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Status: Single
City: Las Vegas
State: Nevada
Country: US
Signup Date: 4/4/2006

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007 

Current mood:  satisfied
Category: Music

Quiet Riot Gets Rehabilitated
A Conversation with Quiet Riot Vocalist Kevin Dubrow

By Jeb Wright

Kevin Dubrow is one of Classic Rock Revisited's favorite people.  In the past, Kevin has interviewed rock stars for CRR.  He has engaged us in captivating conversations about Quiet Riot's past as well as other great bands from the late 1960's and early 1970's.  What makes Kevin one of our favorite people is the fact that he loves music as much, if not more, than we do.  He lives and breaths rock 'n rolls past, present and future.  Dubrow has not become jaded by the industry.  He remains energetic and passionate about music despite the industry.   

Quiet Riot has released a phenomenal album titled Rehab that showcases Kevin's love of real, genuine guitar rock.  This album contains songs that feature the best songwriting the band has ever done.  There are musical nods to Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie, Jeff Beck and the Who but they are just that – nods.  They do not copy anything, instead they use the inspiration these bands have given them to reach deep down and show their musical soul.   

In this interview Dubrow speaks in-depth about his love of music, his band's new album, his disappointment in VH1 and his hair.  So, even if Dubrow owes me lunch, I can't hold that against him.  Quiet Riot have delivered a time capsule back to when music mattered.  QR has stripped away the bullshit that has checkered their past and delivered in a big way.  All readers of Classic Rock Revisited should check into Rehab to discover the musical sounds of Frankie Banali and Kevin Dubrow.  This is one of the best hard rock records to come out in decades.   


Jeb: Rehab is a totally different type of album for Quiet Riot.  Was this a consious band decision to step outside the safety zone of what you were known for?

Kevin: The term band and the term Quiet Riot are not necessarily the same thing.  If you look at the Who it is basically just the nucleus of Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.  Quiet Riot is the same thing with the nucleus of Frankie Banali and Kevin Dubrow.  In terms of energy and drive it has been the nucleus for many, many years but now it is official.  The musical creative direction of the band is Banali and Dubrow. 

Was it consious that we did something different?  Absolutely.  We wanted to make a record that was blues based.  When I did my solo album, In for the Kill, I realized that I could do a lot more than "Bang Your Head."  In between all of those cover takes we would do things that were more blues based.  We jammed on the entire Truth album by Jeff Beck.  Truth and the first Led Zeppelin album is where it all started – it is White Boy Blues.  The English interpreted the American Black Blues in their blue-eyed soul fashion.  The Jeff Beck era Truth band was the blueprint for Zeppelin.  We wanted to reach way back to those roots, so in that way, it was totally consious.  We wanted to avoid anything that sounded like anthem rock of the early 1980's. 

Jeb: This is not the Quiet Riot of the 80's.  You can make music more for yourself at this point in time.  

Kevin: We did do this for ourselves.  We have not been a multi-platinum selling act in many years so there were no issues of doing something to please a record company or a fan base.  We wanted to please ourselves artistically.  We are our own hardest critics.  We have compared what we did to albums we grew up listening to.  We are talking about great albums like Fire & Water by Free, Truth by Jeff Beck and Spooky II by Spooky Tooth.  These are all seminal great rock albums.  Think about albums like the Who's Who's Next and Quadrophenia.  We knew what kind of album we wanted to make and we also knew that it would be impossible to make that record with the so called Metal Health band.  Those guys are not capable of playing this kind of music.   

Jeb: Are you saying that Frankie and you are more flexible?  

Kevin: I am saying we are different kind of players.  We're not more or less flexible but we grew up with a different kind of music.  The other guys might have listened to the same music growing up but they are not capable of playing it.  It is really a soulful blues thing.  I am not going to sit here and criticize former members over this but I can tell you it would have been impossible.  We tried on occasion to cover a couple of things that were more blues based and it was just impossible.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not a blues singer.  I did not grow up listening to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.  I grew up listening to a metalized version of the blues – a hybrid of the blues.  We needed the right people that were flexible.   

