Ratt
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| Ratt
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:ClassicRatt2.jpg The "classic" lineup of Ratt, 1982-1990. </td></tr>
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| Background information
<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">San Diego, California</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Glam Metal |
Ratt is an American glam metal band that enjoyed significant commercial success during the 1980s. The band is most notable for their 1984 smash hit single, "Round and Round". They have developed a sizable cult following in recent years and have acquired respect from within the music industry as trailblazers for the 1980s Southern California music scene.
The band has sold an estimated 10 million records in the U.S. while worldwide album sales are approximated at over 18 million.<ref> Ratt Fan Forum</ref> VH1 named slotted the band at #79 on its "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock."[1]
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[edit] Music
Ratt's music was influenced by 1970s hard rock and glam rock bands such as Aerosmith, Sweet, Led Zeppelin and KISS. They fused this with heavy metal influences from the likes of Van Halen and Judas Priest.
Though they later incoporated more of a blues sound into their music, the band was one of the first glam metal style groups that appeared in the early 1980s in California.
Their image bore similarities to that of Aerosmith and the New York Dolls.
[edit] History
The origins of Ratt go back to 1978 with a San Diego band called Mickey Ratt, which was formed by founding member vocalist Stephen Pearcy. Guitarist Chris Hagar, bassist Matt Thorr, and drummer John Turner, completed the four-piece line-up. Guitarist Jake E. Lee briefly joined in 1980.
In 1980, Mickey Ratt recorded a single called Dr. Rock / Drivin' on E, which was given to fans at early Los Angeles club shows.
By early 1982, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. In 1982, Ratt also included the song Tell the World on the first Metal Massacre album, which is also known as the first album to feature a Metallica song (Hit the Lights). After this album release, Jake E. Lee, Chris Hagar, and Matt Thorr all left Ratt to form another band called Rough Cutt. Jake E. Lee was with Mickey Ratt for about a year before joining Ozzy Osbourne's band in October 1982. The three members would be replaced by bassist Juan Croucier (who in 1982 left the band Dokken) and guitarists Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini.
By the end of 1982, the classic Ratt line-up of Stephen Pearcy (vocals), Robbin Crosby (guitar), Warren DeMartini (lead guitar), Juan Croucier (bass guitar), and Bobby Blotzer (drums) was complete.
[edit] Ratt EP
In 1983 the band released an EP on their independent record label Time Coast. With the self-titled Ratt EP, the band began to draw public attention outside of San Diego. It contained the hit "You Think You're Tough". Also included was a cover of "Walkin' the Dog"; originally a hit for Rufus Thomas in 1963. Ratt's version was a nod to Aerosmith, who had included a cover of the song on their influential first album in 1973. The track "Back for More" that appeared on the EP was a slightly different version of the one that appeared on their follow-up Out of the Cellar. The EP was a success, selling over one million copies (though it has been out of print for many years and is today considered a rare and valuable collectors' item). In the wake of this success, rock fans and critics outside the San Diego area began to take notice of the band.
[edit] Out of the Cellar
After a well-received, self-titled independent EP, the band signed with Atlantic Records and immediately started writing and recording what would be its breakthrough album Out of the Cellar'. Released in March 1984, the album was critically praised by both fans and critics alike at the time of its release.
Out of the Cellar combined the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith influenced 'cock rock' elements with the then-novel staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest.
The album scored many radio and MTV hits, including the blockbuster anthem "Round and Round", "Wanted Man", "Back for More", "Lack of Communication", and "I'm Insane". Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals melded well with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini. Their music videos (especially for that of "Round and Round") exposed their movie star looks to an impressionable prepubescent audience first tuning into the then fledgling MTV cable network.
Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum many times over in the United States as well as making them true rock idols in the Far East. The album catapulted the band to the top, capped off by an incredibly successful world tour that saw the band sell out countless stadiums and arenas worldwide. Out of the Cellar is today widely regarded as the pinnacle the band's prolific body of work and a definitive moment in glam metal.
Tawny Kitaen, who graced the cover of the band's EP from the previous year, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. Her work with Ratt enamored her to the glam metal community and would later help Kitaen become an international celebrity. She would appear in movies, TV shows and even more music videos. Her provocative performances on Whitesnake's videos gained her even more acclaim and eventually a husband. She would be married to Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale for a few years.
[edit] Invasion of Your Privacy
The band's second full-length album Invasion of Your Privacy was released July 1985. The album met mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. Allmusic.com has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". [2] It contained the hits "You're In Love" and "Lay It Down" that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV.
Warren DeMartini's impressive guitar solos and Stephen Pearcy's dripping-with-sex lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Invasion of Your Privacy was certified double platinum (selling over two million copies), though it wasn't as successful as their monumental debut.
