Most rock bands tediously climb the ladder of success, the best of the lot finally reaching the top rung of fame and fortune. Fate handed Quiet Riot an inverse career.
"Usually people start off small and get big," said Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow from a tour stop in Spokane. "We started out the other way around."
It seems the rockers that made headbanging a household hobby went from overnight mega-metal success to the "where-are-they-now?" file of one or two-hit '80s bands. Not to be forgotten, Quiet Riot is touring again to promote their new album "Down to the Bone," and Lewiston's Tomfoolery is a scheduled stop TuesdayJune 6.
Quiet Riot blasted onto the music scene in 1983. Their multi-platinum record "Metal Health" topped the charts and radio stations couldn't stop playing "Bang Your Head" and "Cum on Feel the Noize." Their music videos were hard to miss on the fledgling music channel, MTV.
While not the first, (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and AC/DC were a few of the earlier metal bands), Quiet Riot helped catapult heavy metal into the mainstream, along with the likes of Def Leppard, Ratt, Ozzy Osbourne, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue.
Now, some of those bands are struggling for air and video time since the wave of alternative/grunge swept away much of their audience. DuBrow doesn't begrudge bands like Green Day and Pearl Jam their success. In fact, he's a fan of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. But Quiet Riot doesn't have any plans to "grungize" their sound.
"For us to try to adapt to an alternative or grunge-oriented thing ... that's not going to last either. Nothing lasts. It's all a cycle. It would be silly for us to try to follow some fad that's going to be around only as long as the next fad," DuBrow said. "You gotta be true to yourself."
That's one reason why Quiet Riot hasn't changed its name. With three of the four original band members, much of the album sounds like Quiet Riot of days gone by. There are a few exceptions, including some unexpected harmonies, atmospheric synthesizers and the acoustic title track "Down to the Bone," (played in a style reminiscent of Led Zeppelin).
"At this point we are not selling millions of records so it is pointless to try to predict where the trends will go. You should please yourself first, and anybody who has any taste will follow," DuBrow quipped.
At smaller venues like Spokane and Lewiston, the group can relate more closely with loyal fans like Lewiston's Bob Louis, program and music director at KOZE Radio at Lewiston. He's been playing the new album's single "Pretty Pack O' Lies" heavily for the last few months.
"Quiet Riot has always been a good phone band," he said, referring to call-in requests. "You mention Quiet Riot and everybody knows who they are."
Like Louis, 31, most remember the band from their early hits and frequent appearances on music television.
"I grew up with them. I was the kid who would come home and turn on MTV and watch Quiet Riot back when they were in the metal cage."
That dated image is precisely what's causing most radio stations to back away from Quiet Riot's new album. The elitist, fad market makes it hard for bands who aren't "the flavor of the month," DuBrow said.
"Well the direction from radio was if the group was a different name they would play it all the time. The perception of the group Quiet Riot being from the '80s has limited our airplay."
Except in Lewiston, that is.
"In Lewiston it's an unusual situation, because Bob Louis has sort of crusaded this album. We are in Lewiston completely because he has supported the record so much. He was real fanatic about it. It's great for us."
MTV also has been lukewarm to Quiet Riot's new album. But unlike other heavy metal bands of the '80s, Quiet Riot doesn't fault MTV for the audience's abandonment.
"A lot of people blame them (MTV) for the death of heavy metal. I think that people just got burnt out on the late '80s so-called hair bands.' People just naturally rebelled against them," he said. "MTV is just a reaction to what's going on in the marketplace. There is no one sitting up in an office someplace saying We are going to kill heavy metal.' "
Those who say metal is dead don't phase DuBrow.
"I have heard it before. I heard it one year before Quiet Riot cracked it in 1983. And I heard it a lot louder then."
But since the band first broke into the market more than a decade ago, heavy metal has taken on a harder edge. Some, like Louis, believe Quiet Riot now falls into a different musical category.
"They were the MTV band as far as heavy metal goes then, but if you turn on MTV now and listen to Headbangers Ball,' you'll find bands like White Zombie, Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity and Nine Inch Nails," he said. "When they started out they were classified as a metal band but the way music is today they would be classified as straight-ahead rockers."
Apparently that's what a lot of KOZE listeners want to hear, if calls to the station are any gauge.
"The reaction we've been getting is No. No way. They're not coming to Lewiston, that can't be right,' " Louis said. "But it is."
