Riot Band: The Tragic Story Of The Band Behind 'Fire Down Under'
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
- Riot: The history of one of the unluckiest bands in the world.
0:00- Introduction
2:00 - Awful Record Deal/First Album
4:20 - Narita Era/Management Panic
6:55 - Riot's Overseas Success
7:55 - Riot's Label Troubles
9:20 - Fire Down Under/Lineup Changes
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#riot #markreale #firedownunder
I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
This is a story that was requested by several of my subscribers and it’s truly a tale of one of the unluckiest bands in rock n’ roll history. Formed in 1975, metal band Riot, not to be confused with Quiet Riot was every rock n’ roll cliche you could think of. Runaway egos, bad business decisions, bad timing and death(s). I say the plural version of the word because the band suffered not 1, not 2 not even 3, but 4 deaths of there members . Drummer Sandy Slavin who wasn’t an original member, but played in the band from 1979-1984 would tell Louder Sound “It’s just amazing that anything ever happened, When I played with Ace Frehley we’d be sitting on the bus and everybody would be telling you their music business horror stories. Mine was always just that little bit more horrifying." Was the band cursed or did they just make bad decisions? Let’s talk about the history of Riot.
Riot formed in 1975 when guitarist and band leader Mark Reale hooked up with drummer Peter Bitelli, bassist Phil Feit and vocalist Guy Speranza . Reale and Bitelli used to play in a band together called Kon Tiki TThe band soon added another member with keyboardist Steve Costello and second guitarist Lou Kouvaris It was also during this time that Phil Feit left the band and was replaced by Jimmy Iommi and it also seemed the band ditched their keyboard payer. Feit would go on to play with Billy Idol appearing ng on the song White Wedding
Prior to joining Riot, Guy Speranza sang in a Top 40 cover band but Riot was a whole new animal. This wasn’t a cover band, they were writing their own original songs. The band’s influences drew on british rock including Led Zeppelin and Humble Pie, while also creating a harder rocking sound. This was all happeneing in new york city when disco was popular and punk rock bands were playing at CBGB’s. The type of music Riot was playing was years ahead of its time, which prevented the band from gaining a foothold in America early in their career.
Riot would record a 4 track demo, which they had hoped would be proposed to a record label as part of a New York Anthology a compilation featuring other bands from the City. The idea got noticed by an indie outfit fire sign records, but the label was only interested in Riot and none of the other bands. Fire Sign was run by two men Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb. Arnell & Loeb started their own label Fire Sign Records and owned their own studio in Manhattan The pair were looking to sign their first big act thinking it would either be a punk rock act or a nu-wave band. After hearing Riot’s demo, the pair attended a show with Arnell telling Loudersound “They sounded great, looked good and had some fantastic material, Little did we know what was coming.”
This led to one of the worst decisions the band ever made. They not only signed to Fire Sign records, but they employed Loeb and Arnell as their managers and producers for their first four records.
With Arnell and Loeb wearing so many hats it’s difficult to know where their loyalties lied.
The group would release their first record, 1977’s Rock City. Despite being ahead of their time, Critics were lukewarm and Rock City did little to make a mark in America. Maybe it had something to do with the album’s much derided artwork a theme we'd see non subsequent records & it featured the first appearance of the band’s mascot Tior who was an axe wielding seal.
Following their debut album, Riot would play a bunch of local gigs around New York City before heading down south to Florida to play a festival that was being headlined by Neil Young. They would follow it up by opening a series across the Rust Belt for the band The Gods. By 1978 the band even got a chance to open for Sammy Hagar in Texas. It was during the band’s dates in Texas they had learned that San Antonio DJ Joe Anthony was a big fan and had been heavily playing the band’s debut record o 
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I don’t think anyone guessed this video correctly
You want a tragic story nobody knows? How about the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" tale of Pariah? They were a young Austin area hair metal band (including one of "Sir Doug" Sahm's sons) destined for massive fame and due to issue their debut album on Geffen Records, but that release kept getting pushed back over and over. Then Nirvana and grunge broke and hair metal was abruptly over. In an eerie parallel to Kurt Cobain committing suicide because he couldn't handle the fame, Pariah's bass player Sims Ellison ate a bullet because he couldn't handle the failure. He is remembered through Austin's celebrated SIMS Foundation, which provides aid to musicians with mental & emotional issues.
