURNE, Sarzo said, "I was blessed. It gave me the opportunity to see the two sides of Randy's guitar playing. There was the Randy with QUIET RIOT, and the Randy with OZZY. The Randy with QUIET RIOT had a lot of restrictions that were set by what the industry in Los Angeles was all about. Let's face it: QUIET RIOT was a band that was looking for a record deal. So we were pretty much at the mercy of what the industry was dictating. The last metal band to get signed out of the '70s was VAN HALEN. Right after that, they shut the door."

FORD

01-04-2012, 01:20 PM

30 fucking years??

Damn, now I feel really old........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNbUgsBUTtI

Hardrock69

01-04-2012, 02:25 PM

That last statement about Van Halen is absolutely correct.

FORD

01-04-2012, 02:32 PM

Yeah.... too bad the industry opened the door back up and signed all those shitty transvestite hairbands in the 80's though.

As for Quiet Riot not getting a deal in the 70s (except in Japan) I think Rudy is ignoring the obvious..... DuBrow was as bad of a lyricist as Spam Hagar, if not worse. The Japanese didn't give a fuck about that, since lyrics don't matter if it's all a foreign language anyway.

When I listen to my crappy sounding bootleg of the first two Quiet Riot albums, it's all about Randy's playing. Really not much else there of value at all.

jhale667

01-04-2012, 02:40 PM

Rudy (and Dubrow, R.I.P.) have/had some EXCELLENT Randy stories...apparently RR was quite the cut-up, a genuinely funny, quick-witted dude. When I first became friendly with them, Dubrow actually didn't believe me when I originally told him I'd met Randy briefly as a kid - "Everybody says that, and no one really did" until I told him Randy started goofing on the band's security in front of my friends and I - then KD smiled and said "OK...yeah, that was him..." :lmao:

Green Manalishi

01-04-2012, 03:41 PM

jhale667

01-04-2012, 04:34 PM

I can still remember to this day where I was at and what I was doing when I heard the grim news . Sad .
Nearly six weeks before the tragedy occured , six of us just saw Ozzy and Randy on
Sunday Night , February 7th . at the old Kiel Auditorium here in St. Louis .
It had been a rescheduled gig from Wednesday Night , January 27th. but was cancelled
at the last second because Ozzy was too ill to perform as a result of the shenanigans
with the rabid bat a couple of nights earlier . Man oh man , that little guy could play .

I saw them on Feb. 3rd... one of the few dates Rudy omitted in his book...I sent him a pic of my ticket stub to jog his memory (and possibly correct the next edition)... :baaa: And yes, totally remember where I was when I heard the awful news too - outside mowing my mom's lawn - she flagged me down to come in and hear them repeat the announcement on the radio "Hey, the DJ just said Ozzy's drummer died!" I then proceed to call in to our local radio station, because they were saying "Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Rhoads killed in plane crash", and I asked the DJ - "Was it the drummer Tommy Aldridge or was it Randy Rhoads ? He's Ozzy guitar player!" The DJ got flustered (clearly didn't know the band member's names himself) and yelled "LOOK, it says RIGHT HERE Ozzy's DRUMMER RANDY RHOADS DIED!" and hung up on me (he was a tool, btw). By the time the evening newspaper came out at least AP had it right...I still have the obituary with my autographed Diary tour program.

Hardrock69

01-04-2012, 05:09 PM

I saw them on February 27, 1982. Man. Less than a month later Randy was gone.

binnie

01-04-2012, 05:16 PM

Do we know of any un-released RR stuff that might see the light of day for this anniversary?

FORD

01-04-2012, 06:11 PM

Do we know of any un-released RR stuff that might see the light of day for this anniversary?

It would be nice if the Quiet Riot albums finally saw the light of day (as opposed to that completely overdubbed sampler that DuBrow put out in 1994.)

As I said, there's nothing remarkable apart from Randy's playing on them, but (just as it was with the Sharon-mangled Ozzy remasters) it's just a crime to mess with the historical record like that. It's really time those recordings got a proper world wide release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCNyXFxN_0

Seshmeister

01-04-2012, 06:24 PM

Wow they really were going for the Slade sound.