A lot of guitar players in the 80's were either Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads based and that is not what we were looking for.  Mick Ralphs, Jimmy Page, Paul Kossoff and Jimi Hendrix are guys that are not related to Eddie or Randy.  If you take the song "In Harms Way" from the new album and try to put a player like Eddie Van Halen on it then it would not have turned out the same way.   

Jeb: In for the Kill was a great album and a lot of fun to listen to.  It is a shame that it did not get out there more.   

Kevin: Mike Varney has a small label and he explained to me that if someone is not in the Top 200 then it is very difficult to get it into the stores.  If you are not already huge then it is difficult to become huge.  It is not the fault of the Shrapnel label.  It is just the shape of the music business.   

Jeb: One of things I took away from that album was the fact that you were not a one-dimensional singer.  You were more of an accomplished singer than I would have ever imagined.  I am not trying to kiss your ass but you took on some tough songs and you pulled them off. 

Kevin: That is one of the things that I got out of it too.  That is why I knew I was more capable of just doing the things I was doing with Carlos [Cavazo] and Rudy [Sarzo].   

Jeb: I agree.  A song like "South of Heaven" is like nothing that has ever been done by Quiet Riot.  You would never expect Quiet Riot or Kevin Dubrow to be able to pull off a song like this.   

Kevin: That song was one of the earlier ones written.  I had the main riff to the song, which I had written for Frankie's drums.  It has that Louisiana drone to it.  The song is all about a big, fat drum beat.  I called Frankie and I asked him if he liked the riff and he said he did.  I went over to Michael Lardie's house – the Great White keyboard player – and we both sat there with guitars and played the song.  The only change I made was the addition of a very interesting chord that was taken from Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" in the chorus.  Frankie came up with the line "a quarter mile from hell" and Lardie wrote the bridge.  The demo is pretty much like what we did but Neil Citron added all these guitars that he has.  He has an  electric 12-string which is what Page used on "Kashmir" in Zeppelin.     

Jeb: You can't be compared to Zeppelin but that song has plenty of Zep quality to it.   

Kevin: I think the big drum sound is a lot of it.  Neil used certain inversions on guitar that Jimmy Page is known for – that was not on the demo.  Neil took the batton and ran with it when he heard where I was going.  In the second part of the verse he does an inversion that is like what Page did in "Over the Hills and Far Away."  The vocal has a little half-step sweep up in pitch which is a tip of the hat to Robert Plant and Zeppelin.   

Jeb: Frankie told me that the original demo of "Black Rain" was more in the style of Bad Company and Paul Rodgers but that he changed it.   

Kevin: He totally reworked it.  I was writing a song that was very much in the feel of "Deal with the Preacher" by Bad Company.  When you listen to the demo – even though the guitar parts are almost identical – it is a completely different song.  My demo version of it is like a rinkey dink toy version.  The finished version is a grown up version.  I am not a real guitar player.  I come up with what some guys call Kevin chords.  Kevin chords are chords that only a guy who makes it up as he is going along comes up with.  Because I don't know what I am doing I come up with things that are very unorthodox. 

When I showed Neil the chords for "Black Rain" and then I heard what Frankie was doing to the song, it blew me away and I could almost not sing it.  He approached it from a very Keith Moon perspective.  It was extremely exciting but also very mystifying because it was so different from the demo, even though the rest of the music sounded the same.  I would say that what Frankie added to it made it a complete song.   

Jeb: How do you play in the style of those who influence you but not just copy them? 

Kevin: Let me give you an example of how not to do it.  There was an album recorded by Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Gary Moore and it was obvious that they just rewrote a bunch of Cream songs.  I love those three musicians but it was obvious what they were doing.  I didn't want to rewrite a Led Zeppelin song.  I don't want people coming up to me and saying, "You took "Won't Get Fooled Again" and played it backwards."  To me, that would not be good.  It is one thing to be inspired by something and it is another to take the same chord pattern and think that you wrote a song.  

