Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads both ruled the Sunset Strip in the mid-to-late 1970s, well before they became legends. As per the original Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni these two legendary guitarists were not competitors or close friends during those early club days.

How likely is it that two of the greatest rock guitarists of all time came from the same area and time period, allowing local club-goers to see both perform live on small stages many times? While hard to believe today due to their legendary statuses, this was true for Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. Their bands, Van Halen and Quiet Riot, were regular features on the Sunset Strip throughout the mid-to-late ’70s.

During an interview on the Booked on Rock Podcast, original Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni opened up about this golden bygone era. And he explained if Eddie and Randy were friends, and if there was any competition between the two iconic shredders.

However, aside from only one time (on April 23, 1977, at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California), both bands did not play on the same bill. But certainly, they knew of each other.

“At some point, we became well aware of Van Halen,” Garni said. “Especially when we were at the Starwood, as we were for a number of years. And we knew they were playing down the street at Gazzarri’s, which wasn’t really our type of a club. Because the Starwood was.”

“Of course, The Whisky was The Whisky, but it had more of a punk rock scene going on there. So, we kind of avoided that place. The punkers didn’t like guys that looked like us either, so you got the jocks and the punkers wanting to kill you.”

Garni, who was Quiet Riot’s bassist from 1975-1978 and played on the group’s first two albums (released only in Japan), 1978’s “Quiet Riot” and “Quiet Riot II”, also clarified whether there was any competition between Eddie and Randy.

“There was no competition. And most certainly, there was no competition in Randy’s world. Because Randy didn’t compete. It just wasn’t in him to try to compete. He couldn’t. The way his brain was wired, is he could not form the thought, ‘Oh, I’m gonna be better than that guy.’”