FORD

01-04-2012, 06:31 PM

Seshmeister

01-04-2012, 09:17 PM

It's problematic because Slade became a parody in the UK and are viewed as a bit of a joke band because of repeated TV screenings of what seemed after the event ludicrous costumes as well as an all pervading Xmas song which is played every 10 minutes in stores throughout December.

Even by the 80s being influenced so much by Slade wouldn't have helped their credibility much here, kind of like being influenced by little Donny Osmond.

FORD

01-04-2012, 09:26 PM

...or Donny Osmond's short-lived late 80's comeback being influenced by the very un-Mormon George Michael?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXs0r47STuY

78/84 guy

01-07-2012, 01:28 AM

The first time I heard Crazy Train my jaw dropped !! He would have been neck & neck with Eddie through the 80's had he lived. His live tone was way better than Ed's. He took some stuff from Ed but he was his own player. What a waste. R.I.P.

Jagermeister

03-19-2012, 10:31 AM

Today ,March 19th, marks the 30th anniversary of this legends death. :(

No wonder I am in such a shitty mood.

Jagermeister

03-19-2012, 10:40 AM

Monday, March 19 marks the 30th anniversary of guitar legend Randy Rhoads’s death in a plane crash. Zakk Wylde, who’s a huge admirer of Rhoads’s work, recently spoke to MusicRadar.com about the guitarist’s legacy.

“The testimony to Randy’s greatness is the fact that we all still remember. Whenever my buddies and I get together, we can’t help but talk about Randy Rhoads,” Wylde said. “Let’s say he didn’t have to go up to God’s tavern when the good Lord needed him. Let’s say he just walked away from it all and went back to teaching, which he was thinking of doing; he wasn’t all that comfortable with the fame thing and playing big places. He’d still be a total legend for what he did on those first two Ozzy Osbourne records. What he achieved in just a couple of years is right up there with the best of the best. He did on two albums what most guys can’t do on 20. That’s pretty remarkable.”

Wylde went on to talk about Rhoads’s influence on his playing.

“He had unbelievable technique and could do all the things on the guitar that are astounding,” he said. “His scales, the diminished scales he used – unreal. But it was his writing and the way he composed his solos – I mean, his solos were songs within the songs… He was way ahead of what everybody else was doing.”

fourthcoming

03-19-2012, 11:00 AM

Well, they obviously proved to be Slade fans on the later records, but they were apparently big fans of Sweet as well (or at least I always thought this song sounded a little bit like them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn4V5cCYE3M

Early Motley Crue sounds alot likethey were trying to sound like early Quiet Riot....to me anyway.

jhale667

03-19-2012, 11:15 AM

R.I.P. Randy!!

One cool Rhoads/QR story... back in '06 Frankie B called me and asked if I could sub for their tech for a weekend, and did I have a passport? Didn't, but quickly got one and ended up doing a weekend going from Mexico to Canada with them, which was fun. Every night they did "Thunderbird" and dedicate it to Randy. Well, the Mexico gig was at some outdoor biker festival and they were the headliner, so they didn't go on until after dark (Ripper Owens opened, actually). During Thunderbird, some kid hands Kevin a pic of Randy...which he held up during the 1st verse. When it came to the "Fly on, Thunderbird Flyyyyyy....." part, Kev let the photo go, and as if on cue, the wind picked it up and carried it just above the audience's heads to the back of the crowd...a true Kodak moment... Kev looked over at me and gave me this huge smile as if to say "Did you SEE that sh*t?" :D Later he said "I couldn't have planned that better!"

:guitar:

private parts

03-19-2012, 11:17 AM

Today ,March 19th, marks the 30th anniversary of this legends death. :(

No wonder I am in such a shitty mood.

Wow! 30 years. I saw Randy's last show in Knoxville Tn. I was in the front row between Ozzie and Randy. Nothing but barricade and security
Will never forget that show. Some of the strangest people were there. One chick threw up on my friends leg after she tried to rush the stage to give Ozzie a large crucifix. Weird.
Anyway, my best friend and I where pretty Ozzie/Randy fanatics (not as much as VH ) and where really devastated after hearing the news a day later that Rhodes had died.
The thought of seeing his last performance still freaks me out to this day. RIP Randy

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 11:23 AM

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 11:31 AM

...or Donny Osmond's short-lived late 80's comeback being influenced by the very un-Mormon George Michael?

