Riot Band: The Tragic Story Of The Band Behind 'Fire Down Under'

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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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