Book author Greg Prato has written a 200 page book on RATT focusing primarily on the 1983-91 years of the band. Just a quick little review that was recorded live without a net!
Thanks for watching.
Tag Archives: Ratt
RATT N ROLL with the Snowman!
Tonight!! The one and only John T. Snow is going to spend an action packed hour with me as we discuss those fun loving rodents RATT who had a real great run in record sales and tours in the 80s.
Nowadays they love suing each other but we will talk what it was about RATT that separated them from the 1000 other bands that came from L.A almost 40 years ago!
See the pic above for all the info about tonights show!
Thanks to Teebone for the killer artwork!
SUMMERTIME SPIN: RATT-INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY (1985)
Another big release that had just come out in my world in June 1985 was RATT with the followup to there 3 times platinum debut (Out of The Cellar) was “Invasion of Your Privacy”
I originally purchased this one on cassette tape so when I pedalled my bike to my summertime job I could crank up the RATT N ROLL so to say and plus it was a good pick me up when I was working that summer of ’85 with a starting time of 6 am!
The whole RATT team was brought back together again( Beau Hill once again was producing) and just like on the debut a supermodel was featured on the cover of the new album.
Sex Sells….
It worked as myself and Tbone grabbed this tape basically the day it dropped into the shelves of the local record shops. Like many we needed another hit of some sleaze ball L.A Rock and Stephen Pearcy and crew delivered.
Looking back on this album in 2021 I have to say it’s probably my favourite RATT album and I can honestly say I liked all of this bands output in the 80s. (even the patchy Reach For The Sky had some decent moments).
Where “Invasion” works is in the theory of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Realistically this record is Side 3 & 4 of “Out of The Cellar” and that’s not a knock but a compliment as the tracks that are on this record are still strong.
Opener “Your In Love” gets the party started (or continuing I guess in regards to the debut) and this tune features Warren DeMartini leading the charge on the 6 string not only on this song but all the songs throughout as Warren is one of the best to come out of LA at this time. (George Lynch would be the other).
From there the party continues as Stephen tells us to “Never Use Love” followed by Pearcy telling us all to “Lay It Down” (first single).
“Give It All” has a great pre chorus where Ratt flex’s some musical muscle which at time can be lost in the how these guys looked at the time.
Is there such a thing as RATT Ballad? “Closer To The Heart” may just be that. A tune I don’t mind and usually when bands from this genre would do the the quote on quote ‘Power Ballad’ I would puke in my mouth as I knew that was the game to be played..
Side 2 begins with “Between The Eyes” which is a sleazy slow cooker of a track that goes into “What You Give Is What You Get” which is another slow paced cooker of a track.
If your an old fart like me (take a bow Tbone) than you will remember the old answering machines where you would record a message on a cassette tape so if somebody called they would hear your voice and at the end leave you a message. In other words old school voice mail. Well, with “Got Me On The Line” the tune begins with a phone ringing and Pearcy answering “Hello” than the band kicks in..
That back in the early 90s when I was living on my own was my message so if you were on the other line you would get blasted with Pearcy answering and the band firing it up.
Young goofy people do young goofy thing’s!
I always liked “Got Me On The Line” which is a great little ass kicker of a 3 minute RATT track which Steve-O tells us all at the end of the song “Nobody hangs up on me!!”
BAM!!
Straight into “You Should Know By Know” which is another great track with DeMartini laying down some snazzy fret work.
“Dangerous But Worth The Risk” which was the opener on the “Invasion Tour” ends the album with another stellar track. I like Blotz’s drumming on this tune as he drives that RATT rocket ship forward.
RATT comes out with two strong albums and by looking back at things the summer of ’85 if rocking was my business than business was FRIGGING GOOD!
SUMMERTIME SPIN: RATT-OUT OF THE CELLAR (1984)
My pal Tbone was first out of the cellar, oops I meant to say gate picking up the major label debut of RATT’s “Out of The Cellar” back in March ’84.
Growing up in Thunder Bay there is no such thing as a Sunset Strip but at that time in ’84 we would cruise around in Tbone’s parents Ford green machine family van and would blast “Out of The Cellar” for all the city to hear!
Shortly after though I had to have my own copy of “Out of The Cellar” and what a decent debut. Some great playing within the band as the songs were good, production was good and singer Stephen Pearcy had that sleazy L.A drawl liked he swallowed a pack of razor blades.