The Osmonds had lost most their money due to shifty money managers and poor investments. Donny and Marie were the gravy train to the whole family. They were desperate. Donny's brothers still haven't gotten over losing all their money. The Osmond family situation was not that far off from the Jackson family situation. I've heard the Osmond brothers say their dad was borderline abusive and ran then like a drill sargeant. They even have bunks and footlockers in the basement of the house like a boot camp. These guys gave up a normal childhood and teen years for show business and they admitted many times they hated it. They wanted to be normal. They said it was all in the back of their minds that ok, we are losing our youth but we will have a big fat nest egg at the end of all this and then they came to find the nest egg was gone. It shattered them.

The whole family has been living off of what Donny and Marie could make for years. Last I heard they were raking it in with their Vegas show.

A funny story is Donny was so desperate to make money he hired a hot shot Hollywood publicist. The strategy the publicist came up with was to have Donny dirty his image up a bit and re-remarket himself. So he needed to get in the press and have paparazzi photos of him hanging around some less that squeaky clean people. So the publicist had Donny go to this party where some of these people hung out. He went to a party where there was drugs and loose women and clearly looked out of place and uncomfortable there. Billy Idol came up to him and asked what in the hell was he doing there and when Donny explained the strategy Bill Idol said nobody is going to buy it and it's not you. Donny said that was the best advice he ever got and said it would have been a rediculous failure if he carried through with it. But he said the Soldier of Love days were pretty desperate times and could have gotten even more rediculous.

private parts

03-19-2012, 11:32 AM

Last photo of Randy Rhoads backstage Knoxville Tn

jhale667

03-19-2012, 11:32 AM

I remember Rudy in another interview saying he thought the death of Randy Rhoads could have been a murder/suicide. Almost like he knew the person flying the plane was not all with it and he was aiming the plane at the tour bus on purpose to kamakazee it. Anyways the guy doesn't like to talk about what happened but he did let it slip out that he thought it might have been a murder/suicide.

Seems like some dark details were there. Unstable minds. We have all had those feelings of let's get the hell out of here these people are creepy. Maybe Rudy had a bit of that going.

Think it was actually Don Airey the keyboard player that suggested that Andrew Aycock may have dive-bombed the plane at his estranged wife who was standing next to the bus when they clipped it; Airey was taking pictures for Randy - Rudy, Ozzy and Sharon were asleep on the bus at the time. Tommy Aldridge was asleep on the bus too, and has said in recent years he hid the fact that he disposed of a freezer bag full of coke the driver had with him before the authorities arrived. The dude had been up for days, was on a bender and had been fighting with his ex-wife...anything's possible.

Seshmeister

03-19-2012, 11:40 AM

I remember Rudy in another interview saying he thought the death of Randy Rhoads could have been a murder/suicide. Almost like he knew the person flying the plane was not all with it and he was aiming the plane at the tour bus on purpose to kamakazee it. Anyways the guy doesn't like to talk about what happened but he did let it slip out that he thought it might have been a murder/suicide.

Seems like some dark details were there. Unstable minds. We have all had those feelings of let's get the hell out of here these people are creepy. Maybe Rudy had a bit of that going.

It's quite tiresome that people can't just accept it when a famous person dies without having to build up a nonsense narrative.

Also after reading Sarzo's biography him choosing to become a bass player was not a great loss to rocket science...

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 11:46 AM

It's quite tiresome that people can't just accept it when a famous person dies without having to build up a nonsense narrative.

Also after reading Sarzo's biography him choosing to become a bass player was not a great loss to rocket science...

I hate to say it but building up the narrative might give a desperate person something to sell. The more I learn about show business the more I'm glad I'm not in it. It's a pretty fucked up business actually. You have to build attention around yourself to make money and that pressure compromises a lot of people. I mean when grunge came in it killed so many careers over night. You write books, you do reality TV, you do whatever you have to do.

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 11:51 AM

Think it was actually Don Airey the keyboard player that suggested that Andrew Aycock may have dive-bombed the plane at his estranged wife who was standing next to the bus when they clipped it; Airey was taking pictures for Randy - Rudy, Ozzy and Sharon were asleep on the bus at the time. Tommy Aldridge was asleep on the bus too, and has said in recent years he hid the fact that he disposed of a freezer bag full of coke the driver had with him before the authorities arrived. The dude had been up for days, was on a bender and had been fighting with his ex-wife...anything's possible.