A couple months after the albums release, the band released a home video simply named Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. Today, the video is currently out of print and is very rare and difficult to find.
The model on the album cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte who also made an appearance in the Lay It Down music video. Using a model on an album cover would later become a trend that would be copied by many glam metal bands such as Bon Jovi, Great White, Slaughter and L.A. Guns throughout the 1980's. The cover for Invasion of Your Privacy was also one of the many album covers that received the attention of the PMRC since the cover and the album title were an obvious reference to voyeurism, and that organization would later present it at the U.S. Congressional hearing on September 19, 1985 dealing with parental advisory labels on albums that display "inappropriate" content.
[edit] Dancing Undercover
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in September 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with music critics at the time of its release. With the passage of time, however, the album's importance has been duly recognized. It stands as not only a pillar within the Ratt catalogue, but within the annals of rock n' roll history. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive platinum albums alive.
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a model on the cover of the album. They instead opted for gritty black-and-white photos of each of the five band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad amongst its ten tracks and even features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds.
The song that reflected this most strikingly was "Body Talk", which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child. The more straight-ahead style of the album (especially with this song) lead many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction more akin to the thrash bands of the day such as Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, that proved to not be the case as the slightly experimental undertones of the album were quickly replaced with a bluesier sound throughout their next three albums.
Other hit songs generated by the album include "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip."
[edit] Reach for the Sky
The group's follow-up, Reach for the Sky was released November 1988. Although the album achieved platinum sales status, it was widely panned by critics. Complaints ranged from it being too formulaic, uneven, lacking in focus, overly sophomoric, etc. Ratt were simply going through the motions at this point in their career. The band also suffered from creativity issues during the recording process of Reach for the Sky and inspiration was lacking but drugs and alcohol weren't. This lack of vitality lead the band to part ways with long-time producer Beau Hill after this album. For all the criticisms, Reach for the Sky nevertheless spawned the hits "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman". Those two songs are now regarded as glam metal classics with the music video for Way Cool Jr. widely hailed as their first genuinely comedic music video since their Out of the Cellar days.
The album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a hand popping out twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. It is unknown what the album cover is supposed to symbolize, however many fans believe it is a commentary on society, which may have furtherly defined Ratt's newly found maturity as a band. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. According to Pearcy, he wanted to use that version of the cover but the band members feared that the version would not get the album into certain music stores. Also the track listing would have been different, it contained "No One Can Stop You Now" (aka "Wishing Well"). Mainly it was the same tracks but in a different order. After the revised album hit the music stores, producer Beau Hill stepped down from producer duties and tensions within the band increased.
[edit] Detonator
Ratt's fifth album Detonator was released August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Beau Hill's departure after the lackluster results of Reach for the Sky. The album met mixed reactions from critics with many saying it lacked the live sounding energy of the band's earlier work.[3] However it received a positive reaction from fans with many saying it was more "hair metalish" than Out of the Cellar and called it another solid glam metal album.[4] Detonator had the hits "Shame Shame Shame" and "Lovin' You's A Dirty Job". Most of the album's songs were co-written by famed songwriter Desmond Child and Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi fame appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose". It also became the first Ratt album to not achieve platinum sales status and was instead certified gold, and the fact that it was released on the eve of the grunge explosion in the early 1990's may be the main reason for that. Although the album met overall mixed reviews, five of the album's songs were featured on their greatest hits collection Ratt & Roll 81-91.
Ratt was featured on the first season of MTV Unplugged, sharing the stage with all-female rock band Vixen.
During Ratt's tour to promote their album Detonator at the Sun Plaza located in Tokyo, Japan, guitarist Robbin Crosby's use of drugs became painfully clear, when the band was performing their biggest hit "Round and Round", Crosby allegedly grabbed the wrong guitar and during the song's guitar solo, every fan in the arena and even the band began staring at Crosby since his guitar was way out of tune. After the show Robbin quit the band due to the shame he placed on the band and himself. After quitting the band, Crosby returned to the US to admit for rehab. Former Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker subsequently replaced Crosby for a short time with the band. In 1991, Schenker left the band and Ratt became a four piece with the release of Nobody Rides For Free, which appeared on the Point Break soundtrack album. After releasing a compilation album Ratt & Roll 81-91, Pearcy had abruptly left the group in February 1992, and Ratt disbanded shortly thereafter.
[edit] Post-breakup
While the alternative rock bands (such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and The Smashing Pumpkins) became popular, glam metal bands like Ratt were no longer in vogue and quickly lost their major record label support. Pearcy left the group to form a new hard rock band, Arcade, before moving on to another new band, the industrial-tinged power trio Vertex. Blotzer and Croucier both started to live more normal lives outside the public eye and the two of them became producers for underground bands. DeMartini issued two solo albums titled including 1995's Surf's Up! and 1996's Crazy Enough to Sing to You while the rest of the band waited for glam metal to become popular again. In 1994 former guitarist Robbin Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which would later become AIDS.