The ace in the hole within the band is of course Warren DeMartini who plays a bunch of solo’s suited to the bands needs. Dude has his own style and wasn’t really the hot dogging type on the six string.
“Wanted Man” leads off the charge basically its about these guys blowing into town, playing the show, hooking up with ladies and blowing out of town(ahem) to the next show! Warren seals the seal the deal with a great guitar solo!
“Round And Round” the debut single went through the roof especially on the video front which at the time was really crafted smart video. The guitars of DeMartini and the late Robbin Crosby are stellar on this song and many others.
Plus the fact that RATT could shake up the musical tempo in there tunes as well. Some quick little shifts in the songs which made me notice as a listener that they cats could play.
Don’t believe me check out the second track “You’re In Trouble” which at the start with the rumbling bass from Juan Croucier and the offbeat drumming by Bobby Blotzer sounds like Duran Duran hyped on speed. “She Wants Money” has the RATT X-Press clipping at a fast pace down the track shows that when they wanted to power rock they could.
No dip on Side 2 as “Lack of Communication” has Pearcy and Croucier trading one liners on the song which if anything is an appropriate title in 2021 I would add!
“Back For More” is the second single and has that nice little acoustic opening before launching into an all out frontal rock attack. Once again the boys mix it up in the tempo department! (for an even better version of Back For More check out the RATT EP issued in 1983)
When I talk about end of album GEMS “The Morning After” is one of them. Why on Gods green earth was this not released as a single. It’s all here. Tight musical chops with Pearcy’s sleaze ball vocal delivery. Simply a stellar tune…
“I’m Insane” has the band driving forward with a quick hit between the eyes while end of the album tune “Scene of The Crime” is a real good album closer as Pearcy tells the tale about being duped by some cold hearted bitch. His words not mine folk’s. Once again another cool solo to round things up.
Looking back and listening to this one again takes me back to that summer of ’84 when so many records were coming out that year. RATT held there own in hanging with the big boys and give these guys props for not putting a single ballad on here!
L.S.D
For your viewing pleasure I have posted the Van Halen Lead Singer changes that someone took the time to piece together on YouTube (great job)! The first part with Roth is classic as he refers to Ed and Alex as Mr Fingers and Mr Sticks! Haha!
Sorry folks,not the drug but what guitar player’s/bass player’s and drummer’s call there lead vocalist when they leave under dicey circumstances and that’s indeed L.S.D (Lead Singer Disease)
I first heard of this term back in 1985 when Eddie Van Halen blasted David Lee Roth for quitting Van Halen to make movies which for Roth never happened. Eddie said Dave had Lead Singers Disease,not wanting to be a team player yada yada yada.
Over the years in Rock there have been many but I’m gonna focus on a couple of Lead Singer Diseases that affected some bands (who continued on with great success ) while others who lost all momentum…..
You be the judge….
Van Halen-Was the most notable. Dave bolts,Sammy Hagar joins and it’s business as usual for Halen from 1985 to 1996 until Yep you got it Sam Hagar quits/fired for not wanting to be a team player and some other bull shit causes a shit storm in the press. After a botched attempt at a reunion with Roth fails, Van Halen hires Gary Cherone. Records a album calling it Van Halen 3! Not the third album by Van Halen but the third singer! After Van Halen 3 tanks quicker than Tbone downing shots Cherone is shown the door. Ed battled cancer and everything is tight lipped around Camp Halen and than Bam! Sams back and they tour in 2004 and by the end of the tour Sam quits and a few years later Roths back in 2007 and Halen in 2012 release the blitzing A Different Kind Of Truth(awesome album) with Roth. At the end of 2015 Roths contract is up and he’s done again(supposedly) with Ed and Alex. What’s next a return with Sam or go for a unknown(blah). Who know’s these guys wrote the book for me musically growing up so Get it the F*#k together Halen!
Skid Row-Dude drama rules this dust up! Aaron from The KMA thought for a while as a few others out there that I was a Skid Row Stalker around 1989-1992 as I has seen them opening(4 Times) and headlining (Once) . Hey they must have had some decent heavyweights in the biz(hello Doc McGhee). Of course by 1995 Skid Row puts out the decent record Subhuman a Race and no one cares(but I will tell you the tune Beat Yourself Blind is a great track!). Shortly after Sebastian Bach(singer) gets the boot and Grunge gives Skid Row the boot the remaining Skids try calling themselves Ozone Monday with a different singer and no one cares. Skid Row rises with a new singer Johnny Solinger and he stays with them for a ton of years recording some records that I really didn’t care about and Johnny himself got the heave ho earlier last year (2015)only to be repalced by Tony Harnell he the ex singer of TNT. Tony lasted about 9 months and I laugh at that bass player Rachel Bolan who said Harnell was the greatest Blah blah Blah and now Skid Bolan has no singer! Oh in case your wondering Skid Row has already stated (End of Dec 2015) that Sebastian Bach will not be returning! UPDATE- Word is they already have yet another guy lined up whom fellow reader HMO says he can’t hear it working out vocal wise! Haha Bolan,enjoy playing the bowling alleys with your new singer…Blah!
