Riot

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Riot is an American heavy metal/hard rock band founded in New York City in 1975 by guitarist Mark Reale. Reaching a peak in popularity in the early 1980s, the band has continued a long-running career punctuated by personnel and management instability.

Riot has toured with AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Sammy Hagar, Kiss, Vandenberg and Black Sabbath among others.

Biography

Early years (1975-1983)

Riot was formed in 1975 in New York City, New York when Kon-Tiki guitarist Mark Reale and drummer Peter Bitelli recruited bassist Phil Fiet and vocalist Guy Speranza. The line up recorded a four-track demo, which they hoped would be included in a proposed compilation of new rock bands. While waiting for the project to get off the ground, they added Steve Costello on keyboards.

Reale took the various demos to New York based producers Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb, who also owned Greene Street Recording Studio and the independent label Fire-Sign Records. Arnell & Loeb turned down the compilation proposal but signed Riot. The band added second guitarist Louie Kouvaris, replaced Fiet with Jimmy Iommi and recorded its debut album, Rock City. After a promising start and support slots with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet, the band were unable to maintain momentum, and were on the verge of breaking up for good by 1979.

In that year however, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal broke mainstream, and the band came to the attention of influential DJ Neal Kay who spread the word about them in Britain. British fans bought imported copies of Rock City which was recorded and produced by Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb and released on their Fire Sign Records. Encouraged, Arnell & Loeb recorded the band's new album Narita. In the course of recording, Kouvaris was replaced by band roadie Rick Ventura.

Subsequent to a successful support of Sammy Hagar on his US Texas tour Capitol Records offered Riot a worldwide deal for Narita, mostly to support Hagar. Capitol and Hagar needed a harder, younger edge to associate with him, so Riot was chosen if they agreed to support Hagar on his UK tour. Hagar and Riot had a successful tour, but Riot was dropped by Capitol as soon as they were finished promoting Hagar.

Riot's management, Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb spent their last dollars remaining from the Capitol advance retaining important indie FM radio promotions to promote the Riot album. They put it on as many radio stations around the country as possible, thus raising the radio profile enough to where Capitol picked up their option for another record. And thus began Riot's biggest selling album titled Fire Down Under.

When the record was completed some months later, Capitol turned the record down calling it "commercially unacceptable" which put the band in contractual limbo. Capitol also refused to let the band out of the contract and insisted if the band wanted off Capitol, they would have to sue. A campaign was organized and financed by producer Billy Arnell & Steve Loeb with fans around the world, but especially in the UK where the fans picketed the offices of EMI Records. Finally Elektra Records worked things out with Capitol's Rupert Perry and signed Riot and immediately released Fire Down Under which then soared into the Billboard Top 100 chart.

Breakup and reunion (1983-present)

Singer Guy Speranza (b. March 12, 1956 – d. November 8, 2003) had difficulty melding his religious convictions with his role in the band and was replaced by Rhett Forrester (b. September 22, 1956 – d. January 22, 1994) for the next album, Restless Breed (1982). Though a striking frontman, any hope of a major breakthrough was sunk by a combination of Forrester's erratic behaviour on the road, a changing of the guard at Elektra, and the 1983 success of Quiet Riot's single "Cum on Feel the Noize". The next album, Born in America, (1983) was self- financed by Steve Loeb and was released on Quality Records, an independent Canadian label. A note on the reverse of the album tried to explain away would-be fans' confusion between Riot and the now #1-selling Quiet Riot, but support melted away, leading to the band's disintegration.

Reale relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where he recruited former S.A.Slayer members Steve Cooper, Don Van Stavern, and Dave McClain (now with Machine Head) for a short-lived new band called Narita. By 1986, Reale and Van Stavern had made their way out to Los Angeles in an attempt to resurrect Riot along with former members Sandy Slavin and Rhett Forrester. Another vocalist that was tried out was Harry 'The Tyrant' Conklin (Jag Panzer) who was dismissed after losing his voice on the second night of back-to-back gigs due to excess drinking. Eventually, Reale mended fences with producer Steve Loeb and moved back to New York. Drummer Mark Edwards (Steeler, Third Stage Alert) was recruited to complete the new rhythm section along with bassist Don Van Stavern, while Greene Street Studio manager Dave Harrington brought in Tony Moore (real name: Tony Morabito) for vocals. A new Riot was born. Loeb cut a four-track demo at his Greene Street Studio in Soho, NY and along with real estate maven turned rock manager Vince Perazzo brought the band to CBS Associated, who offered the band a worldwide deal. Edwards elected to leave the band as his own L.A.-based group Lion was getting signed to Scotti Brothers. He would be superseded by San Antonio, Texas native Bobby Jarzombek, formerly with Juggernaut, who cut the rest of the drum tracks for what would become the Thundersteel album, released in 1988. It was followed by the more experimental The Privilege of Power (1990), which saw the band augment their state-of-the-art heavy metal sound with horns, courtesy of the Brecker Brothers and Tower of Power. The album also featured a guest vocal appearance by Joe Lynn Turner of Rainbow fame. Second guitarist Mike Flyntz joined the ranks for the band's 1989 Thundersteel tour of Japan where Riot maintained their strongest subsequent following. Bassist Don Van Stavern would quit the band after the US leg of the The Privilege of Power tour and was replaced by fellow Texan Pete Perez (ex-Karion).

