Lt.quade and the hit squad

 

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Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad is an American thrash "funk" metal band most recognized for their heavy use of bass in their later years. Overall the band has sold many records landing them as the most commercially successful band to come out of Fortuna.

History

The band was formed in Fortuna, California, in July 1981 by guitarists Quade Ross and Drew Riddle. Both were young guitarists looking to start a band. They recruited a former classmate Drew Cunningham to play drums and put out flyers and classified advertisements in the publication The Humboldt Beacon to recruit a bass player. When none came forward Quade decided to fill in for a while. With a lineup set they began practicing in Riddle's Garage under the name RIOT!.

The band's music was inspired by bands such as The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Black Sabbath, The Ramones, Iron Maiden, Yes, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Rush, Mercyful Fate, The Who, and other hard rock bands. They also took inspiration from Funk bands like Motown, Funk Brothers, and Sly and the Family Stone. They also found inspiration in many local death/grindcore bands in the area.

In early 1982, Quade submitted a demo of the song "Rust and Fade Away" to a local radio station. It received decent airplay but was not very popular. The band, in need of a full time bassist, posted an ad in a local newspaper. Tom Shorey of Loleta, California, who at the time was playing stand-up bass for a local ragtime band, responded and met for an audition. Riddle was concerned about the age difference because at the time everyone in the band was around 21 and Shorey was 18. They met for an audition and were so impressed with Shorey's warm-up and equipment, they interrupted him and asked him to join.

In February and March 1982, several demos were recorded with this lineup including a revised "Rust and Fade Away", "No More Pain" (which was recorded in Riddle's garage) and the "Death on the Road" demo. Two months later the band recorded a full demo, "The Lucky are No Longer with Us", which quickly became popular with the tape trading circuit. In June a local guitarist named Michael Hetticher from Fernadle approached the band with an offer to become lead guitarist, the band accepted because of his amazing soloing skill and they then went on to release a live demo titled "What a Shock?".

Later that year, Drew Cunningham left the band and RIOT! asked drummer Ryan Martinez (who was a much more skilled drummer than Cunningham) to join. With Martinez the band recorded the 5 Demo. After establishing themselves in the Humboldt County thrash metal scene, RIOT! traveled to the Bay Area Region in 1983 at the urging of Martinez's parents. After a few gigs the band signed with the Maxon's label, Maxon Records. Shortly after being signed, Ross and Riddle decided Hetticher's strange and violent behavior relating to his alcohol problems was becoming too much to handle so they kicked him out. Hetticher left to create the thrash band Malacious Death.

The Awakening

In late spring 1983, the band travelled to Los Angelos, California to record their first album, The Awakening. The album was not an initial financial success, but it earned them a growing fanbase in the underground metal scene. Despite the animosity, Michael Hetticher, who would go on to fame with his band Malacious Reflection, still has co-writing credits on "Death on the Road", "Phantasm", "Fire and Flames" and the notable "The Four Soldiers". Another early favorite was "Rust and Fade Away" The 1989 re-release included fan favorites "Paranoid", from Black Sabbath, and "The Ripper" from the band Judas Priest.

Tease the Demons

A year later, RIOT! released Tease the Demons. The album's inclusion of a slower, more introspective song, "Heart of Steel", set RIOT! apart from other thrash bands. Classic fans note this album has many worthy numbers. In addition to the title track and "Heart of Steel", it boasts "Infiltrate, Destroy, Devour", "No Way Out", and the 9-minute instrumental "The Night that Hell Broke Free." Michael Hetticher still has credits recognized for "Tease the Demons" and "The Night that Hell Broke Free".

Breakthrough success

When Tease the Demons caught the attention of larger labels, RIOT! signed with Bustle Records. Their first release with Bustle was 1985's Horror in Her Eyes, which would serve as their breakthrough album. Despite the fact that no singles were released from the album, the band received minor airplay from album tracks "Horror in Her Eyes" and "No More Pain". Fans looking for an alternative to glam rock bands of the day relished in furious songs such as "Downfall" and "Jar of Glass". The band gained even more exposure when they were asked to open for Exodus. Some critics consider the album to be one of the "greatest thrash metal albums of all time".

Tragedy strikes RIOT!