[edit] Reunion
In 1997, Ratt re-formed as a four piece with Pearcy, DeMartini, Blotzer, and new member Robbie Crane (formerly of Vince Neil's solo band) on bass guitar. The band issued a compilation album called Collage, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1999, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The 1999 self-titled Ratt album featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel and was heavily criticized by fans and critics which many felt that it had a weak sound to it and Pearcy's vocals sounded very worn out. The album then became a commercial failure. After this, Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second lead guitarist. In 2000, Pearcy left the group again, forming two more bands: Vicious Delite and Nitronic, then he moved on to a solo career. He also started a record label named Top Fuel Records, which released some archived Ratt material and Pearcy solo work.
Ratt then replaced Pearcy with singer Jizzy Pearl. Keri Kelli was replaced by lead guitarist and former Mötley Crüe vocalist John Corabi. Their gig at the House of Blues in 2000 was released as a bootleg CD. In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he suffered from AIDS. He died in 2002 from an overdose of heroin and not from AIDS related complications. The last two years, they've been featured in the Rock Never Stops Tour alongside other 1980's hard rock/heavy metal bands. In 2001 Pearcy attempted to sue the band for touring under the "Ratt" name, claiming he owned the rights to the name. The lawsuit was a failure, after Blotzer and DeMartini were awarded the rights to use the name.
[edit] Current
On January 7, 2005 a fan asked Juan Croucier on his message board how long Blotzer and Croucier called it a day for the band back in 1992 after Pearcy and DeMartini left the group to which he responded:<ref>Juan Croucier's Message Board</ref>
OK, I'm going to make this statement one more time and move on.
Bobby and I never quit Ratt. And the way our partnership was set up, we could not fire each other either. We were stuck owning the name but not being able to use it. However, bankruptcy could still eliminate a partner and Bobby went bankrupt in 1995/96. That essentially and eventually left me as the sole partner left in the partnership but again not being able to use the name. Having said that, before that happened in 1993/94 we tried out a few people (The Salty Dog guy, etc.) but it wasn't Ratt by any stretch of the imagination and I was skeptical about using the name Ratt at that point, because that would have been a lie and also because of the aforementioned. It was just an attempt to start a new band and somehow move on. What we were going to call it was undecided and we never got to the point where the name we were going to use was an issue. After a while, it just kinda fizzled. Bobby, was really hard to deal with back in those days so, we lost interest in pursuing another band situation together at that point.
Later on in 1997, Bobby came back, foaming at the mouth, with his, "shit or get off the pot Croucier, we're doing this with or without you", attitude, desperate to make money with the name Ratt. He lied about the fact that Stephen had quit the band, leading to things like the Winterland lawsuit (among other lawsuits) that I helped Bobby settle. It's funny how in 1993, according to Bobby himself as said to my attorney Robert Tauro, "Stephen quit the band and he's not coming back. How can we get out of this Winterland lawsuit?" That was right about the time he started to think about going bankrupt. Believe me, Bobby loathed him for quitting the band, leaving us in debt and high and dry! But suddenly in 1997, he acted like that just never happened. So, once he was back in bed with Stephen, they (Bobby and Stephen) attempted to fire me from the partnership, it was laughable, and despite my overwhelming, consistent objections and legally stated position in that regard (in accordance with the Ratt Partnership agreement), they went on to illegally form WBS, Inc., and play and record as Ratt again with Warren. Against my strong objections and wishes. Nice guys ay? That is the truth. All I have is the truth. Their position was, "fuck Juan." And fuck Juan they did. And then their lies about me as to, "why I was not a part of it", started in the press and on radio interviews, etc... Needless to say, I was livid and never got a chance to tell my side of the story or rebuke what they were saying about me at that time. Apparently, the concept was that eventually, people would start believing their lies as the truth. Especially, if I was not around to defend myself. It's the old, "if you lie about something long enough and consistently enough, pretty soon people will start believing the lies as the truth." From this point on, I'm not going to talk about Ratt legal stuff on here. For all I know, anyone could come on here and pretend that they are a fan when they are a lawyer for who knows who...
With this message on his website, Croucier became the first member of Ratt to admit that the band never did breakup in 1992 as was previously reported, but were instead only on indefinite hiatus. In previous interviews given by band members (including Pearcy, Blotzer, and DeMartini) had indicated that they broke up in 1992. For his display of honesty, fans have generally endeared themselves much more to Croucier and have sided with him in his legal battles with Blotzer.