The interview I saw of Rudy Sarzo telling the story and saying he thought it was a murder/suicide was on television. His face changed when he reflected on it and you could just tell it was a dark, dark, situation that led up to that accident. I'm sure they were out of their fucking minds. It's not just the accident and Randy's dealth that is painful it's the whole situation that led up to it. You could just see the darkness in the guy's body language like it was one huge fucking nightmare.

Jagermeister

03-19-2012, 11:57 AM

I think we all agree the world would have been better of if Sarzo had been on that plane instead of Randy. :biggrin:

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 11:59 AM

I think we all agree the world would have been better of if Sarzo had been on that plane instead of Randy. :biggrin:

LOL! Well we have found Michael Anthony was disposable enough and Rudy doesn't even have the famous back ground vocals.

chefcraig

03-19-2012, 12:14 PM

I think we all agree the world would have been better of if Sarzo had been on that plane instead of Randy. :biggrin:

No, the entire planet would have benefited if Sharon Osbourne had dragged herself out of bed, barked at Randy to get out of the plane and took the seat herself. This, along with Mark David Chapman aiming at Yoko Ono and Kurt Cobain turning his firepower towards Courtney Love (rather than himself) would have ended suffering, homelessness, hunger and religious conflicts world-wide in the ensuing years.

(I'm a huge Quantum Leap fan, so I know what I'm talking about. :yo:)

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 12:21 PM

No, the entire planet would have benefited if Sharon Osbourne had dragged herself out of bed, barked at Randy to get out of the plane and took the seat herself. This, along with Mark David Chapman aiming at Yoko Ono and Kurt Cobain turning his firepower towards Courtney Love (rather than himself) would have ended suffering, homelessness, hunger and religious conflicts world-wide in the ensuing years.

(I'm a huge Quantum Leap fan, so I know what I'm talking about. :yo:)

Yeah, it seems like we keep getting on the wrong timelines.

Seshmeister

03-19-2012, 02:29 PM

Think it was actually Don Airey the keyboard player that suggested that Andrew Aycock may have dive-bombed the plane at his estranged wife who was standing next to the bus when they clipped it; Airey was taking pictures for Randy - Rudy, Ozzy and Sharon were asleep on the bus at the time. Tommy Aldridge was asleep on the bus too, and has said in recent years he hid the fact that he disposed of a freezer bag full of coke the driver had with him before the authorities arrived. The dude had been up for days, was on a bender and had been fighting with his ex-wife...anything's possible.

It's like the Diana thing.

The driver has been drinking all night and is driving at 120mph into a tunnel and people won't accept that maybe that was what killed her.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 02:33 PM

It's like the Diana thing.

The driver has been drinking all night and is driving at 120mph into a tunnel and people won't accept that maybe that was what killed her.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm

120 mph! On a Paris street no less. Just stupid. That fast on non-Z rated tires on a regular road and all sorts of things can happen. Even if you are in a sports car made to go fast. I don't care what you are driving as soon as you hit 140 mph on a public road, it's scary. I notice where the crash happened was in an underpass and they were probably going fast enough where the car caught some air and he lost the steering capability. When I lived in upstate New York they had roads that went over these little hills and if you went over them fast enough you caught air. It was dangerous because you couldn't see what was on the other side but lots of people did the Dukes of Hazzard thing and got their cars airborn. It doesn't take much to do it to a car going 120 that's for sure.

Seshmeister

03-19-2012, 02:35 PM

Yeah, it seems like we keep getting on the wrong timelines.

That's because you are a glass quarter full guy. :)

I like this timeline whereby Stanislav Petrov was working nightshift on Sept. 26, 1983.

http://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/article.html

lesfunk

03-19-2012, 02:36 PM

Did Seshmeister just compare Randy Rhoads to Lady Diana? What a Fag!

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 02:44 PM

Did Seshmeister just compare Randy Rhoads to Lady Diana? What a Fag!

It's actually better than comparing him to that loser Prince Charles.

Seshmeister

03-19-2012, 02:51 PM

Did Seshmeister just compare Randy Rhoads to Lady Diana? What a Fag!

Nah just the cultism around their sudden deaths.