@HANNIBAL BARCA Thanks for pointing out my errors, which I have now corrected -- its been awhile, plus I was trying to give R&RTS the story quickly to pique their interest and hopefully they would check the facts before actually running a piece about the band!
I didn't see Pariah perform more than once or twice, but I knew them to be good guys; what happened was truly an awful tragedy...
(Oh, and as long as we're fact-checking everything, Shawn Sahm's name is spelled with a "w".)
Please do a story on Poisons replacement guitarist 'Richie Kotzen' getting kicked out of the band in the 90's because he messed with Poisons drummers girlfriend/fiance'.
Please tell the story of the sad demise of the lead singer of the glam rock band Sweet. It’s pretty brutal from what I’ve heard. But I’m hoping you could come up with more than the little I’ve found out . Thanks as always. I’ve gotten to the point I just give you a thumbs up at the start because you’ve never disappointed yet!
I knew who I was clicking on...
Such an underrated band. RIP Mark, Guy, Rhett, and Lou.
Riot is such an underrated band! Thundersteel and Fire down under are such amazing albums
Yes, we’re still missing Guy, Mark & Rhett. Rhett was so talented vocally.... on some tracks I do get real Geddy Lee vibes.
World class metal band, especially that Thundersteel era line up. Not in the least due to monster drummer Bobby Jarzombek.
And those guitar chops and the vocals... 😳
Thundersteel is easily on par and maybe even better than Painkiller. It was actually released e few months earlier!
@@MrClassicmetal It was actually released 2 1/2 years earlier than "Painkiller" :)
Yep, have you guys checked out on Spotify/Apple Music the album they released last year? Full of previously unreleased material... worth checking out IMO.
Restless Breed blows both those albums away
In a perfect world, Guy Speranza would still be with us smiling after reading all of the accolades that those first 3 albums receive to this day.
Fire Down Under is one of the best rock albums ever.
Restless Breed was a huge improvement over that extremely overrated album . Rhett Forrester was 1000 times better than 1 note Guy Sporanza ( the Leo Sayer lookalike ) . Born in America was also better than Fire Down Under . After Rhett quit Riot sucked
@@AetoumaatwechJulediggerkenzi That's your opinion but consensus is that Fire is the ultimate Riot album that even current lineups of the band still play. Why? cuz the fans still wanna hear those songs. The Rhett stuff was great and collectively better than the first 2 Riot albums however Fire was and will always be their finest moment.
Totally AGREE!!
ABSOLUTELY!!!😁🤘
@@AetoumaatwechJulediggerkenzi Restless Breed was ok but Fire Down Under in 1981 is a classic. That album was not overrated but it was underrated. The songs and sound was way ahead of its time.(reminds me of Montrose in 73'). Every track on Fire Down Under was great. Guy Sporanza was an excellent singer.(too bad he was an idiot)No other album they made after this even came close. I was a 16yr old metal head in 1981. Heavy Metal and hard rock was my life.
I remember Riot. Had the albums Narita, Fire Down Under, Restless Breed, Born in America.
They rocked. 🤘🎸
Thanks for this. Fire Down Under, Thundersteel and Narita all killer albums. Wish they have been bigger. R.I.P.
I wish that the same thing would've happened for Kix
Totally agree
Riot is in Metal Hall of Fame for a damn good reason. They deserved the honor!
These guys should’ve been as big as maiden or priest. They had the songs to be a major arena band at that time.
If they were English, they'd be a top NWOBHM group.
Not that they didn't deserve it, they're so talented it's unbelievable, but man I'm soo happy that I can actually SEE Riot in small clubs AND meet the guys before / after the show, that is just priceless to me.
😉❤️
I have no idea how you are ever going to top this one, that was ABSOLUTELY phenomenal, just incredible. The amount of research you do has got to be just ridiculous, thank you for such great videos.