In 1992, vocalist Tony Moore left the group over disagreements with manager/producer Steve Loeb. Reale recruited newcomer Mike DiMeo, who had played with Howard Stern sidekick Stuttering John Melendez in a local band named Josie Sang, with a view toward making a more hard rock oriented solo album. Eventually, those plans were dropped and the proposed solo effort turned into another Riot album, 1993's Nightbreaker, which featured a remake of the Fire Down Under classic 'Outlaw' as well as covers of Deep Purple's 'Burn' and 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' by Procol Harum. It would mark the final collaboration with long-time associate Steve Loeb who stepped down from the production chair in 1995, a split initiated by Mark Reale. All told, Loeb produced or co-produced 13 Riot albums in his 19-year association with Reale and the different configurations of Riot. For the rest of the decade Riot would maintain a remarkably steady line-up for the first time in its history, resulting in a steady output of high quality albums, i.e. the Native American-themed Brethren of the Long House (1996), which saw John Macaluso (TNT, Powermad) briefly take over for Bobby Jarzombek on drums, Inishmore (1998), Shine On live (1998), and Sons of Society (1999). Jarzombek left again in late 1999, this time to join former Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford in his new venture Halford. Pat McGrath (Prototype, Killing Culture) filled in for Jarzombek on the following European tour before being replaced by veteran skinsman Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult) with whom the band recorded Through the Storm (2002).

In 2006, Riot returned with yet another album, Army of One, featuring new addition Frank Gilchriest (Virgin Steele, Gothic Knights) on drums. It would mark the swan song with vocalist Mike DiMeo who had earlier announced his departure in order to concentrate on his work with retro rockers The Lizards after a 12-year run with Riot. DiMeo was succeeded by noted New York area singer Mike Tirelli (Burning Starr, Holy Mother, Messiah's Kiss) whose Riot live debut came in early 2005 at the band's Atarfe Vega Rock Festival appearance in Granada, Spain.

In 2008, it was announced that the classic Thundersteel-era line-up would reunite for a tour, starting in June 2009 with shows at the Sweden Rock and Metalway festivals, and a new studio album, tentatively scheduled for a late 2009 release. Following the success of these appearances, the band appeared at three sold-out shows in Osaka and Tokyo in late October of 2009.

The reunited 1988 lineup of Moore, Reale, Flyntz, Van Stavern and Jarzombek discovered that "Thundersteel" and "The Privilege of Power" had achieved near-mythical stature over the years, and had been cited as influences on many major artists, including Judas Priest.

With a resurgence of interest in the HR/HM genres and a crop of new young fans in Europe and Asia, Riot began writing and recording a new full-length album to be released in the Spring of 2010.

Notes

• Rhett Forrester was shot and killed in Atlanta, Georgia on January 22, 1994 at the age of 37 after he refused to give up his vehicle in an attempted carjacking. His murder remains unsolved.
• Guy Speranza died from pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2003 in Orlando, Florida at the age of 47.
• Mike Tirelli was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2008 and underwent what was announced to be his final surgery in March 2009. He is reportedly recovering well.

Members

Current line up

• Tony Moore - Vocals
• Mark Reale - Guitar
• Mike Flyntz - Guitar
• Don Van Stavern - Bass
• Bobby Jarzombek - Drums

Past members

• Mike Tirelli - Vocals
• Mike DiMeo - Vocals
• Rhett Forrester - Vocals
• Guy Speranza - Vocals
• Rick Ventura - Guitar
• L.A. Kouvaris - Guitar
• Pete Perez - Bass
• Kip Leming - Bass
• Jimmy Iommi - Bass
• Phil Fiet - Bass
• Frank Gilchriest - Drums
• Bobby Rondinelli - Drums
• John Macaluso - Drums
• Mark Edwards - Drums
• Sandy Slavin - Drums
• Peter Bitelli - Drums

Additional live musicians

• Randy Coven - bass
• Pat McGrath - drums
• Harry 'The Tyrant' Conklin - vocals
• Gerald T. Trevino - guitar

Discography

• Rock City (1977)
• Narita (1979)
• Fire Down Under (1981)
• Restless Breed (1982)
• Born In America (1983)
• Thundersteel (1988)
• The Privilege of Power (1990)
• Nightbreaker (1993)
• Brethren of the Long House (1996)
• Inishmore (1998)
• Sons of Society (1999)
• Through the Storm (2002)
• Army of One (2006)

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace page
• Official Facebook page
• Official Riot YouTube Channel
• Toshiba EMI Riot Artist Page (in Japanese)
• No Life Til Metal - CD Gallery - Riot
• Encyclopedia Metallum - Riot
• Historical Interview w/ Riot Vocalist Tony Moore