Nitro Express

03-19-2012, 02:53 PM

The Illuminati killed Randy and Diana because their MK Ultra programming was no longer working and they were going to start spilling the beans.

Seshmeister

03-19-2012, 03:02 PM

Well, they obviously proved to be Slade fans on the later records, but they were apparently big fans of Sweet as well (or at least I always thought this song sounded a little bit like them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn4V5cCYE3M

This should really have been called 'Killer Pants'... :)

fourthcoming

03-19-2012, 03:08 PM

the illuminati killed randy and diana because their mk ultra programming was no longer working and they were going to start spilling the beans.

illuminatus!!!!!!

jhale667

03-19-2012, 05:29 PM

I think we all agree the world would have been better of if Sarzo had been on that plane instead of Randy. :biggrin:

Not cool. Rudy's a nice guy and a friend.

gbranton

03-19-2012, 05:41 PM

and for keeping the plane from crashing into our tour bus and saving the lives of us who were sleep in the bus."

Ok, I'm not familiar with THIS part of the story.

Rudy seems like an ok guy, too bad he has been beset by assholes on all sides throughout his career.

Green Manalishi

03-19-2012, 07:09 PM

Wow , 30 years ago . The shock of it all still makes it feel like yesterday .
While on the way home from work this afternoon , the local rock radio station played
" Diary Of a Madman . " Naturally , I cranked the guts out of it . Still a sad loss .

Terry

03-19-2012, 08:49 PM

I enjoy what Rhoads did, but frankly I'm a bit tired of Sarzo giving a constant stream of interviews that serve little purpose other than to remind people that Sarzo was in a couple of bands with Rhoads.

There's apparently nothing new left to say regarding Rhoads, seeing as most of these recent interviews are just regurgitating old RR stories. So why bother repeating them? It's kinda past the point of picking at a corpse far as all these GW articles and Sarzo interviews go.

chefcraig

03-19-2012, 09:46 PM

Well, they obviously proved to be Slade fans on the later records, but they were apparently big fans of Sweet as well (or at least I always thought this song sounded a little bit like them)

I always thought of Humble Pie whenever I heard QR. At times, DuBrow was a dead ringer for Steve Marriott.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6jh-QFlLZU

gbranton

03-19-2012, 09:59 PM

I always thought of Humble Pie whenever I heard QR. At times, DuBrow was a dead ringer for Steve Marriott.

HERE'S a MUCH better version of "Afterglow", I have no idea what this fucking video is but the music is from the album "Stage". Proving once again that Jack Russell can sing damn near anything and do it WELL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wfvLPQgbE

chefcraig

03-19-2012, 10:03 PM

HERE'S a MUCH better version of "Afterglow", I have no idea what this fucking video is but the music is from the album "Stage". Proving once again that Jack Russell can sing damn near anything and do it WELL.

You ain't kidding. In the eighties, those guys were freakin' outstanding live, and I saw them do a cover of Led Zep's "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" that was better than the original.

gbranton

03-19-2012, 10:07 PM

You ain't kidding. In the eighties, those guys were freakin' outstanding live, and I saw them do a cover of Led Zep's "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" that was better than the original.

You mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijijBd9oxOM

Actually they can STILL bring it live. Great White has ALWAYS been the band that sounds the most like their studio recordings of any band I have ever seen live and I've been to 133 shows as of this writing.

Hell, he even makes Rush sound great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCuo1Kqn_3Y

Portnoy and Sheehan are fantastic on this as well.

Diamondjimi

03-20-2012, 01:04 AM

Such a huge influence on thousands of players, even to this day. I was so pumped to see Randy on the DOAM tour. I bought my tickets
and he was gone 2 weeks later. I was crushed....
Long Live Randy Rhoads!!!

jhale667

03-20-2012, 10:22 AM

I always thought of Humble Pie whenever I heard QR. At times, DuBrow was a dead ringer for Steve Marriott.

Marriott was one of KD's first and biggest influences.

Jagermeister

03-20-2012, 10:35 AM

Not cool. Rudy's a nice guy and a friend.

Yeah I know. He really is kind of a dork though.

chefcraig

03-20-2012, 12:23 PM

You mean:
Actually they can STILL bring it live. Great White has ALWAYS been the band that sounds the most like their studio recordings of any band I have ever seen live and I've been to 133 shows as of this writing.