Jeb: Glenn Hughes gets a co-write for "Old Habits Die Hard" – another one of the albums best.  What did Hughes bring to that song?  

Kevin: I came to LA for the day to do a video interview for Metal Sludge.  Frankie had the demo of the song which he and Neil had written for another artist.  He played it for me and I told him, "Like hell that is for another artist.  That is like something Joe Cocker or Humble Pie would have done.  I can sing the hell out of this song.  This song could be the "Red Light Mama" of our album.  This song is the centerpiece where I could really shine."  I told him to send me the MP3.   

Neil and Frankie's demos consist of a verse and a chorus and maybe a second verse.   They leave the song uncompleted because they don't feel the need to finish it as it is just a demo.  "Old Habits" has a lot of chord changes.  I worked on this song over and over and I got nowhere.  I knew I could make this song into something great for me but I was getting nowhere.  I got really frustrated so I called Glenn.  We are very close so I can be very open with him.  I told him, "Glenn, I need your help.  I am having no problems with the songs that I wrote but I am getting nowhere with the songs that Neil and Frankie came up with."  Neither Neil nor Frankie is a singer and you can tell because the arrangements are totally fucked up – and I mean that in a good way. 

I played the songs for Glenn and told him that I had played it for everyone I knew who was a musician and no one could come up with anything.  Glenn said, "Go out of the room for a minute" and he shoos me away.  I come back, literally, two minutes later and all the lyrics are written.  Glenn says, "Give me the microphone" and then he sings it.  "Old Habits Die Hard" was the last song that we worked on that day.  He asked me what I wanted.  I told him that I wanted it to be a blues song.  I had the chorus but noting else.  Glenn scatted the lyrics "Am I cursed? Am I blessed or am I blind?"  I went, "Holy shit!"  Glenn asked me if I could sing that.  I told him that I could not sing it like him.  I was looking for a whole Humble Pie sort of thing.  I accidently erased the bridge lyric when it came time to record my vocal.  He came back to Vegas a month later and I asked him what the lyrics were to the bridge and he said that he didn't remember and he wrote another one just as good in less than a minute.  Is that talent or is that God given channeled ability?  Talent is one thing – I have seen a lot of guys with talent.  Glenn didn't think, he didn't try and he was half asleep.    He was very matter of fact about it.  He would be reading the newspaper and say, "Play me the next one."  He would listen to it and then go, "Get a piece of paper."  My contribution was to be his stenographer.  I wrote the chorus to "Blind Faith" and the chorus to "Old Habits Die Hard" – I am talking about the lyrics to the chorus.  The rest of the lyrics were Glenn.  I may have contributed a note here or a word there but it was very little in retrospect.  I just wrote the lyrics down as he was coming up with them.  I kept saying, "Slow down Big Daddy!"   

Jeb: The final song on Rehab is an amazing cover version of Spooky Tooth's classic song "Evil Woman."  You and Glenn Hughes trade lines and the music is astounding.  This is a cover version of a song that is even better than the original.   

Kevin: I spoke to Gary Wright about playing organ on it.  Over the years I have had a few conversations with Gary because I love Spooky Tooth.  I contacted his website because I am such a fan.  You know me, I am totally a music fan.  I got the Dream Weaver on the phone and actually spoke to him. 

Gary told me that he wished he would have taken a different approach to that lyric.  He was not happy with the falsetto that he did.  I still listen to Spooky Tooth all the time.  A lot of their songs are duets so I thought it would be cool if Glenn and I sang a duet.  Glenn was in Vegas and I played him the original and asked him if he would sing it on a Quiet Riot record and he said he would – it was that easy.  We cut the song and, once again, it has that huge drum sound.  I did my vocal with no bass guitar.  It was just Neil, Frankie and me.  Glenn came in and laid down his bass track.  Glenn is such a tremendous singer that people forget that he is a premier bass player.  Forget what a great singer and songwriter the guy is.  His bass playing is up there with John Entwistle and Jack Bruce.  If you listen to the guitar solo on that song then you will see that it is Neil's best solo on the album but if you listen to the background then you will hear Glenn jamming out just like old Cream.  