Thanks some people still complained I didn’t cover the period of
Late 80s and 90s
@@rnrtruestories just tell them by the late 80s guns n' roses and Seattle killed all that fake hair metal. I was in the Priest Megadeth Testament Slayer Exodus Overkill.
I saw Master of Puppets when they opened up for The Ultimate Sin.
Rock N' Roll True Stories have you done the Mick Ronson story yet?.
A video about Riot without the word THUNDERSTEEL?!?!? Cmon man.....One of the greatest metal albums of all time!!!!!!!!!
I was also waiting the whole video to hear something from Thundersteel 😅
One of the most underrated bands . Thunder steel and Fire Down Under straight out slay
thundersteel is still my fave album of theirs, probably because its the first one i ever heard in in 90 or 91
You mean FIRE DOWN UNDER.
Thundersteel is one of the best albums of all time
Fire Down Under has and will always be one of my all time favorite records of all time, yeah i said it twice...its that good. Amazing drummer, amazing guitar tone riffs and licks, and one of my fave ever voices.
and RIP Rhett...the concrete warrior
Fire Down Under was ahead of its time, insane album. Every song is excellent. In the last 40 years, I may have said this 3-4 times at the most(almost impossible to achieve).. For example, For me, other albums which had all great tracks were Back in Black, Pyromania and Heaven and Hell.
FIRE DOWN UNDER IS MY "FAVORITE ALBUM OF ALL TIME...if I got stuck on a desert island...RIOTS FIRE DOWN UNDER WOULD BE THE ALBUM ID PICK TO LISTEN TO CONSTANTLY!!!
THEY WERE SO FUKIN U DERRATED IT ISNT EVEN FUNNY...
RIOT SHOULDA BEEN HUGE IN THE 80s!!!
" SHINE ON ".
.
A RIOT FAN FOR LIFE...🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
@Metal Zboy theres some LP's kickin around ebay of the WLIR simulcast, well worth it. Got mine like a week ago
@@cass7142 *Fucking Under Ratted for sure* .. I used to crank ''Swords and Tequilia'' and ''Altar of the king'' and especially ''Raad Racing'' in my badassed ''1978'' Camaro and boy the burnouts I would do to them tunes, such a terrific band I loved the Vocals and the speed of them blazing guitars and drums.!
Riot were a badass band. SWORDS AND TEQUILA.
I never heard of Riot, gonna check them out.
Check out 'Outlaw'.
@@millie7242 Great song.
Check out the album Narita. Also the song 'Run for your life'
Better late than never. Definitely heavy NWOBHM vibes that would be right at home next to Angel Witch and Diamond Head.
Fire Down Under
Thundersteel is a masterpiece. I was very pleased when Riot returned to that sound with Immortal Soul, and while Tony Moore quit the band afterwards, their continuing career as Riot V with Todd Michael Hall on vocals is very fruitful indeed. Unleash the Fire blew me away, the opening number "Ride Hard Live Free" is one of my most cherished Riot songs, with brilliant vocals and some incendiary leads from guitarist Mike Flyntz.
Hi - I grew up in Long Island NY, I was lucky enough to take guitar lessons from Mike Flyntz. I started lessons with Mike in 1986 and stayed with him for many years. He taught me a lot of blues. He's an amazing player - introduced me to Steely Dan.
I missed it in the video, one of the best albums of all time
The first song I heard from Riot was "Narita". One of the most underrated instrumental songs of the rock genre, it has it all: a beautiful melody, a complex rhythm guitar, a smashing drum part, and it sticks on your mind for days.
What a depressing end for those guys
Man no kidding..
Their ending was almost as sad as the Ramones' ending. Frig, the Ramones retired in 96...and by 2004, Joey, Dee and Johnny were all dead. Then in 2014, Tommy died. If they were still alive today, they would all be between 69 and 72...young enough to still be touring and recording. Just look at the Rolling Stones. So yeah, i think the Ramones have the addest ending of all bands. Retire and die. But Riot is right up there with them.
