Growing up in the 80’s was such a great time for me with lots of great memories which led me to want to share some of my favorites (and possibly yours) then and now.
Welcome to METAL REWIND!! Every Friday I’ll write about an old song, album, band or video from back in the day that always gets my blood flowing and reminds me of days past. I gladly welcome any requests or suggestions and would love to feature your favorites as well.
To begin, this week we’ll take a trip back to 1983, to one of the very first songs that put heavy metal into the spotlight, Quiet Riot’s Metal Health (Bang Your Head) off the album of the same name, Metal Health.
L to R: Rudy Sarzo, Carlos Cavazo, Kevin DuBrow and Frankie Banali
Images courtesy of : Wikipedia & vintageheavymetal.com
The video begins with lead singer Kevin Dubrow in a straight jacket and metal mask planning his escape to entice us all to bang our heads because metal health is what we all need along with bandmates: bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Carlos Cavazo and drummer Frankie Banali.
The track reached #31 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and was #35 on VH1’s Top 40 Metal songs of all time and has been used in numerous movies and shows, including the professional video wrestling game: Showdown: Legends of Wrestling.
Sadly, singer Kevin DuBrow died of a cocaine overdose in 2007, however his brother Terry DuBrow, a world renowned plastic surgeon, who’s wife Heather is featured on the Housewives of Orange County and had a show on E! called Botched, has his late brother’s platinum records displayed on the walls of his home and speaks about his brother every chance he gets.
Bassist Rudy Sarzo, was one of the original members of Quiet Riot along with guitarist Randy Rhoads, who both left Quiet Riot to become part of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band. However after Rhoads death in 1982, Sarzo rejoined Quiet Riot but left in 1985 due to DuBrow constantly bickering and insulting fellow metal bands. Sarzo has had a long career in metal including stints in Whitesnake, Blue Oyster Cult and Geoff Tate’s Queensryche.
Guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who replaced Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot played with the band until their breakup in 2003. When they reformed in 2004, Cavazo was not included in the reunited lineup and subsequent album release. Cavazo formed his own band, 3 Legged Dog and also became a member of RATT, til earlier this year.
Drummer Frankie Banali, who is the only original member of the band from their classic lineup is still touring with a new lineup of Quiet Riot. Banali started a Kickstarter campaign and produced a documentary released in 2014 that chronicles Quiet Riot’s career called: Quiet Riot – Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back – the infamous lyric from “Metal Health.”
Bang Your Head to the classic video Metal Health below:
The Metal Wire 