Frankie said that when it came time for Glenn to do the vocal the whole thing turned into a big, testosterone cock fight.  Glenn says, "Do you mind if I sort of do my own thing with it?"  He does this thing on the last line on the second verse where he sings in this super high voice.  I looked at Frankie because I knew he just completely blew me out of the water.  Everything Glenn does was a first take.  He did some stuff that was just so crazy.  At the very end we battled together on vocals.  The whole thing was done live.  We set up two microphones in the studio and it was just me sitting next to Glenn and we went at it.  Glenn is a much better singer than me – there is no two ways about that.  To anybody that says that I can't hold my own next to Glenn, I say no one can hold their own next to Glenn.  I am, however, extremely confident of what I do and who I am.  I was going for it next to Glenn and he was going for it.  We did three different takes of the ending and we had to decide what we would keep from it.  I was doing my best impression of Steve Marriott and Glenn doing Glenn.  When we were done, he said in a very laid back English sort of way, "Was that good enough for you?" 

Jeb: If you had not known and been so close to Glenn would you have had the same confidence or would it have been more intimidating?  

Kevin: In all honesty, nobody intimidates me.  It is not because I am that great but it is just my personality.  I saw Paul Rodgers once in an airport and he intimidated me because what do you say to Paul Rodgers?  I was intimidated by Paul Rodgers but I have not been intimidated by anyone else.  I do not have confidence issues – I usually do the intimidating.  I did a song with Bobby Kimball from Toto in the 80's and I might have been intimidated then because I was getting high and I didn't have my full wits about me.  I jammed with Steve Marriott in 1983 and he didn't intimidate me – he inspired me.  When you play with great people like Glenn Hughes, Randy Rhoads, Frankie Banali and all these other players I have been blessed to play with then it really does inspire you to be better.  

Jeb: When did you play with Marriott?  He is your hero.  

Kevin: He jammed with us.  Humble Pie opened for Quiet Riot at the El Paso Coliseum in September of 1983 and it was the greatest musical moment of my life.  I have pictures of it in my house.  He kicked my ass and he smiled and it was the best musical moment I have ever had.  I got totally inspired by his greatness.  He did not intimidate me.  I am just not that kind of guy.  My penis doesn't crawl up my ass.  I want to strut my feathers with the greats.     

Jeb: Well, not a lot of singers want to duet with Glenn Hughes.  I still stick by that.   

Kevin: I can think of one who should not have – Joe Lynn Turner!  But, then again, I would not want to do a whole album with Glenn.  You know why?  Who would want to hear a whole album of Kevin and Glenn when you can hear a whole album of just Glenn?  I like my Glenn unadulterated.  For those who like to hear Kevin Dubrow sing – I think there are still a few of them out there – to hear Glenn and Kevin is treat for one song but you want to keep it a novelty.  It is unique and cool but that is enough.  I don't know if we will do it again and I don't know if we should do it again.  I can tell you that Glenn and I will write together again.   

Jeb: Are you finding that "Evil Woman" is coming up more and more in the interviews that you are doing to support that album?  

Kevin: "Blind Faith" is probably the most talked about song because it is so different.  Everyone wants to talk about the duet on "Evil Woman" but as far as the entire song is concerned it would be "Blind Faith" or "South of Heaven." 

Jeb: At least you are not putting out another Quiet Riot album where the only song people want to talk about is a remake!   

Kevin: I don't think that has happened.  Our own songs are very dynamic this time out and I think people are realizing that we are not shit songwriters.  They are finding out that we can write good songs.  We also have brought in people who can give us great input that is different for us.  I am talking about people like Glenn and Neil and also Tony Franklin, who played bass on the record.   

