
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from The Metal Voice spoke to legendary bassist Rudy Sarzo about his longstanding history and return to Quiet Riot. Watch the interview below.
Rudy told The Metal Voice about his return back into the band, ” The main reason why I am back in the band is because Frankie Banali invited me. Frankie asked me before he passed away to return to the band. My best friend asked me to do something, so I needed to honour Frankie. I needed to be that guy on stage who honored the legacy and the memory of the band members who have passed. This is the first time that I actually leave the house to go on the road every weekend. We are booked solid through the rest of the year every single week. But now I leave with a mission. I’m not going out there just to play a bunch of songs and whatever financial gains. Now I have a mission. My mission is to celebrate the legacy and memory of my band mates,”
When asked about if he considered himself an almost original member after replacing bassist Keli Garni on QR 1 and 2 (albums only released in Japan) he said, “When you say almost original member? That would be like saying Frankie Banali is not an original member of Quiet Riot. Let me give you my perception because everybody has a perception, this is the way I look at it. There were two albums that were released only in Japan. It was basically kind of like releasing an independent EP. Forty five years ago when those records were released, the Randy Rhoads version of Quiet Riot, Billboard magazine, they didn’t even have a chart for that. Nothing for imports or music that was released in Japan. If you don’t have a record deal in the USA you got nothing, you are not a recording artist. Today it’s a whole different scenario because Japan has their own domestic heavy metal bands with world class musicians. It is not the same scenario as it was 40 years ago. So technically the clock starts with Metal Health because that’s when a band under the name Quiet Riot got signed to Pasha/Columbia Records. I got a contract that I signed along with Carlos and Kevin and Frankie, that disputes the fact that I am not an original member. Then again that is my perception.”