'Rockline' Producer Offers Thoughts On KEVIN DUBROW's Passing

Gregg Journigan, producer of the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline", has released the following statement regarding the passing of QUIET RIOT singer Kevin DuBrow:

"Sitting in Japan I read a rumor [Sunday] night that Kevin DuBrow had passed. My first thought was it's way early in U.S. and 'I haven't seen it on Blabbermouth.' Upon returning from dinner, there it was. My first thought was….it's begun. The timetable of our metal icons and rock stars of the '70s and early '80s is ticking. I always think of when it will begin to happen because it's been relatively few, of natural causes. Let's hope this is too.

"As a kid on Hollywood in the early '80s, the first 'club' gig I was able to sneak into was a DUBROW gig at the Starwood in '82. This was the QUIET RIOT 'Metal Health' lineup before they released 'Metal Health', but as revamped QUIET RIOT. It was life-changing and set the table for next few years of working the Hollywood metal scene.

"Back then we didn't have the Internet and the only source, for the hardcore, was a little British mag called Kerrang! It was the bible. It was how we discovered what was going on everywhere, even in L.A.

"I got a job at a record store as the metal buyer because I had told the owner to buy lots of copies of the Japanese QUIET RIOT releases with Randy Rhoads and he sold them all out.

"Watching the '70s and newer metal\rock bands begin to come up big was awesome. With the words 'heavy metal' still underground, it was and still is to this day QUIET RIOT that brought the term to the mainstream. While today metal to me is a state of mind it was all-encompassing to many of us in the last 20+ years. Seeing this band and all the great bands at the US festival II we knew that metal had arrived.

"I used to sit out front of 'Rockline' in high school and get autographs and offer to haul gear. One night they let me come in to watch a show, the band was QUIET RIOT and they were the biggest thing in rock at the time. I was naïve but they were the coolest they could have been to a punk kid off the street.

"Jump ahead to earlier this year. Bob Coburn [host of 'Rockline'] had QUIET RIOT on 'Rockline' and they were playing live in our studio. Producing the live show and taking pics of the band and Kevin screaming 'Cum on Feel the Noize' right in my face was as cool now as back in the day. Sitting with him and talking about music, vinyl, THE FACES and, of course, HUMBLE PIE, here was a guy who was in apparent good health, somewhat self-deprecating but fully comfortable in what his role and legacy were, both good and bad.

"Few times have I got in conversations with our bands on the show where I thought I might be in over my head in regard to rock n' roll history. What I saw in he and Frankie were working musicians, not rock stars. There are very few real rock stars left.

"I never saw LED ZEPPELIN, QUEEN or THIN LIZZY in their day. I never thought I'd get to see KISS in make-up or SABBATH with Ozzy or Dio (epic) but luckily I did as well as newer bands in their heyday like OPETH, IN FLAMES or even a PANTERA or MEGADETH. These bands are not making money selling records anymore than the QUIET RIOTs and JUDAS PRIESTs are. It is mainly only via touring.

"Go see these bands when they come to your town, support the metal community for all metal genres and keep yours and all our metal health in a good state."

Visit Gregg Journigan on his MySpace page.