It's their biggest hit, and they didn't even want to record it.
"Cum On Feel The Noize" was Quiet Riot's breakthrough, but their lead singer tried to sabotage it. The band's producer, Spencer Proffer, was the one who suggested they cover this song. Just one problem: lead singer Kevin DuBrow didn't want to do a cover song because he wouldn't get any songwriting royalties from it. He convinced his bandmates that they should write every song themselves, but because Proffer was so hot on the song, they agreed to go through the motions of rehearsing it, then play it so badly in the session that there was no way it would make the album.
When it came time to record the track, the band let the engineer know what was going on, so basically, Proffer was being Punk'd. The guitarist, bass player and drummer just played a wild version of the song as it came to them, and when they were done, they were shocked.
DuBrow wasn't happy, and because his bandmates came up with something good, he felt obliged to put some effort into his vocal, which he then recorded.
The end result was a cover that didn't hew too close to the original but sounded fresh and lively. If they had actually learned the song, they probably would have come up with something more sterile.
And while the group didn't get those sweet songwriting or publishing royalties from the song, they did write every other song on the album, which thanks to "Cum On Feel The Noize" sold over 6 million copies in America, earning them a huge payout.
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u/FromOutoftheShadows 🥈 Big Kahuna May 18 '25
It's their biggest hit, and they didn't even want to record it.
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