Oh, hell yes, I remember that MTV show. The thing is, I was talking about seeing them in person, minus the benefit of tv production values or post show editing. They were on a bill with local creeps Saigon Kick, and pretty much wiped the floor with them. Then again, that really isn't saying much, as even I opened for Kick. Put it this way: They were a bunch of wasted, past-their-sell-by date eighties numbskulls who still thought they were hot-shit in the late nineties, despite the fact their limo was somebody's brother's station wagon. They refused us a sound check, showed up late (even though they apparently lived three blocks from the venue) and promptly threw a spectacularly inappropriate sissy-fit because we had the gall to set up a bed sheet band banner on the stage. The drummer's set was nailed together using the rotten, shredding lumber of three other kits, and held together with duct tape, the well known and respected adhesive used by el-cheapo, clueless and beyond salvageable musicians worldwide. It was later discovered that these scatterbrains would change their name night to night, depending on the venue and locality. One night they'd be Cinderella, the next Saigon Kick, ect, ect. Retards.

Conversely, the guys in Great White (whom I did not have the honor of opening for, but had the equally cool opportunity of meeting) were nothing but a group of hard working, remarkably cool and humble dudes. I honestly wish more rockers held at least even a small amount of the grace and dignity these guys did, as they made even a hack like me feel like an equal in their presence when they found out that I was in a band. Believe it or not, these guys and Dee Snider (of all people) were the kindest, most honorable guys I've ever met in all these years of dinging my dong in clubs and the occasional festival.

gbranton

03-20-2012, 03:35 PM

......One night they'd be Cinderella.........Retards. WTF?

Conversely, the guys in Great White (whom I did not have the honor of opening for, but had the equally cool opportunity of meeting) were nothing but a group of hard working, remarkably cool and humble dudes. I honestly wish more rockers held at least even a small amount of the grace and dignity these guys did, as they made even a hack like me feel like an equal in their presence when they found out that I was in a band. Believe it or not, these guys and Dee Snider (of all people) were the kindest, most honorable guys I've ever met in all these years of dinging my dong in clubs and the occasional festival.

Your experiences and mine with them are the same. I have met them as a fan a few times and they are always super gracious and willing to take up time with the fans. One show I saw years ago they were playing kind of a small place that had a basketball goal in the parking lot and when I drove up they were shooting hoops with the fans. I remember Jack Russell, Michael Lardie and Mark Kendall mixing with the crowd and handing out fliers before they opened for Judas Priest in 1985. They, like Tesla, literally go around and ask "Anyone else need an autograph or picture?" before they hit the bus. They actually announced at the close of the show I saw in 2011 for everyone to stick around, that they would be coming back out for autographs and pictures, they set up tables and sat there with big smiles until the last fan was gone. This took place in the Hard Rock Casino and nobody, I mean NOBODY does that at the casinos, they usually split the second the show is over.

As for Siagon Kick, they are a fucking joke. They couldn't be Cinderella in their wildest, wettest fucking dream. Siagon Kick is the kind of no talent, piece of shit band that helped kill the glam rock scene. They made one good song (Love Is On the Way) which they should have sold to an established band. The guys in Cinderella are pretty cool as well, I met them all in 2011 and Tom Kiefer's voice sounds better than it did in 1985.

chefcraig

03-20-2012, 09:33 PM

Glad you had the same experience, friend. Those guys really set the bar high for decorum and how to treat their fans. :thumb:

As for Siagon Kick, they are a fucking joke. They couldn't be Cinderella in their wildest, wettest fucking dream. Siagon Kick is the kind of no talent, piece of shit band that helped kill the glam rock scene. They made one good song (Love Is On the Way) which they should have sold to an established band. The guys in Cinderella are pretty cool as well, I met them all in 2011 and Tom Kiefer's voice sounds better than it did in 1985.

My apologies, as now that you mention it (and I had some time to think it over, then ask a coworker that used to film our shows), it turns out that they were swapping out the names not with Cinderella, but with Skid Row and possibly even a third band. This would have been around 1998 through about 2002. It truly was a bizarre, thoroughly dishonest way to make a living, if ya ask me.

gbranton

03-20-2012, 10:07 PM

Glad you had the same experience, friend. Those guys really set the bar high for decorum and how to treat their fans.