On September 27, 1986, during the Californian leg of their "Downfall" tour, Ryan Martinez was killed near Santa Cruz, California when a logging truck skidded into the oncoming lane and collided with Martinez. Martinez's death left the band's future in doubt. The three remaining members decided that the drummer would want them to carry on, and with the Martinez family's blessings, the band sought a replacement.

Among the auditions was Nick Land (of the band Recon), a childhood friend of Ross's. The band liked Land but felt his style was "weird". Ultimately Land played with the band for a few weeks and was then replaced by Nathan Johnson, formerly of San Francisco's Stoned Black was asked to join. Johnson officially joined RIOT! on October 13, 1986 three weeks after Martinez's funeral. The band finished their tour in the early months of 1987. Following the tour, the band recorded a song titled "Consuming" (that had been written with Martinez) in July 1987 as a way to test a new studio sound they had constructed and to test the talents of Johnson.

Exorcism

Exorcism, the first album recorded since Martinez's death, was released in 1988. On the album very little of Johnson's drums is audible. The most likely reason, as mentioned by Ross and Riddle in subsequent interviews, was that because Johnson was not at the mixing sessions he was not able to affect the final mixing process.

Although the song-writing was praised, the production of this album was lightly criticized as Johnson's drums clicked more than thudded and the guitars had a thin sound. The Damaged Liberty tour followed to promote the new album. Fans again appreciated fast and furious tunes, as well as lengthy songs, such as on "Damaged Liberty" (9:45) and "Consuming" (9:48). In fact, all the songs are over 5 minutes, with 7 of 9 songs over 6 minutes long.

Despite small amounts of criticism, in 1989, RIOT! received its first award nomination for the album. The nomination was for the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrument categories. However, the award was given to Lynyrd Skynyrd for the song "Free Bird". The result generated much controversy, as RIOT! was widely expected to take home the award mainly because the majority of Lynyrd Skynyrd is dead and also because the band was standing off-stage waiting to receive it after performing the song "5" for the telecast. Lynyrd Skynyrd had not even bothered to attend the ceremony, assuming that their chance of winning would be a long-shot. Drew Riddle even referenced the snub in accepting an award for "Countdown to the Apocalypse" three years later, stating, "We gotta thank Lynyrd Skynyrd for dying in a tragic plane crash".

Following RIOT!'s release of Exorcism, they embraced the mainstream music world with their debut music video for the song "5". The band performed the song in an abandoned warehouse, and was then extensively "remixed" with footage of the film version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Rather than organize an ongoing licensing deal, RIOT! simply bought the rights to the film outright. This is why the film has not had a subsequent DVD pressing.

The video was submitted to MTV, MTV accepted it despite its length (the video ran for nearly ten minutes). The video would be viewers' first exposure to RIOT!.

Also, later on in 2005 Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad would release "The Music...Movies?". This DVD collection included all music videos by Riot!/Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad from 1989 through 2005. It included the original "5" video and the remixed version.

RIOT!!!!!!!!

In 1991, RIOT! released their self-titled album, RIOT! (popularly known as TitleLess by fans), which included such songs as "Clock Strikes 12", "Hands of God", and "Killers." The record was co-produced with Bill Fagerbakee, the voice of Patrick on the popular television show Spongebob Squarepants, whose resume included work with hard rock acts Nitro, Whitesnake, Cinderella, and Rainbow. The recording sessions were a long and arduous process, lasting over a year due to infighting among the band's members and endless arguments with Fagerbakee about the album's direction, scope, and sound. The cost of recording the album was over $100,000. However, despite the battle to finish the album, it quickly became the band's most successful release.

The album's first single was, "Entrance to the Darkness", which showed off the new album's slowed-down style of music compared to RIOT!'s previous work. The TitleLess Album is currently tied for the 107th spot of highest selling album of all time in America.

Due to the album's new style of sound, charges of selling out would be aimed at RIOT! throughout the 1990s. In 1992 during a hugely financially successful co-headlining tour with Malacious Reflection, Johnson suffered severe second and third degree burns to his left arm due to pyrotechnics during the opening of "Heart of Steel", leaving him unable to play drums for a portion of the tour. Drew Riddle filled in for the rest of the tour on drums while Johnson continued to play the bass drum. The band decided to keep Drew as a drummer and give Johnson the boot, giving them an idea for their next album.