@@michaelr.4878 Yeah -- people tend to think of sudden, unexpected endings as sadder than drawn-out, kinda inevitable ones: Joy Division, Germs, Nirvana... but you have exactly the same chance of seeing the Ramones play again as you do any of those!
@@michaelr.4878 Rolling Stones /Ramones comparison.
Stones are Gazillionaires. Ramones never really made any money. That's why they called it quits. Money basically
......and just imagine if Buddy Holly was never killed.....
LOVE those first three RIOT albums!
I’ve been in two bands that covered Swords and Tequila great song
They opened for Grand Funk Railroad in 82 when I saw them.
I listen to this band quite often
Never thought you'd cover them
I got a few requests for Riot and I’ve heard from some people to cover more obscure bands
You should try Die Kreuzen
@@rnrtruestories Starz please.
Riot deserved so much more. Unfortunately so many metal bands in the US struggled in the early 80s due to the pressure to have commercial radio hits. Think about the US bands who "made it" back then. You had Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Motley Crüe, Ratt and Dokken, while more popular bands like Van Halen and KISS were also considered under the banner of heavy metal at the time.
There were dozens and dozens of absolutely amazing metal bands in the US underground, everyone from Pentagram to Cirith Ungol to Saint Vitus to Crimson Glory and SO much more. But they never got the platform in the US they deserved, and you'd often see them in European festivals like Dynamo in the late 80s and 90s. Of course we had the thrash and death metal movements which boomed in the mid to late 80s, but I'm talking about straight-up heavy metal here.
Riot were unfortunate in that they had the ability to hit the metal mainstream, but for the reasons you covered in this video, they just had phenomenally bad luck. Their music is unquestionably awesome, but to remain successful in this business, you need so much more than just that. I'll never forget finding a second-hand copy of Fire Down Under at some flea market and being fascinated at how bad the cover was, but by how good the music was. Great video.
Fire Down Under is one of very few albums with no bad songs.
Not even one.
That album is one the best Hard rock albums ever made.
If you have not heard it....Do It Now!
@Anders Eriksson I played that record to death in 81 82.
Glad you discovered it.
No fillers like 1000 bands in the 70-s!!!!
Like KISS, sabbath and many others!!!
Killers no fillers.
@@smogcityrockers KISS made one good Album. Destroyer.
The rest was boring to me.
I wish I was kidding but I literally just met these guys today they came into my mothers bar to film a music video and I was off of work in time to catch them. These are some of the coolest guys you will meet in person they bought me multiple shots, showed me old pictures they had from back in the day and just talked music with me until they left. I’ve always known of Riots existence but after meeting them I really wanted to dive further into their history so thank you very much for making this video. They also informed me that with their new record they will be announcing a tour soon so get ready people!!!!!
What a great name for a band-RIOT!
Fire Down Under is one of my Favorite albums of all time... Swords and tequila carry me through the night...
I was good friends with Billy Arnell (producer) for many years. It should be noted (since not included in the video) that he too passed away in June 2012 of cancer. When I met Billy, he was still working with Riot but as noted in the video, things didn't quite work out well and it was time for him to move onto other projects. I only got to see this band once however in 1982 (Restless Breed). I also met Kip Leming (at Billy's place) in the early 80's. I recall him being quite friendly and hear now that he is a realtor down south. In any event, this band was great and it's unfortunate they didn't achieve the success they should have "really" had. As a footnote, I recall Billy telling me about all the bands they toured with and his impressions. He said The Scorpions were the nicest of all to tour with whereas Triumph were somewhat arrogant. He was pretty neutral on the rest of the bands they toured with however. In any event, I just wanted to note this here since he was an integral part of the band at that time.
Saw them twice in South Texas ,the rock city album, great rock and roll band . Very iconic band straight up in your face, loved by the great Joe Anthony he was right !!
Riots current vocalist Todd Michael Hall was in “The Voice” last year. It was awesome to watch!
I'm so glad these guys have been getting recognized in the last few years. They were right there with Priest in the late 70's setting the stage for sound of the NWOBHM. Fire Down Under is a masterpiece.
