Rudy Sarzo thought that Quiet Riot’s ‘Metal Health’ album would only sell 50,000 copies

Rudy Sarzo thought that Quiet Riot’s ‘Metal Health’ album would only sell 50,000 copies

Former Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake bassist Rudy Sarzo was recently interviewed by go.Jimmy.go and the bassist spoke about Quiet Riot‘s multi-platinum selling album Metal Health.

In terms of his thoughts on Metal Health, Sarzo advised: “I recently talked about this with Frankie Banali on my radio show. I was on the same circuit as Kevin [Dubrow] and Frankie in the Randy Rhoads version of Quiet Riot before I joined Ozzy. After Randy passed, I wasn’t mature enough to know how to deal with loss and needed to get away. I had gotten a call from Kevin to come in and play on one song, “Thunderbird.” It was a song Kevin wrote when Randy left Quiet Riot to join Ozzy, but after Randy passed, it took on a whole different meaning. I went into the studio to do that one song and by the time I left the session I’d recorded almost half of the record. When I officially left Ozzy a few weeks later, I came back and finished the songs. I played on everything except “Metal Health” and “Don’t Wanna  Let You Go,” which was recorded by Chuck Wright. I found emotional refuge playing with my friends again and re-discovered the joy of playing. That’s what that record means to me. It was a place where I felt comfortable.”

In terms of whether he knew how special that album was going to be, Sarzo indicated: “We actually felt it might do the complete opposite. I remember at the time, no one wanted to manage the band. We had to beg the original Randy Rhoads-era manager to come out of retirement, and even he was skeptical. I was aware of the  new wave of metal and the possibility of how the band might be accepted outside of L.A. because I’d been touring with Ozzy for a few years and we had Motörhead, Def Leppard, UFO and Starfighters open for us. I thought we might sell 50,000 albums, which was the watermark for a young band to make a new record. Then MTV happened and they started playing “Cum On Feel The Noize” every half hour. That made an incredible difference.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Rudy Sarzo at go.Jimmy.go.

Wikipedia states the following in part about Metal Health: “Metal Health is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It was released on March 11, 1983, bolstered by the No. 5 hit “Cum On Feel the Noize” and the No. 31 hit “Metal Health”. Metal Health is notable for being the first heavy metal album to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200, replacing the Police‘s Synchronicity at number one in November 1983. The album went on to sell more than six million copies and is considered a classic among heavy metal fans.”

Quiet Riot‘s “Cum On Feel The Noize” video:

Quiet Riot – Cum On Feel The Noize (Official Video)

Music video by Quiet Riot performing Cum On Feel The Noize. (C) 1983 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.#QuietRiot #CumOnFeelTheNoize #Vevo