Boot

After almost three years of touring to support The Colors Album, including a headlining performance at Reggae 94 (an annual music festival in their home county), RIOT! went straight back into the studio to write and record their sixth studio album Boot. They took a break in the summer of 1995 and played 3 outdoor shows which included RIOT! organizing and headlining The Big Five Thrash Fest, including the five major thrash bands of the eighties RIOT!, Malacious Deth, Slasher, Antface, and Panchaira. The Short Tour was entitled 'The Big Five Thrash Fest Tour 1995'.

On December 1 of that year, they recorded their rehearsal for Riddle's parents 50th anniversary; four covers which were entitled 'The New Me' it was released as part of the RIOT! singles collection. The band spent around a year writing and recording new songs, resulting in 1996's Boot.

These albums represented a significant musical change for RIOT!. The band's breakneck metal tempos and layered guitar compositions had largely been replaced by bluesy guitar tones and slide guitar. Several songs include the use of new instruments including the use of the hurdy-gurdy and violin in "Hick Toothpick Collection". The changes on Boot had been anticipated by earlier experiments (especially on The TitleLess Album).

The Point of No Return

By 1997, with the release of The Point of No Return, all band members had cut their hair and discontinuing wearing suits at performances, which was ridiculed by fans.

Their style had returned to the sound of earlier albums with Martinez on drums. It had a more thrash sound un-like the two previous albums.

Sales of the album were great. Old fans disappointed by Boot and RIOT! were satisfied with The Point of No Return. Ross noted later in the documentary film Hallucinating Satan that the songs on this album was based upon a much darker theme of Satanism and Black Masses.

Cover Me

In 1998, RIOT! compiled a double CD called Cover Me; The first CD contained newly recorded covers ranging from Metallica, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath to more unexpected choices like The Beatles and Elton John (the band's cover of John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" garnered extensive radio airplay). The second CD gathered together previously released covers, including Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf", which had become a scarce collector's item. Although overall, fans were disappointed by the album, feeling the band had returned to the Boot feel.

Birth of Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad

On March 7, 1999, RIOT! was inducted into the San Francisco Walk of Fame. The mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, proclaimed the day "Official RIOT! Day" in San Francisco. A year later, RIOT! was sued because San Francisco patrons believed it to be a day to riot. RIOT! had to officially change their name to something else or they could not continue to record under Bustle Records. They decided to change their name to Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad! This caused much controversy between the band and many of their extremely loyal fans.

McDonalds controversy

In 2000, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad discovered that a demo of their song "I'm Missing" was being distributed in McDonalds happy meals. Not only was the song unfinished, it was supposed to be released in combination with the Roger Rabbit II soundtrack.

They soon discovered that in addition to the demo, their entire catalogue was freely available as a side (as apposed to fries or onion rings). The band initiated legal action against McDonalds, demanding that 300,000 McDonalds customers be banned from the restaurant. In 2001, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad and McDonalds agreed to an out-of-court settlement which led to McDonalds employees being locked out of their homes (the band did not take legal action against any individuals for copyright infringement). This led to Drew Riddle providing a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding copyright infringement in July.

The lawsuit created a public relations nightmare. Throughout the controversy, websites hosted cartoon parodies of band members, portraying them as selfish rock stars who were out of touch with their fans. The most popular of these was a cartoon parody entitled Napster Bad!, by some random asshole, which spawned an entire series (e.g. Super Size Me). McDonalds creator Ronald McDonald responded later by presenting an award wearing a Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad shirt, saying "I borrowed this shirt from a friend. Maybe, if I like it, I'll buy one of my own. But I'll probably just end up keeping it". Public ridicule was widespread as Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad had gotten their start underground trading of bootleg recordings of their performances.

Shorey's departure, Subject to Decapitation

As plans were being made to go into the recording studio in 2001, Shorey left the band, due to as he put it, "This is just flat out fuckin stupid!". However, subsequent interviews with Shorey and the remaining members revealed that Shorey's desire to release a CD and tour with his side project could have also been the cause. Additionally, an interview revealed that the "hazing" that Shorey received since joining the band had not lessened over time. Finally, Shorey had never shared the songwriting partner status that anyone in the band had enjoyed (in 15 years with the group, Shorey only wrote three songs: "The Coven" from Exorcist, "My Alleged Drunk Driving Accident" from RIOT! and "Where are my Jeans?" from Boot). The 2004 documentary, Hallucinating Satan provided more insight into the reasons for Shorey's departure. In the film he says he felt his former bandmates decision to bring a friend to the recording studio to help solve their problems was "really fucking lame, and weak; Unlike the titles of the songs I wrote".