On July 29, 2005 Ratt was featured on Classic Rock. The issue focused mainly on Blotzer and DeMartini using the Ratt name even after Pearcy (founder, lead singer, and primary songwriter) had departed. Apparently, however, there was some attempt to re-unite the classic line-up of Pearcy, Croucier, Crosby, Blotzer and DeMartini. Crosby's battles with drug addiction and obesity precluded him from joining while Blotzer was quoted as saying in the interview:
- Pearcy tried to get this thing back together, but his terms were asinine beyond belief.
- He sent some nutty email stating he wants half the merchandise, he wants to manage, produce, call all the shots. It was a joke. Stephen badly needs counselling in my opinion.
Pearcy, for his part, makes a contradictory claim saying his offer would have given fans a new album and supporting tour commemorating the band's 20-year anniversary.
Juan Croucier doesn't quite agree with either side:
- I'm embarrassed by Bobby (Blotzer) and Warren (DeMartini) calling themselves Ratt. It's not Ratt. Three-Fifths of the guys are gone; the guys who did most of the writing are no longer in the band. I can understand they need to make money, but to take the name and abuse it doesn't seem like a respectful and intelligent thing to do. Ironically, I know if Stephen (Pearcy) had the chance, he'd be out there doing it too. The damage is done at this point.
The future of the band remains clouded at best. DeMartini and Blotzer are the only two original members still in the band. after winning their 2001 court case over former lead singer Stephen Pearcy for ownership of the "Ratt" name.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt were profiled on VH1's Behind the Music. In the episode, the members revealed for the first time that former guitarist Robbin Crosby died of a heroin overdose, and not AIDS-related complications as previously reported.
Today, Ratt still continues to tour and have appeared in package tours with W.A.S.P. and L.A. Guns. The band members still work on various side-projects such as Blotzer, Corabi, and Crane joining forces with Keri Kelli in the classic rock cover band named "Angel City Outlaws[5]". Warren DeMartini and Jizzy Pearl continue to work on their respective solo careers and are continuously recording new material. Juan Croucier and Stephen Pearcy toured with one another for the summer of 2006.
On December 1, 2006 the website "Metal Sludge" reported that Pearcy and Croucier will re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini and will thus, replace Jizzy Pearl and Robbie Crane and stated that Corabi will most likely stay with the group.<ref>Metal Sludge-Ratt re-union is Back for More by New Years Eve?</ref> This has not yet been confirmed by any of the bandmembers and is now only considered a rumor, although Blotzer was seen sharing the stage with Croucier and Pearcy on October 27, 2006.
[edit] Current members
- Jizzy Pearl - Lead vocals (2000-present)
- Warren DeMartini - Guitars (1982-1992, 1997-present)
- John Corabi - Guitars (2000-present)
- Robbie Crane - Bass (1997-present)
- Bobby Blotzer - Drums (1982-1992, 1997-present)
[edit] Former members
- Stephen Pearcy- Lead vocals (1982-1991, 1997-2000)
- Juan Croucier - Bass (1982-1992)
- Robbin Crosby - Guitars (1982-1990)
- Michael Schenker - Guitars (1990)
- Keri Kelli - Guitars (1999-2000)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Trivia
- Ratt had a number of their songs on the soundtracks to movies, such as "Wanted Man" (from their 1984 debut album Out of the Cellar) for John Hughes' 1985 teen comedy classic Weird Science, "Body Talk" (from their 1986 album Dancing Undercover) for Eddie Murphy's supernatural action-comedy The Golden Child, and the 1991 hit "Nobody Rides For Free", specially written for the legendary beach bum heist flick Point Break.
- In 1985, People magazine quoted Stephen Pearcy as stating, “We’re not into politics or the devil or even heavy metal. We’re into playing rock ‘n ‘roll. We want to make Ratt ‘establishment,’ to become a huge band, like Zeppelin or Van Halen.” Ratt, however, did find time to make commentary on broad political issues and even the very nature of man itself with several of their songs. The most notable among these is the 1984 AOR staple "Lack of Communication"
- Ratt is featured on a promotional spot for Viacom's cable TV network, VH1 Classic. Set in the summer of 1985, the promo shows a person peeling The Grateful Dead bear car sticker off of a car window and replacing it with a Ratt car sticker.
- Guitarist Robbin Crosby was Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx's roommate for a while during the mid 1980's. It was Sixx who introduced Crosby to heroin, the drug that would cause Crosby's death several years later.
- Stephen Pearcy is said to be working on a tell-all book titled "Ratt Tales" in which he discusses everything related to band from their inception to their demise and their current courtroom drama.
- Their hit song "Round and Round" is played at carnivals, fairs, and sporting events to this very day.
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
[edit] Other uses
RATT is also an acronym for radio teletype.de:Ratt es:Ratt it:Ratt ja:ラット (バンド) pt:Ratt fi:Ratt sv:Ratt (musikgrupp)
