Former QUIET RIOT Drummer Discusses Upcoming Documentary In New Audio Interview

[Terry]

Think it's more along the lines of the difference between original lineups vs. definitive lineups.

While an original lineup isn't subject to contention, definitive lineups can vary in definition from one person to the next. While an original lineup can be the definitive lineup, a definitive lineup doesn't necessarily always have to be the original one.

In the case of Quiet Riot, I'd say the definitive lineup wasn't the original one. It was the Cavazo/DuBrow/Sarzo/Banali one.

In terms of Randy Rhoads, I think of Quiet Riot as the band he was in before he hit the big time.

[GAR]

Folks that jump into online discussions misstating their personal views as fact suffer the consequences of being totally wrong, such as is the case "oh the definitive Quiet Riot was with Randy" not to single FART in this observation, I would include the broad scope of all online bullshitting on this matter I've seen the last 15 years as it's been an ongoing inaccuracy.

The historical fact is: up until Carlos Cavaszo the socalled "California Sound" in radioplay was about CSNY, The Eagles and Jackson Brown with few exceptions.

Even Van Halen couldn't break AM radio: they got a little play on AM with "Cradle Will Rock" but after 90 days that ended as all label promotion goes when the money stops. So that wasn't really organic AM requested-radioplay, the way "Cum On Feel The Noize" was. That was a breakthru. That recording was landmark runaway hit material that changed the whole landscape in radio for almost the remainder of the decade!

[GAR]

In terms of Randy Rhoads, I think of Quiet Riot as the band he was in before he hit the big time.

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.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Agree with the last 2 posts on this. QR was kind of a stopping point for Randy along the way to fame with Ozzy. The other guys took what they had and made it work. I don't think they should be penalized in the history books for continuing forward. Metal Health was pretty much written by Dubrow so in my mind QR was always more about him than it was the guitarist. That being said, Carlos was great and deserves all the credit in the world.

[GAR]

I think they've been totally penalized by having been known as Randy's first band.

[sonrisa salvaje]

The thing that i would love to see get released on this deal is the QRIII era simply because it was when they started to unravel. They have clips on the site in the updates that show concert footage from the tour as well as some rehearsel footage, backstage stuff, etc.
This is the tour where the band supposedly loaded up the tour bus and left Dubrow at the hotel thus breaking up the band. I have always been interested in finding out more about it.

[GAR]

I really hoped he and Sarzo could pull it together with Cavazo and find a new singer.

I'd hoped that since the late 80s actually with the first of Dubrow's run-mauf breakdowns started making press, but who would they replace him with?

Now with Youtube online, some really talented Home Depot longhair who's really good but has no band might be out there in obscurity about to post a karaoke.

You never know: that's how Journey found somebody to replace their LSD problem frontman.. it could and should happen!

Long live Quiet Riot, they were a great band and I hope they regroup. I really do because it wasn't all about Kevin's funny bulging eyeball-faces, they were a good band with a great song catalogue.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Yeah but Carlos has a decent gig with Ratt now and Quiet Riot towards the end was only playing festivals. On the Alive and Well tour back in 01/02 they came here and drew about 500 people. With a new lead singer i don't think they could do any better. Lets face it, unless you are Ozzy or Motley Crue, there is no more drawing power at the ticket window for this genre of music.

[sadaist]

Yeah but Carlos has a decent gig with Ratt now and Quiet Riot towards the end was only playing festivals. On the Alive and Well tour back in 01/02 they came here and drew about 500 people. With a new lead singer i don't think they could do any better. Lets face it, unless you are Ozzy or Motley Crue, there is no more drawing power at the ticket window for this genre of music.

You're right. I saw Quiet Riot in the last 90's at a club in San Diego called 4th & B. Maybe 500 people there. A good friend of mines uncle owned the place & she gave me 18 free tickets. 18! I ran out of friends to give them to...lmao. I had one left & had a smoke at the ticket window right before the show & just surprised some dude as he was shelling out the $20 to buy his ticket.

It was a great show though.

As far as Cavazo. Him joining Ratt is the first ever time I have accepted a new person joining a band I like. Weird. No particular reason. Was never an especially big Carlos fan. I just kinda like him in Ratt....and no one original was fired or quit for him to steal their place. (Robin Crosby - rip)



side note about 4th & B.