Motley Crue-This one I have blogged about before! Crue is huge in the 80s. By 1992 Vince Neil(kinda singer) gets heaved out! Hello new singer guy(John Corabi) and hello to the masterpiece of Crue albums 1994s selftitled Motley Crüe or as I call this era, Motley Corabi! Corabi and Crue tanks on the charts and the Crue plays clubs and Nikki Sixx loses his shit and they fire Corabi and rehire Vince Neil by 1997! The original 4 piece along with Tommy Lee and Mick Mars have called it quits.(as of Dec 31. 2015) Corabi though is releasing the 94 Crue album played front to back by his backing band. Motley Crüe will undoubtedly release a live album from this so called Farewell Tour. Too be honest I’m looking forward to Crabbys live album than Sixx’s Crue live album that will be re recorded in the studio anyways.
Autograph-This one is wierd! So Steve Plunkett(lead singer)the dude who wrote all the Autograph songs 30 years ago is no longer part of Autograph but some of the old cronies from the original band (Steve Lynch and Randy Rand) have resurrected Autograph with some singer guy named Danny and are playing the circuit! Seriously……haha…Turn It Up!
The Four Horsemen-These guys are kick ass! Unfortunately there lead singer Frank C Starr was involved in a motorcycle accident (1995)that left him on life support and he passed away back in 1999. The Horsemen though soldiered on for a tour hiring Ron Young(Little Caesar) and touring Canada including a stop here in Tbay in 1996! I reviewed this show as well and it was killer! Young filled the bill decently as frontman but sadly the Horsemen closed up shop years ago
Aerosmith-If there’s a Rock N Roll Definition of Rock Drama. Aerosmith may be at the top! These guys are all bitches! Hahaha…. A few years back Steve Tyler skidded of the rails personally and professionally for whatever reasons and bailed on Aerosmith! So Joe Perry and crew did not want to wait around so they were thinking about guys like Lenny Kravitz,Sammy Hagar and others!( Steve limped off to England to jam with Page/Bonham and Jones and from what I read it was a diaster) Of course Steve came back and they toured the same old frigging set list and now word is out that Tyler is recording a country album(??) and Aero is limbo again. I love Aero but shut Aero down for good! Or get all slopped up on party treats and drinks and bash out another Done With Mirrors album! Yeah!
Ratt-I always dug Ratt and still do! Solid run of 80s albums but like others they imploded in the early 90s when lead throat Stephen Pearcy quit. Ratt returned in the back half of the 90s with Pearcy and a few years later Pearcy quit agian and they sued each other over rights and bull shit and well in the end Nobody Rides For Free! Hahaha… So Ratt get Jizzy Pearl (Love Hate) and hit the trail with at one point with John Corabi on rhythm guitar vocals. Paycheque is a paycheque. So Ratt dissolves and yet again Ratt come back with Pearcy and they put out a decent album a few years back called Infestation. Once again Pearcy bolted and now in 2015 drummer Bobby Blotzer is touring with a whole different lineup only with him as the original member left! Guitarist Warren DiMartini tried to stop the Blotz but he keeps rolling Ratt! What a joke….
Iron Maiden- So it’s the summer of 1981 and I discover Iron Maiden’s Killers album and I’m hooked as a 14 year old! A few months later the 5 song Live E.P Maiden Japan drops and by now I’m totally hooked! So it was a shock when I bought Number Of The Beast in March of 1982 that Lead Singer Paul Dianno was gone and here was this new guy Bruce Dickinson who quite frankly took Maiden to new levels not only as lead singer but as front man as well. Bruce remained with Maiden until 1993 when he quit and Maiden hired Blaze Bayley and Maiden released two albums with Blaze and too be honest Maiden got roasted by the press and fans alike. It was only a matter of time before Maiden founder (bassist) Steve Harris realized they needed Bruce back. In late 1999 Bruce came back and it’s been a real slick comeback ever since! With Dianno being shit canned ,Dickinson quitting, Bayley being shitcanned as well and Dickinson returning there was no press hey day with Maiden. The only thing I ever read was when Bruce left Harris quipped that “Bruce would do country album if he knew it would sell” Maiden was smart they kept all there bitchin pretty much in house. Gotta respect that….