Jeb: Neil is an amazing player.  Where did you find him?

Kevin: He has been around forever.  He used to play in a band called Hero in the 70's.  We used to play the same clubs.  They had a couple of albums out but they split up.  Neil has played with a lot of people including Lana Lane.  He is also an engineer for Steve Vai's Mothership Studios.  He was amazing to me.  He left his ego at the door.  Guitar players have this attitude of "don't tell me what to play" shit going on.  Over time I have realized that it is always the weaker players who do that.  I never heard that from Randy Rhoads when he was in Quiet Riot.  I was actually not happy with about half of the solos on the album and I went to Neil and asked him to re-record them and he said, "Sure."  There was not guitar player attitude about it at all.   

Jeb: How is that different than it was with Quiet Riot in the past?  

Kevin: You can't compare this album with the past.  Carlos played the 'wave your fist in the air' anthems of the 80's.  He would write solos out in advance – he had to.  Neil could but he is from that old school Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page type of place.  This is not an insult to Carlos but if we had let him try a solo in the studio off the cuff then it would have been three weeks before it was done.   

Frankie thinks Tony Franklin did something that no one else could have done.  He played well on the album.  I loved Tony in The Firm.  I think Chuck Wright could have played on the album but he was not able to be around at the same time.  Needless to say, you know my feelings about the last bass player we had.  We were not making a record that he could have played on.  Most of the records we made he couldn't really play on anyway.  The fact of the matter is that he is no longer part of my life and I am eternally grateful.   

Jeb: What I meant was how different was it that you could approach Neil and tell him to redo something.  How is that different than working with Quiet Riot in the past?  

Kevin: In the old days I would have been there for every note that was recorded so there would be no need to redo something as everything would already be worked out.  On this album I lived in Vegas and the others were in California.  What they did was good but I just had something different in mind.  I was more of a stickler on this album than I have ever been on any other Quiet Riot record I have ever done.  This was our chance to do an album of original songs that we have talked about for a long time.  We talked about making this album back in the 80's.  We talked about it in the 90's but this was our chance.  So when I heard some of what they did I just knew that it had to be redone because it was not in the direction of where I was wanting to go.  It was really good music but it was not right for this album.  We were finding our way a little bit because we had never made an album like this.  We didn't want to overdo it on this album.  There are not many background vocals on the album.  The only song that is that way is "Sucks to Be You."   

Jeb: Who is that song about? 

Kevin: Is it about this guy in Vegas that I call Mumbles.  Every time he drinks or gets high all he does is bitch and moan and he never shuts up.  He is such a pain in the ass that I wrote a song about it to be funny.  He is so goofy that he thinks it is cool.  You will never hear us do that song live.  It is a cousin to something that could be on Condition Critical.  It was Frankie's idea to put it on the album sort of as a link to the past. 

Jeb: Are you ashamed of any performance on an album in your career?  

Kevin: Condition Critical.  I think Metal Heath is a great record for the time and I think all of the singing I did on that album was good for the time.  The producer started making millions of dollars and he decided that we had to do it over and over again.  We tried to do it again and the result was Condition Critical.  I am ashamed of that album because it shows how cheesy Quiet Riot could be.  I am embarrassed of that album, totally.  We were rushed into it.  The songs were leftovers and the singing was ridiculously overdone.  There is a song on the album called "Scream and Shout" that is the epitome of what I hate about that era.  I didn't want to ever do anything like that again.   

Jeb: The album is called Rehab.  If the next album goes back to the 80's sound then you can call it Relapse. 

Kevin: Or we could call it Regurgitate.  The name I came up with.  It was something that a former member of the band would have hated.  Frankie loved it.  I think it kind of ties everything together.  You have Metal Health, Condition Critical and now Rehab. 

