FIB MUSIC:  Any recordings exist? Robert:  If there is, they probably sound terrible. Our keyboard player, he stayed in Florida, he never left.....that's the thing, a lot of great musicians stay there. You know, Miami is great. They don't want to leave; they were comfortable. Maybe because I lived in New Jersey, I knew I had to go back on my own. That's where the industry was, at the time. There was KC and the Sunshine Band and this and that. We would do some top 40 gigs also....we would do this thing where we would turn all these disco songs into a heavy metal bash.(laughs) It sounded more like Led Zeppelin, or Iron Maiden, than it did disco. I would bow the guitar strings, you know, my violin bow.....they didn't have synthesizers like they do now and if they did, they were very expensive. So I would use the violin bow on my guitar. We didn't have a keyboard player. It was just me on guitar, Rudy on bass, lead singer and a drummer. It was more like Led Zeppelin doing disco songs. I read later that Van Halen were doing the same thing when they started out, during that same era. They were playing top 40 at Gazarri's. FIB MUSIC:  Frankie Banali was in Miami? Robert:  Yeah. We met him in Fort Lauderdale; he was living there. FIB MUSIC:  How long were you in a band with him? Robert:  Well. That trio with.....I don't remember.....wow......less than a year.

FIB MUSIC:  Is it just pure coincidence that Rudy plays with Frankie, later in Quiet Riot? Robert:  No, no. Rudy stayed in touch with Frankie and then he was doing some touring with some top 40 band and they needed a drummer, so they called Frankie and Frankie joined them on the road somewhere. You know, doing like a club circuit. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to stay in the city and see what I could do there with session work and recording because it was just thriving at that time, with all the record companies.......and it worked....I got in there. I was at the Record Plant recording in 1979 and the album was released in 1980. After that, the whole scene started to crumble in New York and that's when I decided to sell my house that I had in New Jersey and move to L.A. ................Actually, what happened was.......Randy Rhoads died....that's right......sorry, it was a long time ago. (laughs) When Randy Rhoads died, I got a call from Ozzy. Rudy had given them my number. I had already met Ozzy when they played the Capitol Theatre in New Jersey. They knew that I played guitar and they asked if I wanted to audition. They flew me from New York to Los Angeles. I was there rehearsing and auditioning. I didn't really care if I got the gig. I really wanted to be there with my brother; he and Randy were very close. So I auditioned and I got the gig. I supposed to start the tour, but at the time, I had met a bunch of people here......I had met Kevin Dubrow, Gregg Giuffria and that's how I met Tony Cavazo. Interesting how the cycle works. I never sit down and think about this stuff. Anyways, then Sharon's father Don Arden had already hired Bernie Tormé.....so even though I had the gig and was rehearsing with Ozzy, then they apologized and said they had a problem and that they had already hired someone else. No hard feelings. Like I said, I really just wanted to be there for my brother, but after that I wanted to sell my house in New Jersey and move to L.A. and I have been here ever since. I liked L.A., I had never been here before. FIB MUSIC:  Well, that's a little bit of Ozzy trivia I didn't know. Robert:  Yeah I know. I learned all the songs, I auditioned and then I kept seeing people continue to come in and audition. They told me to be there at a certain time and that's what I did. I just learn the songs, that's what I do. Just try my best and I knew if I had to go out there and if they needed to, I could learn stuff just like Randy Rhoads. I have always been a metal player, I played fusion, jazz rock, all kinds of stuff. I just would lock myself up and think what would Randy feel like. Interesting enough, I was staying at the Sunset Marquis and on a couple of occasions, I felt Randy's presence. I felt he came and visited me. I had the last recording, that I had taped from his last radio interview. He definitely came and talked to me. FIB MUSIC:  What do you mean? Robert:  He was not buried yet. I didn't see him, but his energy was so intense. In my youth, I was exposed to stuff like that. Experimenting. He was definitely there. Sometimes, I still stop by his mom's school and.....I talk to his brother, I can still feel his presence come and go. FIB MUSIC:  Didn't Randy ask Rudy to go on the plane with him? Robert:  Yes. He said, "hey, let's go on the plane" and Rudy said, "no, I going to get a little more sleep". Next thing, he woke up to the bang on the bus and the plane had crashed into the bus. FIB MUSIC:  So you make the move to Los Angeles in 1982? Robert:  Yeah, I went back, put the house on the market and sell it. FIB MUSIC:  Kind of different to hear a musician, who hadn't even been signed yet, say he's selling his house. Robert:  I had to grow up very quick. I have a wonderful son, 29 years old. I grew up fast. I still workout and go to the gym. I am in really good shape, I snowboard, always learning new things. I never fell into the trap from the 80's, of doing drugs and drinking all the time. FIB MUSIC:  No drinking at all? Robert:  I occasionally drink. Occasionally, I like my red wine, or Jack Daniel's. I balance it out. FIB MUSIC:  Yeah, Hurricane never seemed to be a big party band. Robert:  Actually, we would bring baseball gloves and tennis rackets. I grew up playing tennis because of my mom. We were playing tennis at the hotels. We would get up in the morning and go play tennis (laughs). I drank Jack and Coke on stage. I partied with the audience, but I was cool with it. You didn't want to wake up with a hangover the next day. I like drinking once in awhile, but not enough to end up in the hospital, or burned out. FIB MUSIC:  No drug use in the band? Robert:  No. We just weren't into that. FIB MUSIC:  What did you do from '82 to '84, before Hurricane? Robert:  I was putting the band together. Oh yeah, it took me a hundred singers to find Kelly. I'm not exaggerating. By this time, I already had several drummers and I even had a second guitar player, Michael Guy. I had a lot of different Hurricanes. I formed Hurricane.......I have always formed bands. FIB MUSIC:  All the versions were called Hurricane? You named the band also? Robert:  Yes. Being from Miami, it was what I wanted to call it. FIB MUSIC:  Was Tony Cavazo with you the whole time? Robert:  No. I had different bass players, everybody was different. Then finally I met up with Tony again, I guess through Carlos (Cavazo) because my brother was playing with Carlos in Quiet Riot. I had this place in Santa Monica. This girl named Bambi, she was helping me out. Her father owned a building on Santa Monica Blvd and she would let me rehearse there at night. Then I brought Tony in there and we co-wrote the first song, "Hurricane". That was our first song, Kelly or Jay weren't in the band yet. FIB MUSIC:  Do you still talk to Tony? Robert:  No. Hurricane, "Hurricane" - Music Video 1985 FIB MUSIC:  How did you find vocalist Kelly Hansen? Robert:  I found him through drummer John Shearer. He was playing in the Top 40 circuit here and we had him come down and we thought, wow, this guy has got the voice. He sang the song Hurricane and then we started jamming and we just kept on working together. FIB MUSIC:  Did any of the temporary singers go on to play in another band? Robert:  Yeah. I got calls from them later on and they were actors....they're doing quite well. Some of them, I don't remember. So much has happened. READ PART II with Robert Sarzo If you found this interview first, make sure to read the second part of our interview with Hurricane guitarist Robert Sarzo. GO HERE Hurricane Cd's on Sale at Full in Bloom Hurricane Take What You Want Hurricane Over the Edge Hurricane Slave to the Thrill Search Fibits for Hurricane items Want to know when we post a new interview? 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