There are many more bands that this has happened too and I could go on forever but thats enough….
Hahaha….
Feel free to add to this list in the comments……
Gary Moore/ Run For Cover(1985)
Gary Moore (RIP)should have been huge in North America! Of course Gary laid done some brilliant guitar work in Thin Lizzy but like many others in successful bands he split and went solo!
It was sometime in late 1984 I first read about Belfast born Gary Moore in Metallion Magazine (RIP) as Moore was gonna be doing the Monsters Of Rock 1984 with Van Halen,Motley Crüe, Dio,Accept,AC/DC,Ozzy and Y&T! There’s some serious guitar action there! Geezus a ton of heavy hitters!
All the bands mentioned above I had on vinyl or cassette except for I had nothing by Moore! I figured what the F*^k I’ll check out something by Gary Moore as I mean here’s this guy named Gary and he’s playing on the same stage as Ed Van Halen,Angus Young,Jake E Lee,Vivian Campbell,Wolf Hoffman, Jompa’s home boy Dave Menketti so Moore must be good!
Corridors Of Power was the chosen cassette tape I bought and it took one track the first song Don’t Take Me For A Loser and man I was hooked! The dude could play guitar,sing plus for added bonus he had Neil Carter ex of UFO riding shotgun playing rhythm guitar and keys!
From there I bought the double live We Want Moore as it was released at the time (1984) that I first read about him! The opening track Murder In The Skies just flat out rocked! His guitaring on that track is soooo good and the fact that he wrote it about the Russian Jet Fighter that shot down that Korean Airliner carrying civilians proved that he wasn’t just gonna sing about party rock doofus themes all the time!
When 1985 rolls around I’m onboard right away with Run For Cover when it’s released!
Run For Cover is a great rock record! Moore embraces the rock side but pushes it’s limits at time with 1985s technology! Also interesting is that he used including himself 5 different producers and there are some decent names Like Andy Johns(Led Zeppelin) Beau Hill (Ratt) Mike Stone(Journey) and Peter Collins(Rush) ….
Gary also brought on board with him some real good musicians like Glenn Hughes (vocals), Bob Daisley(bass) and one of Mike Ladanos favs Phil Lynott (RIP) .
So between producers and all star musicians Gary from Belfast plays a real good Strat and sings a decent tune!
Boys are indeed back in town….
RUN FOR COVER-a snazzy whirl of the keys and boom Run For Cover is just that! Gary and his Strat are ripping licks left and right and the drums and bass are locked and Run For Cover is a great opener as its features great verses and chorus along with a real slick move by dumping the opening snazzy whirl of the synth in the middle of the song which segues right into Moores solo and this solo is soooooo friggin good..well watch the vid! Moore kicks my ass in a cool 1985 kinda way….
REACH FOR THE SKY-Moore peels leads right off the hop at the start of this track. This is a basic rock track so basically it’s old school rock not a synth in site and Glenn Hughes delivers the bass while Gary wails on his guitar and throws down a good rock vocal.
MILITARY MAN-Phil Lynott wrote this track as Gary and him hook up on this track. Military Man has some Military like drum rolls and sharp bursts of almost a Celtic like flavour added and of course two years later Gary really dives Into the Irish roots with Over The Hills And Far Away. Military Man is a great track. Kinda a Thin Lizzy reunion!
EMPTY ROOMS-this is a great slower paced tune. Moore oooozes slow riff after slow riff but not to the point of Sap! Neil Carter was Moores wingman on keys,rhythm guitar and backing vocals and is showcased on this tune as well since he co wrote it. This song did well for Moore! Case in point I heard it back in the day of our local Am watered down station 580 CKPR! Usually they were pumping Air Supply and Little River Band to give you old foggies a idea!
OUT IN THE FIELDS-Lynott returns and along with Moore take this tune to town! Out In The Fields is a classic song about the boys growing up in Ireland and the turmoil and war going on at the time. Moore plays a great guitar on this track and this is one of the songs that embraces 80s technology but in 2015 keeps it in check! Great solo on this tune and if you want a good ass kicker version check out YouTube and search Gary Moore Out In the Fields Monsters Of Rock 2003! It’s just a Moore,some bass and guitar and a shitload of Moores fantastic playing….the vid I posted is the studio track and you can see by the lyrics written it’s none of that cat dragged in material! Great song!