Great video 🤘
Im a huge Rock/Metal fan,never even heard of Riot but glad i watched this...Great work !
One word: Thundersteel. It's amazing, Narita isn't bad either.
Wow, thanks for making and sharing this video. Fire Down Under's "No Lies" was one of the biggest influence songs that inspired me to pick up a guitar.
Wow! Thank you for making this. Requested this one awhile ago. Truly a messed up story.
Love early Riot , Great work Thx..
One of my favorite videos you’ve done in awhile!
Sound barrier? Loudness? Quiet Riot? Even Cinderella? My list of bands you should cover at some point is endless...
One of my favorites! Thank you for sharing this!
Thundersteel is an incredible album, which is not mentioned in this video. A very underrated band, precursor of Power Metal.
Riot is the real life Spinel Tap.
@Jessica Jujubean You know Tap corrected that *years* ago, right? That trodden-on-by-dwarves incident *never* reoccurred!
(Unfortunately, the replacement monolith was 18 *feet* high and couldn't fit inside any of the concert halls they were booked to play in, so technically they would've been better off leaving things as they were...)
I would love to see a video about another unlucky (ish) band...Savatage. Just to get more people aware of them
You're right about that.
I had Dungeons & Sirens on cassette.
Also Hall, Power, Ballet, & some others.
That was a long time ago.
But Savatage needs more attention.
🤘😎🤘
Chriss Oliva was one of the best metal guitarists,period.
Power of the Night is great
I saw Riot when they opened the first ever Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donnington, England in August 1980. I'd never heard of them but thought they were really good! The other opening band that day were Touch and they were great as well.
Thank you Sydd for this RNR story! Born In America is my favorite RIOT album. Play Loud!!
Riot Road Racin' Castle Donington Monsters of Rock August 16 1980. First I heard them and bought the Restless Breed Album.
really well done video - the detail and thoroughness is greatly apparent! Very sad ending, those guys were not that old.
Thanks
Thanks for this one. I had the album Restless Breed in the early 80s but had never listened to their other stuff. After hearing Rock City on Spotify it's one of my favorite rock albums now. I have played it over and over.
DEF LISTEN TO FIRE DOWN UNDER...NOT 1 BAD SONG...THAT WHOLE ALBUM KIKS ASS!!!
RIOT LIVE IS ALSO A MASTERPIECE...EVERY SONG IS A CLASSIC!!!
my dear friend lou....you were one of a kind mr.kourvaris.will always remember you from the appliance salesman days we shared together.
Fire down under was my favorite album until Born in America came out with the heavy metal sound that really cut through!
Fire Down Under is one of the greatest rock records of the late 70’s early 80’s.
One of the greatest rock albums of all time.
Saw them open for Rush in 81, they put on a hell of a show and I always wondered why they didn't get huge, but now I know.
Holy crap that poor band. I was expecting to hear all or most deaths be drug related, during tours, etc. but wow, murder and disease only.
Thanks for this video. I had a copy of Fire Down Under at one point and may still have the Thundersteel CD.
Rhett Forrester is still one of my favorite front men!
Yup 👍, I actually learned of Riot through Rhett Forrester. I had his Solo album think it was Gone with the Wind. "Movin in for the Kill" and with Jack Starr
Dig Riot since 1980.saw them open for KISS. They killed it.🤟🏻🖤🤙🏻X
Yep, Vandenberg too.
@@jimmyfreeman9133 that’s right!.I remember seeing Vandenberg with KISS,.forgot it was RIOT also,..what a great gig.X
Fire Down Under one of best rock albums of that time, still holds up today!
One of the greatest bands of all-time in my book. And Mark Reale always did a beautiful job of incorporating his Christian faith into his music, even if it apparently often wasn't explicit enough for some people. "Magic Maker" is one of the best Christian metal songs of all-time, likewise for "Black Mountain Woman." People talk about Riot V's Christian-oriented music, but I think the Mark Reale-era expressed Christian themes as eloquently as any band ever has.