Jeb: Neil, while on the album, is not a touring member of the band.  Alex Grossi has come back as a full time member.  Alex is good but Neil is amazing.  Is there any fear that Alex may not live up to what Neil has done?

Kevin: We are only playing three songs off the new album.  We are doing "Free," "South of Heaven" and "Old Habits Die Hard."  Alex plays the Carlos stuff fine.  Neil does not want to go on tour.  Alex is only 30 and he loves to tour.  Frankie loves to play live and I am the biggest juvenile delinquent on the face of the earth.  Alex, live, is very appropriate for what we are doing and the way the band is.  Alex does not know Free or Spooky Tooth or Jeff Beck.  I have given him those records but I don't think he has listened to them.  Most of what we play live is Metal Heath and Alex plays those songs live more true to the original record than Carlos does.   

Jeb: On the Rock Never Stops Tour you guys got a ton of good press but you still  were opening the show up.  Do you ever get tired of being placed in front of bands who are not as good live as you are?  </P>

Kevin: In 1983 we toured on the first album and everyone raved about how great we were.  It was not until I gave some poorly worded interviews that we became the 'they suck' band.   

Jeb: We have discussed that story in detail in a previous interview.  Do you really think those interviews damaged the band that much? 

Kevin: In America people do not like someone who is ungrateful for their success.  When I started complaining about things and started saying things about other bands then America said, "Kevin Dubrow you are an ungrateful piece of shit and we are going to take all of this away from you."  America has this thing about them.  For instance, look at Michael Richards.  He fucked up bad but now everyone wants to cut him off at the knees.  I am not the first guy who has been subject to it.  What else could be the reason?  My bad breath?  

I insulted groups that we shared a common fan base with.  By doing that I insulted our own fans and that is where I screwed up.  Rehab is having a great effect for this band.  We are starting to be seen not so much as a nostalgia band.  People are starting to see that we can have some credibility in 2006.   

You said that we were opening for bands who were not as good as us.  Let me tell you the press on the Rock Never Stops tour all said that Quiet Riot were the best band on the bill.  That said, Ratt were no good that tour.  We shined next to them because they were just no good.  Cinderella and Firehouse were both great.  I think people just expect us to be old and shitty with no energy.  Frankie and I are extremely competitive.  We want to go up and blow everyone off the stage. We thought Cinderella were the nicest band we ever toured with and they played great but we still wanted to blow them off the stage.  Again, Ratt were no good that tour.  If we played before Judas Priest then you would not be able to say we were the best on the bill.   

Jeb: So placing had a lot to do with it.   

Kevin: Having Ratt anywhere on the bill would have helped.   

Jeb: I don't dislike those guys but I had to see them three times that year and it was not good.   

Kevin: I don't have anything against them either but it was just not good.  I don't want to sit here and put them down but the truth is that they were not good.  Cinderella was a different story.  They are great and they are the nicest fucking people.  Jeff Lebar would have great conversations about old bands the way you and I do.  Tom Keifer is a real musicologist but his musical background only goes back to a certain date.  I would go and buy Tom albums  all the time.  He loves Rob Stewart like I do but he does not go back as far as me so I went out and got him Rod's first two albums.  I got the best phone call of the year the other day when Tom called me and said he heard the new album and that he loved it.  I told him the scream I do in "Old Habits Die Hard" was for him.  I got the idea to scream like that from "Nobody's Fool."   

Jeb: Do you think that in addition to the arrogant interviews your rock star lifestyle at the time made you come across more arrogant than you really were?  

Kevin: I was doing some blow before we became big but then again so was Motley and Van Halen.  I know I didn't drink as much as they did.  I think I was more public about my charismatic incorrect behavior.  Let me put it to this to way, I was not the prettiest boy in the neighborhood.  Nikki Sixx could be a real dickhead but people took it better because he was so pretty.  Sebastian Bach got away with a lot of shit because he was pretty.  With me people were going, "Who the fuck does this ugly motherfucker think he is?"   

