Originally Posted by
GAR
Chronologically, you found out info about Randy thru the Ozzy Osbourne Band, THEN you found the connection to Quiet Riot - postmortem.
THEN Quiet Riot got an album out. I think the first single went out Nov. of 82, and they had the whole album out six months later.
Randy was gone in Mar of '82, so I don't even think there was a connection to his passing and raising any public awareness of Quiet Riot at all.. everything counted on Carlos Cavazos' presence there, and if not for him and the bands' success, all the other local acts clubbing at the time like Great White, Motley Crue and such probably wouldn't have followed. Because they SUCKED.
I went to one of Motley Crue's shows, Pookie's in Pasadena following The Sharks: who ruled.. awesome band. Crue took a halfhour to setup, and sucked. I was falling asleep.
I went to a free record-signing show for Great White at the Troubadour in 83 sponsored by KMET, to announce their EP signing and all they had up to that point was a demo of the Who's "Substitute" on Local Licks Sunday Nite show, like at 1am when everyone's asleep. They weren't all that bad but weren't really good in 83, either.
I think both those bands got signed too early, even though they matured later. Quiet Riot was already matured or they wouldn't have broken mainstream, and they didn't break with Randy Rhodes.
They got signed with Carlos. Yet for the last 30 years almost, you go to a Quiet Riot show and you got some fat leather-jacketed fag wearing a Metallica shirt shouting from the back of the club "Randy Rhodes."
If that describes any of you assholes here, just think about what a joyous occasion that feels like getting onstage getting ready to go.. cord check, amp check, you're about to launch into the first song of the night and then you gotta hear fatboys in the back going "where's Randy?" cuz they might have thought it was funny at the time, and cute and all that but I guarantee you they weren't thinking about how Carlos would feel about it.