Great old school metal band to come out of the late 70’s and 80’s East Coast scene. Love Riot.
I was a fan of this band from the 'Fire Down Below' album up to 'The Privilege of Power'. I first heard them played on the radio Magic 92 station in Rochester and it was the song "Swords and Tequilla". The following year for Restless Breed - I was not able to attend the concert that they opened up for Rainbow & the Scorpions at the Rochester War Memorial as I had a school exam the next day and my Dad so no concert. [Source Link: www.concertarchives.org/bands/rainbow--2] "June 17, 1982 - Rainbow / Scorpions / Riot - War Memorial, Rochester, NY". I do recall a live EP album released in those years with the song 'Showdown' which was played on the radio as well. Then, years later, I recall them playing the Penny Arcade in Rochester, NY [Charlotte] for 'Privilege of Power' album as a 4 piece band and they did an album signing at the 'House of Guitars' in Irondequoit and I went to that and meet them asked for a guitar pick from Mark Reale and Don Van Stavern, they were generic brand guitar picks, no band name on them. I don't recall if I went to the show that night or not. Band Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_V
Thundersteel is one of the first pure Power Metal albums ever, and it's a very great album. It influenced people like Judas Priest for their masterpiece Painkiller, so I wish you would have talked more about that late 80s Riot music
LOVED these guys when I was in my teens!
Fire Down Under was THE SHIT! Still my favorite album of all time. Why couldn't we have had 6 more albums of THAT? Life....
Bet your life on a silver ball...spin it round the wheel...will it land on the black or the red...the outlaw makes the deal.
"Outlaw" my favorite riot song.
Riot is awesome! Shine on! Thanks for doing this video
SWORDS AND TEQUILA!!!
Tune from Fire Down under knocked me out.
No Lies, SG Special style work out.
Rhett,,,,thought he was visting his Grandmother and....sad.
Friend bought Restless Breed..
Saw them open for rush I think. Could have been kiss. I was high AF.
Best comment ever
Was KISS, also Vandenberg. KISS had two open that tour (Lick It Up).1983/84
You need to do a video on the tragic story of the band FOR SQUIRRELS and their story!
I saw Riot in the early 80's during the 'Fire Down Under' tour. The show was: Nazareth / Riot / Vic Vergat at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. So Riot opened for Nazareth too (not mentioned in this video). Vic Vergat is a guitarist from Switzerland. His drummer at the time was Bobby Blotzer, who later became the drummer for Ratt. I remember a light turnout at this show. But Market Square Arena (also home to the Indiana Pacers) was a big sports arena. Would have made more sense for the promoter Sunshine Promotions to book this concert at a smaller venue.
OUCH OUCH OUCH and OUCH. Dang. Riot possibly had *the* worst luck of any Metal band. Thank you so much for this informative video. I always wondered what happened to them!! 🤘🏻
By the way, this reminds me to ask you: Can you do one of these episodes on The Rods?
Thanks
Welcome. Can you do one of these episodes on The Rods?
WOW !! Interesting and informative.. Been a big RIOT fan since the beginning 80's.. Thank you.. Greetings from South Africa..
"Fire Down Under" is and was a monumental hard rock masterpiece. That cute, furry white baby seal head mascot was one of many deathblows to this band. This band, under the right management and marketing in the early 80's, could've easily made them ten times bigger than they were. The stellar songwriting was all there.
Thanks! I've been a fan of Riot since I got Restless Breed when I was in high school. Got their latest album (Riot V - Armor of Light) a year ago, still like the band.
I saw Riot 1show in Texas on Sammy tour. Sammy didn't play that night due to loss of voice
Talk about an underated band .. thank you for doing this
RIOT is my fav band of all time pioneers in hard rock and metal! Changed my name after these guys!
They should be in everybodys list of top hard rock and metal albums.
Read a great article about this band and have been a huge fan since. A greek tragedy level of shit this band has been through.
Watch the RIOT DOCUMENTARY...ITS GREAT!!!
Fire Down Under is still one off my favorite albums. RIP Mark Reale.
Can you do a video about the tragic death of T Rex frontman Marc Bolan?
