Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow declares, "When push comes to shove, I get to do what I love for a living."
Man, how many times have we heard that before? This is by far the most common quote among classic rock bands that aren't as "big" as they once were - and let's face it, one of the biggest things about Quiet Riot was their hair. They also helped put the word "headbanger" into popular parlance, thanks to the song Bang Your Head, though the band is perhaps best known for Cum on Feel the Noize, which wasn't even their song.
Quiet Riot had its heyday of fame in the heart of the '80s metal mania - the album Mental Health sold about seven million copies - and then dropped off the radar when the excess of the genre became too, well, excessive. Where are they now?
"God, are they still around?" is by far the most common quote among people informed that Quiet Riot is back - again. Version No. 4 of the band plays tonight at the Union Hall. DuBrow is the only original member left (though longtime friend and drummer Frankie Banali has been in the band since Version 2, the fame part). Don your mullet wigs for extra fun.
DuBrow takes it all in good humour. In a recent phone interview, the 49-year-old frontman says it doesn't matter why people come to a Quiet Riot concert in 2005, even if it's just to wallow in irony. As long as they're entertained.
"We've always been self-deprecating," he says. "You have to. Hell, I'm in Quiet Riot! People have taken so many shots at us throughout the years that if you don't have a sense of humour you get really affected by it. Which I refuse to do. What are we around to do? We're here to entertain people, to have fun, make sure other people have fun in the process, but it is rock 'n' roll, after all. If you take it too seriously, it's ridiculous. I think it's meant to be funny. People say that '80s metal is cheesy and I say I really like pizza."
What if you're lactose intolerant? Never mind ...
"As long as people are having fun - even if they're making fun of us - that's really the final goal. I don't question their motives."
Now consider Motley Crue, which is cut from the same cloth as Quiet Riot, as the latter's more successful big brother of pop metal. Crue does nothing but break up and get back together with yet another "greatest hits" set and suddenly they're one of the top touring acts in North America. Classic rock package tours, some of which milk the irony factor, are cropping up all over the place. Bands like Ratt and Poison are working again. The formation of a popular '80s metal tribute band called Ratt Poison seemed inevitable. In short, the time is ripe for '80s nostalgia. It seems we have finally forgotten (or weren't old enough to remember) what a malignant decade it was and are keen to embrace its perceived party-hearty spirit.
"All the play we're getting on the old videos and the retrospective shows of the era have helped," DuBrow says, "but I think the reason is that in life, we all have goals to find happiness and to find love. One of the ways to find happiness is by having a good time. Eighties music is based on a good time. We were all about a positive attitude and partying and having fun, before it got excessive, of course. I think a lot of current music is based on negativity and anger and I think eventually negativity and anger will only go so far in having fun with it."
DuBrow doesn't seem the type to overanalyse things - that's the job of music critics - but says he notices greater turnouts and enthusiasm (and mullet wigs) at Quiet Riot gigs today.
It's sharp contrast to the "dark times." There have been several. Since forming in 1975 with Randy Rhoads on guitar (who quit in 1979 to hook up with Ozzy Osbourne and then was killed in a plane crash in 1982), Quiet Riot has broken up no fewer than three times. The grunge era was no cup of Jack Daniels. The band played here in the mid-'90s, hideously misbooked at the U of A's Dinwoodie Lounge. Maybe 25 people turned up.
DuBrow's personal nadir came in 1999 when he was arrested and jailed for failing to pay a $105,000 US judgment to a woman who allegedly broke her leg at a 1994 Quiet Riot concert. He allegedly threw another fan on top of her. He also owed more than 50 grand in taxes. Imagine, almost 10 million albums sold and the guy was broke.
Hey, mistakes were made. Excess as entertainment lasts only so long when those who do the entertaining get excessively wasted every single night. Partying all the time "got boring," DuBrow says, adding that he now prefers going to the gym regularly and being physically fit - another common classic rock musician thing to say. As a result, and with the addition of "new blood" in the shape of 28-year-old guitarist Alex Grossi, Quiet Riot is back in top form. Of course, why would its leader claim otherwise?
DuBrow says, "A lot of of times you'll see a band from the '80s on TV and you'll say, 'I wanna see them live.' Then they walk on stage and they're 1,000 years old and weigh 500 pounds. With a band like us, sure, you see we don't look 23 years old, but by the same token, you're seeing the same band. It's not confusing."
You know what's going to be confusing? When '90s nostalgia kicks in.
