Kevin DuBrow died yesterday. He was the singer for Quiet Riot. This band had a huge impact on the 80s, HUGE. This band single handedly changed my life. When I was in grade school, I remember that song coming out 'come on feel the noise'. I loved it. It changed my entire perspective on music. I was not remotely a metal dude until that song. It opened the doors of power chords and hessian hair. I was in! After that, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax all followed. Metal Church, Dio, Iron Maiden... check!
To me, that all grew out of hearing that song. It literally changed who I was as a person. You know me as many avatars: Kevin, Lono, Master of Death emeritus, and rock guy. Rock guy owes a lot to Kevin DuBrow. That album was the first 'metal' album to go platinum. It opened the door for real bands.
See, Kevin DuBrow was mostly a douchebag. He got crazy greedy after the success of 'Metal Health' and was never heard from again. The band broke up, you know, several times. They kept recording and making albums, it's just that no one could tolerate DuBrow (you hear me, Roth?). Dude sadly ended up totally broke and living with his mother the last ten years.
Another significant historical rock mention should be made here. Quiet Riot's guitarist was a kid named Randy Rhoads. He left the band to go work for the singer that Sabbath fired. Together, they invented rock and roll with 'Crazy Train', 'Flying High Again', and 'Goodbye to Romance'. Sadly, Randy died years ago when he was a kid (27, of course).