I feel like you forgot to mention one thing the reformation albums have been good to gente defining. 1988's Thundersteel helped define American power metal and even recent releases such as Immortal Soul and Armor of Light have been some of the best albums of their respective years. Also their current singer Todd Michael Hall was on the American version of The Voice last year. No reason, I just find it funny
That IS funny.
Riot really rocked, and the line ups after are still kicking ass!
happen to run into Rick Ventura opening for Raven recently and man that was a treat. i had no idea he was on the bill and Riot songs start jumping off one after another. talk about a bonus, made my year. Made it a point to meet him and get hiom to sign my guitar i had just had Raven sign
true story...
Rick Ventura and Riot Act are keeping that sound alive. Saw them open for Raven a couple of nights ago. They were great. They just released an album and do a mix of their originals and classic Riot tunes.
I played CBGBs- (NO PLACE TO PISS) we played real nasty raw 77 punk 🧷
Yo..how are you?????
This is Lauren ..i came to many of your shows with my little daughter in the 90s and i think you came to Slugs graduation party at my apartment in Crown Heights.
I have some pictures of you playing ...i hope i can find them.
Bless
Punk4life.pma@gmail.com
Me and my friends jammed to Riot religiously. Fire Down Under will definitely survive the test of time as one of the greatest Hard Rock/Heavy Metal albums ever.
Underrated gets thrown around a lot. But Riot should of definitely be considered one of the heavy metal greats like Priest etc.
I don't have a problem with it personally, but I don't think the seal mascot done them any favours.
I really don't think "unlucky" is a proper way to describe Riot. They had a rough road just like most bands do in their pursuit of success. Fire Down Under had cracked the top 100 album charts and they were touring with Rush when Guy Speranza suddenly and unexpectedly quit the band without any definitive reason. Later it was revealed by those close to him early in his career that he was painfully insecure and never even wanted to be in the position to begin with. If that's the case then, so be it. I'm just glad he sucked-up the pain of insecurity long enough to record 2 of the most underrated albums in rock history: Narita and Fire Down Under. Thank you Guy, rest in peace my friend.
Amazing Chanel! I am more of a hip hop and jazz person now, this has made me reconnect With my rock and metal roots. Cheers. If you ever do a Burzum story...... damn thats a fucking drama for sure, even to this day.
Thanks! We have a request form in the description box
I got to see Rick Ventura play a gig at a local venue, he preformed all of fire down under and also played my favourite riot track road racing, it was fucking awesome
One of my favorite bands,top notch songwriting, mark real rip
Heard of this band back when Brutal Legend came out. Been obsessed with this band ever since. They really were the most unlucky band out there. And my god did they have the most cursed luck when it came to their Album Artwork. If i were alive back in the 80s i never wouldve picked uo their albums at first glance of their artwork
COMPLETELY omitted RIOT THUNDER STEEL arguably their seminal release it is a Heavy Metal Masterpiece.
Thank you!
Heard ‘Swords and Tequila’ on the Friday rock show here in the uk back in 81 and I was hooked. So sad that they constantly had problems and struggled to keep it together. Thundersteel was an excellent ‘comeback’ album but I felt they didn’t really hit the heights again.
God where was I on all those early tours? Was a fan since heard them on the Castle Donnington album.
They opened for Rush on their movie pictures tour and after that I was hooked.
So sad, I was heavily addicted to Rock City, Narita, and Fire Down Under in '81, they were like the Iron Maiden from Brooklyn. So ahead of their time.. No Lies.
So sad. Riot were brilliant. We loved them here in the UK.
They should have been huge
Swords and tequila!!🤘
Another cool song.
Carry me thru the fight!!!!!!
I have loved that album since the day it came out. I was lucky to have a friend whose hands it fell into by strange fate. I was a senior in high school. I still listen to it today, as it's hard to find an album that rocks SO FECKIN' GOOD!
Such a shame I'm only just now discovering this band theyre now one of my favorite classic hard rock bands
I saw Riot many times in the late 70's and early 80's and also saw the band Narita.