In July 2001, Shorey entered rehab due to "alcoholism and other addictions". For nearly a year, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad ceased to do anything cool. Riddle and Ross, for the first time, seriously considered the possibility that RIOT!/Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad might be finished. Tom eventually returned to the real world following his rehab hiatus and was required to work only four hours a day and spend the rest of his time with his family. Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad continued slowly as a two-piece throughout the writing and recording of their next album. Longtime producer Bill Fagerbakee handled bass duties for the sessions. The making of the album was documented for the movie Hallucinating Satan.

Following the album's recording, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad held auditions for Shorey's permanent replacement in early 2003. Michael Hetticher was chosen as the new bassist. Michael's resume included Malacious Death as well as a stint with Mummification. As Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad moved on, Tom Shorey also found a new musical home joining thrash metal legends Slasher in 2002. In an interesting turn of events, Tom also became Michael's replacement in his band during the 2003 Ozzfest tour.

In June 2003, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad's eighth full-length recording, Subject to Decapitation, debuted at number one on the album charts. Being an intentionally raw and unpolished album, extremely harsh criticism from fans followed. The record's under-produced sound, Quade's "flexible" sense of pitch, Drew's steely sounding snare, the political themed lyrics, the fact it was all done in drop-C, and the absence of any guitar solos received particular criticism.

Having toured extensively for two years in support of Subject to Decapitation on the Summer Skull Tour 2003 in festivals featuring Bloodveins, Vernilla, Choconilla, Limp Bizkit, and Korn and then the lengthy Subject to Mosh tour with Satan People (in which nearly every performance was professionally recorded and sold at McDonalds) Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad took a break from performing and spent most of 2005 with friends and family; however for two historic shows on November 13, 2005 and November 15, 2005, the band opened for the Asian Keryoke Krew at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Shorey's return, Bill's departure, New CD

On February 16, 2006, Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad announced on their official website that after their 15+ year relationship, longtime producer Bill Fagerbakee was stepping down and would not be recording Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad's next studio album. Bill had produced every RIOT!/Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad album since 1991. Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad is currently working on a studio album with producer Joop Joop who has produced albums for other prominent metal bands such as Face in Poop, Facemask, and Slasher.

Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad debuted an untitled song nicknamed "The New Song" in Berlin, Germany and debuted another song in Tokyo, Japan, nicknamed "The Other New Song". It was during this time on tour that the band finally bowed to fan pressure decided to make each of their albums available at the Carls Jr. And exclusive tracks from the Seattle '89 shows were added to the band's first four albums. On October 13, 2006 Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad announced that they would release a DVD containing all their videos from 1989 to 2004. The DVD, The Music....Movies? 1989-2004, was released on December 4, 2006 worldwide. Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad also released a song named "The Ecstasy", in an album entitled We All Hate Yoko Ono released on February 20, 2007.

On February 9, 2007 Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad confirmed that pre-production on the new studio album had been completed, and recording of the new album would begin on March 12, 2007. The band also announced that a summer tour, later named "Sick of the Studio '07", was in the early planning stages. Ten dates of this tour have been announced so far.

On March 27, 2007 Tom Shorey rejoined the band on bass and had Michael switch to guitar.

Members

CURRENT MEMBERS

• Quade Ross - Guitar, Lead Vocals
• Drewriddle - Drums
• Tom Shorey - Bass
• Michael Hetticher - Guitar

PAST MEMBERS

• Ryan Martinez - Drums (R.I.P.)
• Nathan Johnson - Drums
• Nick Land - Drums
• Drew Cunningham - Drums
• Wes-a-fire Wesley Paden - Keyboards

Discography

1982	Rust and Fade Away DEMO
1982	No More Pain DEMO
1982	Death on the Road DEMO
1982	The Lucky Are No Longer With Us EP
1982	What A Shock?(Live) DEMO
1982	5 DEMO
1983	The Awakening
1984	Tease the Demons
1985	Horror in Her Eyes
1987	The Consuming DEMO
1988	Exorcism
1991	RIOT! (The TitleLess Album)
1996	Boot
1997	Point of No Return
1998	Cover Me
2003	Subject to Decapitation
2007	The New Lt. Quade and the Hit Squad Album

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