Jeb: People may not understand that you are not just a rock star.  You are one of the biggest rock fans I have ever met. You are like the guys hanging out in the parking lot before the show back in the day.  I had to mention that in the story I wrote for the VH1 Rock Honors where I saw you at the after show party.   

Kevin: Oh, you mean the Brain May thing.  He was so cool.  Someone took our picture together but I don't know who it was.  I would love to have a picture of that.   

Jeb: How do you feel about the Rock Honors event?  I thought it was very cool.   

Kevin: I have very mixed feelings about that event.  I won't ever do anything for VH1 again because they didn't invite me.  I live in Las Vegas and the motherfuckers didn't even invite me.  I got invited from someone I knew in Vegas.  Going from the venue to the House of Blues it took twenty security guys surrounding me because there were three hundred people yelling that it was the guy from Quiet Riot.  I made one of the biggest commotions of all the people there.  Security made me go into the House of Blues because I was creating a fire hazard.  Suddenly the guy who is the biggest asshole is getting all the attention.   

Other things were great.  I loved talking to Brian May about Queen II.  He said, "Wow, you really listen to the music."  I told him we had to talk again.  I also met Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard.  He made me cry in laughter.  If you can make me laugh then you have got me.  KK Downing and Glenn Tipton, who we opened for in 1983 when we opened for Judas Priest, are still the nicest guys.  After meeting and talking to all those guys I left.  I left way before everyone else did.  I didn't want to be that guy who is drinking and being a pain in the ass to everyone that is there.  After a certain amount of time you become that dickhead that is drinking cocktails and being annoying.     

Jeb: As much as Frankie and you have done for VH1 I can't believe they didn't invite you.   

Kevin: I passed on the last three things they asked me to do.  Everything I say in those interviews gets left on the cutting room floor.  All the videos I lent them that have Randy Rhoads in them they lost and they have not taken any responsibility for losing them.  They didn't invite me to the VH1 Rock Honors.  Suddenly, VH1 is kissing my ass once I am there.  I don't need that shit in my life.  They are not going to anything for Rehab.  If they want to do something for Rehab then I will do anything that they want.  But if they want me to talk about 1983 and Metal Health and the cocaine and the blow jobs for the fifty thousandth time then that does not interest me.  I was there and I did it.  I don't want to go do it again.   

Jeb: I would do the blow jobs again.   

Kevin: There is nothing better than a fine blow job but I don't want to talk about a blow job I got 20 years ago again.  I spent three hours on the set of The History of Heavy Metal.  They did devote a whole segment where they said Quiet Riot started the whole 80's metal scene -- I am grateful for that.  I live in Vegas and they want me to keep flying to LA to do these shows.  They don't pay anyone to do this shit.  I am not ungrateful for the coverage but I could be having sex with my girlfriend.  Let's see... on one hand I could fly to LA and talk to VH1 about Metal Health or I could have sex with my pretty girlfriend.  I think I will take the girlfriend.   

Jeb: Before we go I want to plug Rehab one more time.  This is a great album.  What are your goals for the album?  

Kevin: This is all about making the album that we wanted to make.  In the beginning I didn't give a shit if anyone even bought it – I just wanted to get it out there so people could buy it.  We have sold out of the first pressing.  A lot of places online like Amazon.com have had delays because no one expected it to sell out of the first pressing so quickly.  Now that it is doing better, I would like to be able to get a couple of television shows to feature us.  I would love this album to give us more of a world base.  I would love it to get released around the world so we could tour places we have not been in a long time.   

Jeb: It has got to be nice to have people talking to you about music instead of your hair.   