I think dealing with fans gracefully is hard work. I spend a fair amount of time waiting outside venues to respectfully ask for an autograph or picture, other times I do paid meet and greets and a fair amount of the time I find myself standing around not talking to any of my fellow fans because they annoy the fuck out of me. Every conversation turns into some asshole trying to "outfan" you by impressing you with the number of times they've seen them or they know the bass player's ex-girlfriend's cousin or some other shit. I sit back and watch sometimes and it's amazing, most are drunk (sometimes guilty myself), they say the same shit over and over and eveybody is your "biggest fan". It's easy to see why some people can't deal with the pressure of being in a successful rock band and when you meet guys like the ones in Great White, Tesla, Cinderella or guys like George Lynch, Steve Blaze, Joey Allen, Rick Springfield, Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick or Eric Singer it is REALLY impressive to me that they are such nice guys even with everybody trying to get a piece of them.

gbranton

03-20-2012, 10:15 PM

My apologies, as now that you mention it (and I had some time to think it over, then ask a coworker that used to film our shows), it turns out that they were swapping out the names not with Cinderella, but with Skid Row and possibly even a third band. This would have been around 1998 through about 2002. It truly was a bizarre, thoroughly dishonest way to make a living, if ya ask me.

Odd, but they DID share a common member. Phil Varone, who was also in another band that I cannot recall with Skid bassist Rachel Bolan. Varone has also tried his hand at being a porn star and a stand up comedian, but I see he is now once again listed as a member of Kick on their website.

78/84 guy

03-20-2012, 11:16 PM

Ok, I'm not familiar with THIS part of the story.

Rudy seems like an ok guy, too bad he has been beset by assholes on all sides throughout his career.

I was wondering the same thing. What the hell did he mean by that ??

Hardrock69

03-21-2012, 12:15 AM

I try to just have conversations with successful rockers, and if they are about music that is one thing.....but they are usually just happy to talk about the weather.

When I met Ozzy in 1992 we were talking about the coal miner's strike in the UK, his income tax rate, the upcoming Bush Sr./Clinton elections, etc., and he seemed sort of happy to be able to talk about shit that did not involve road stories or the usual crap that awestruck fans blather on about.

I just try to treat them as if they were some guy I ran into in a bar. Of course, in places like FM Station in The Valley in the early 90s, they usually WERE people I ran into, lol.

FORD

03-24-2012, 02:34 PM

Marriott was one of KD's first and biggest influences.

Yeah, him and Rod Stewart (as reflected in his later wig choices).

http://www.dlisted.com/files/ripkevindubrow1.jpg

Guess he liked both eras of the (Small) Faces equally.

FORD

03-24-2012, 02:42 PM

I still say this song could have been a hit if they had released it in the US at the time. Despite the Hagaristic lyrics from DuBrow, Randy more than makes up for it here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv9X4UyePhk

Nitro Express

03-24-2012, 02:46 PM

I think dealing with fans would just be part of the job. Maybe not always a fun part of it but these are the people who buy your product. I don't care what business you are in there is a love/hate relationship with customers. You need them to make a living but you would rather not have to deal with them if you had a choice.

I think what would really really really suck is being famous and poor. You no longer make any money and your gig is up but you are still famous from a television show you were in or something like that. You still get pestered by the fans but you are no longer making money off them.

ELVIS

03-24-2012, 10:31 PM

I saw them do a cover of Led Zep's "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" that was better than the original.

That's really fucking lame and stupid to say that...

Jackoff Russell sang it ok, but the instrumentation was no match for Zep...

Fuck that bullshit rumor...

:mad2:

ELVIS

03-24-2012, 10:33 PM

I still say this song could have been a hit if they had released it in the US at the time.

Bullshit!

That song fucking sucks...

chefcraig

03-25-2012, 11:39 AM

That's really fucking lame and stupid to say that...

Oh, shut up. This coming from the guy that invented "fucking lame and stupid" in the first place. Take a handful of amphetamines, wash them down with 6 or 7 peanut butter-banana sandwiches and warm Dr. Pepper, then go sit on the toilet, ya lard-ass. http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-rolleye-smileys-725.gif (http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/skype-emoticons.html)

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/vv265/feralboy12/elvis%20uploads/elvisfat.jpg