Weirdest thing. We all went to Quiet Riot & had a very mellow, happy time. 2 weeks later we saw Men At Work and were involved in a huge brawl on the floor. WTF?! We scrap during Who Can It Be Now and not Bang Your Head? LOL. Still perplexing. Alcohol is grate!!!!

[tojoro]

It seems that Frankie is no longer on speaking terms with Carlos, sadly, as it seems Cavazo felt the same way about Kevin as Sarzo did. I really do think Carlos is great and though my avatar may say different, he is/was the guitarist for Quiet Riot. Randy was there from the get-go, but he did bail in hopes that he could make a name for himself with Ozzy.
Strangely enough, though...he was real apprehensive about auditioning for Oz, as the story goes, according to Dana Strum. Stranger still, Dana also claims that at one point, it was Ozzy, Randy, Dana on bass and none other than Frankie Banali on drums! This would be in '79, before Ozzy left LA for England, with Randy to follow a short while later.
My only summation for the Rhoads years being left out of this doc could be that Frankie saw for himself how the Dakota doc that is in progress has had to go through a good deal of red tape, so he possibly decided to bypass those years and show how the band was able to carry on after his departure and find their own fame.
I hope Frankie is able to get this done I've always liked them, DuBrow's hokey lyrics and abrasiveness aside and if it does come to light, I hope ample time is given to Chuck Wright...one of the many bass players Sarzo has stolen the thunder from.

[GAR]

My only summation for the Rhoads years being left out of this doc could be that Frankie saw for himself how the Dakota doc that is in progress has had to go through a good deal of red tape

no doubt, thats a very good point..

[Terry]

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.

I don't think Quiet Riot broke big commercially until the summer of 1983, but I would agree that probably many people hadn't even heard the name Quiet Riot until a year or so after Rhoads died, and the Rhoads connection was probably a sidenote in articles focusing on the band during their banner 1983 year.

I suppose I should have phrased it more along the lines of "when I think of Randy Rhoads, Quiet Riot isn't the first thing that comes to mind and when I think of Quiet Riot, Randy Rhoads isn't the first thing that comes to mind".

Either way, I still don't like you.

[FORD]

Did Rudy Sarzo actually play bass on any Quiet Riot albums?

Kelly Garni played bass on Quiet Riot II, then left the band immediately after the album was recorded. Sarzo appeared on the cover, but didn't play a note on the album.

On the aborted third album Randy Rhoads was playing bass in the studio (some of these tracks eventually were released on the single disc "Randy Rhoads Years" compilation that DuBrow released in 1994)

The bass tracks on Metal Health were all either Chuck Wright or Cavazo's brother (who later joined Sarzo's brother in Hurricane) Sarzo was still touring with Ozzy at the time.

Can't remember if he actually played on Condition Critical or not. If so, that would be the first time he ever set foot in a studio.

[Terry]

Did Rudy Sarzo actually play bass on any Quiet Riot albums?

Kelly Garni played bass on Quiet Riot II, then left the band immediately after the album was recorded. Sarzo appeared on the cover, but didn't play a note on the album.

On the aborted third album Randy Rhoads was playing bass in the studio (some of these tracks eventually were released on the single disc "Randy Rhoads Years" compilation that DuBrow released in 1994)

The bass tracks on Metal Health were all either Chuck Wright or Cavazo's brother (who later joined Sarzo's brother in Hurricane) Sarzo was still touring with Ozzy at the time.

Can't remember if he actually played on Condition Critical or not. If so, that would be the first time he ever set foot in a studio.

Am assuming he must have played on Condition Critical. For years I had presumed he played on Metal Health until I realized the time frame of that being recorded didn't seem to synch up with his stint in Ozzy. Sarzo claims he played on all but two of the tracks on Metal Health, though.

[tojoro]

I think the US Festival was the point when QR hit huge. Rhoads was supposed to come back and guest on the closing ballad, Thunderbird, but then it wound up being dedicated to him instead. I believe that's where the majority of the public learned that Randy was the original guitarist, as with the press for Metal Health, it was often mentioned that Rhoads was a founding member.
I guess if Frankie's doc gets released, we'll find out who played bass where on that album, but I do believe Sarzo is the sole bass player on Condition Critical, Terry. He has a sole co-writing credit with DuBrow for 'Scream and Shout'.
So, I guess ole Rudy has that goin' for him...oh yeah, Whitesnake's 'Slip of the Tongue' too, and...uhhh...I think that may be about it.
Well, Tribute and Speak of the Devil, if you want to count live albums.