Kevin: [laughing] It is really nice.  Every hair joke that has ever been made has been told and not one of them is good.  Every goofball on Metal Sludge goes on about my hair.  I just want to tell them, "Guys, guess what... I'm a singer."  Do we have an audience full of Vidal Sassoon's?"  I saw this interview in Spin Magazine with Rod Stewart, who has had the same hairdo since forever.  Some dumbass at Spin asked Rod, "Is that your real hair?"  You are asking Rod Stewart if that is his real hair?  Get a grip people. It is about music, not hair.  The fact that people focus on something so silly is so dumb.   

Jeb: Last One: The day after the Rock Honors we were supposed to go to lunch and you never called.  I feel jilted.   

Kevin: We were?  I left early from the party so I wasn't fucked up.  I wonder what happened?  I owe you.  The pleasure will be all mine.  I appreciate all you do for us. 

Buy Rehab Here

Check Out Song Samples:
Evil Woman MP3 Sample
South of Heaven MP3 Sample
Don't Think MP3 Sample

www.kevindubrow.com

www.frankie-banali.com

Currently listening:
Every Picture Tells a Story
By Rod Stewart
Release date: 31 March, 1998
BolanBoogie
michelle van vliet

 
Jeb's writing certainly pulls out the best in you ... After all is said and done, you're here, with a new fantastic album ... and sounding better than ever. It IS about the music, isn't it?
 
Posted by BolanBoogie on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 9:28 PM
[Reply to this
Melissa
Melissa Michaels

 
...and this interview is a reflection of the first and foremost reason I love Kevin DuBrow........ because he is not full of shit.
 
Posted by Melissa on Friday, January 26, 2007 - 1:52 AM
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Big Daddy Down With The Retro Rewind
Jesse Torres

 
YOU KNOW WHEN YOU REALLY DIG DOWN DEEP, WE ARE ALL PART OF THE EFFORT TO KEEP GREAT MUSIC ALIVE. IT'S UNIVERSAL,THERE ARE NO RULES AND SOMETIMES FALLING OUT OF THE NORM CAN CREATE A MASTERPICE, ALL FOR THE GREATER GOOD WHICH IS TO KEEP THE CREATIVE JUICES ALIVE FOR NEW MUSIC. I...WE...NEED IT....THANKS KEVIN FOR FALLIN INTO THE TIMELINE OF SOME REALLY GREAT INVENTORS THAT TAUGHT US HOW TO ROCK AND TRULY LISTEN.YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOUR LEGACY.....PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE..GOOD LUCK ON THE NEW ALBUM...SEE YA IN TEXAS....SINCERELY, JESSE TORRES PD FOR KXIT IN DALHART www.kxit.com ..THANKS FOR REMEMBERING THE LITTLE PEOPLE
 
Posted by Big Daddy Down With The Retro Rewind on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 1:24 AM
[Reply to this
John

 
Awesome interview. Though I'm a long time big fan of yours and just about everyone you've played with, I lost touch with QR's direction/history. Proabably about the time that other singer showed up...what was his name...Pauly Shore. Ah, I can't dis Pauly Shore like that. In any event, Rehab IS a great album. I'd love to see you guys live. I've never had the chance. Funny you mentioned Ratt being crappy again.I remember an interview you did (I think with Rolling Stone) years ago...not too long after Condition Critical came out, where you mentioned both QR and Ratt being shitty, then QR getting better, Ratt still being shitty, and then eventually getting better. I don't know what happened with Carlos or Rudy (other than the bands they went to) but, although you did not disrespect them, it sounds as if there is some bad blood there. But, as you stated, Rehab wouldn't have been the same with them. I remember my longtime friend found your song "It Sucks To Be You" before I knew you did a new album and played it for me as a surprise (he knows how much I love you guys). He simply asked if I could name the band as quickly as possible. Truthfully, I could not name it by the opening guitar, but as soon as you sang "Alright Alright", I blurted out Quiet Riot...and I said "well it's at least Kevin DuBrow." I bought the album that evening. Well, enough rambling and jerking you off...stay vocal.

Oh, and though I'm just a regular guy, I think Condition Critical was better than QRIII.
 
Posted by John on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 7:57 PM
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