This article revisits the Continental Hyatt House, a hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles that became notorious in the early 1970s as the favoured haunt of touring rock musicians, earning it the nickname the "Riot House." It gained lasting infamy after Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Bobby Keys were filmed throwing a television set from a tenth-floor window in 1972, an incident Keys later said overshadowed his entire musical career, including his celebrated saxophone work on "Brown Sugar." The hotel came to symbolise a broader shift in rock culture, from the idealism of earlier years towards a more nihilistic, hedonistic excess.

The piece draws on accounts from Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, who recalled the band renting out entire floors at 8401 Sunset Boulevard and felt Zeppelin unfairly took the blame for behaviour common across many bands staying there, including The Rolling Stones and The Who. It also cites Pamela Des Barres's 1987 memoir "I'm with the Band," which detailed the groupie culture surrounding Led Zeppelin's stays, including the involvement of road manager Richard Cole in arranging encounters for band members such as Jimmy Page.