NOTHING TO LOSE-Gary sets the pace with this track and it’s just another straight ahead rock track! No frills just a good rock track. Gary has some tunes that have nothing to do witht 80s technology and are just simple tunes! Great solo by Moore and the band just use the keep it simple silly rule! Atta Boys!
ONCE IN A LIFETIME-this is a great song! Sure it has the 80s trappings of poppy kind of Keys but man it has Moore playing some good guitar and when duty calls he could write a decent track that could be played on radio. Great poppy chorus with a added touch of coolness tossed in!
ALL MESSED UP-this is a straight ahead party rock track! Gary is All Messed Up With No Place To Go! Have you been to that place? This song is a good loud rock guitar drivin track and I’m sure it went down a storm live in concert!
LISTEN TO YOUR HEARTBEAT-Moore ramps right down and almost goes a little bluesy on this tune. Of course it was a sign of the times as 5 years later(1990) Moore ditched the Rock and went into full out blues mode with his 1990 album Still Got The Blues and scored his first ever Gold Record in the USA! I didn’t follow Moore’s path to Bluesville but he put a ton of Blues albums and also dabbled with Rock until he died in 2011.
IN CONCLUSION- living in Tbay I could count on one hand the amount of people that I knew that listened to Moore! There loss as they missed out on some real good Rock guitar. Run For Cover is a great no frills Rock record and actually I guess with 5 producers and special guest musicians its a allstar record now that I think about it!
Moore has all kinds of tunes on here embracing 80s technology but also staying true to the rock guitar roots of his career!
If anyone reading this comes across any of Moore’s stuff pick it up! ITunes as well has a lot of his stuff not that I’m plugging Apple but that is my method of purchase nowadays as we all know ……
What Comes Around Goes Around…
April 2003 /Stephen Pearcy And The Rat Bastards/Thunder Bay
So it’s announced Steve-o and his band of jolly men would be playing 4 shows in Canada(April 2003) and Thunder Bay is one of em??!
Say what??!. So Pearcy shows up to play a packed out bar on a Tuesday night which is no mean feat but here is the man who sleaze balled Ratt on a little tidy run in the 80s so Me and TBone were off to the show. The last time we had a chance to see Ratt live was on there Reach For The Sky tour 1989 in Duluth with them, Great White and Kix. Me and TBone had our tickets but not too many others as the show was scrapped due to lack of tickets being sold. So it was good when Pearcy showed up to the bar which I think was called Coyotes at the time and it was like said earlier packed. Ol Steve took the stage to a new solo track called You Talkin To Me good but umm now it’s into In My Direction,Body Talk,Wanted Man,Lack Of Communication, Pearcy knew what we wanted and he delivered ya his voice sounds nasally blown out but who cares man it’s the dude who sold platinum and he’s here in front of us. The Rat Bastards his backing band was solid,but he could have used Juan Croucier (on backing vocals)! Great show.
So the show ends and I did bring my vinyl and cd just in case but I didn’t want to lug it around (I left it in Tbones truck)the bar so the bar dj says after Pearcys set that Steve will meet ya ( for free) and sign whatever.
I told TBone ahh man lets just split he said hang on gotta go to the bathroom,a few minutes later he shows up, the slider went outside to his truck and grabbed the Ratt Ep and Arcade disc and told me quote u quote ” you will regret not getting this stuff signed now get over their cuz I really have to go for a piss!” off TBone went and I was taken downstairs and there was Steve and Frankie from Arcade. First thing I said to Steve was hey could you sign my vinyl? He said yeah man and thru out a” Holy Shit and said where did u get this Ep”? I told I got it about around 1984 when I went down to Duluth to see Sammy Hagar and we went to record shop called Last Place On Earth. He laughed and said cool..and signed it. He was really a chill down to earth guy,no attitude whatsoever. I also told him that the two Arcades were excellent as well he said thanks and then I met Frankie and said can you sign my disc (Frankie plays on both Arcade releases)he said for sure and then asked me how long the drive was from Tbay to their next show in Brandon Manitoba I told him I dunno around 9 hrs..he laughed ,he said the drive from Toronto to Thunder Bay just about killed them…..
Thanks TBone …..
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