Ratt: Behind The Music

[Terry]

Man, caught that show last night...

Fuckin' Robbin Crosby...had read that he had died of AIDS, but turns out he died of a heroin overdose, which was most likely intentional.

Pretty hilarious how the rest of the band ripped on Juan Croucier for his flamboyant stage moves; always thought the guy was a bit Stanleyesque, myself.

Got a Ratt dvd as a bonus in a trade recently that had some bootlegged live footage of the band at several periods from 1984 to 2002, and one of the shows was from somewhere in 1997-2000, with Pearcy, DeMartini, Blotzer and some replacement bass player (can'
t remember his name at the monent), and Pearcy had the stage presence of a wet sack of shit: this guy wasn't even trying. Zero effort into his singing and stage moves, although he did play some guitar on Back For More and took a solo at the end of the song that didn't totally suck...kinda odd seeing him playing guitar, but he did okay on it.

Overall, the BTM on Ratt was okay, but should have spent a bit more time on the lawsuits over the name use post-2000.

Crosby just came off like an idiot from his 1999 interview, where he pretty much said he had no regrets about how he had lived (despite being very bloated and clearly ill)...the show was trying to show what happened to him in a sympathetic light, but when he came out and started saying stuff like that, it's pretty much like, well, whatever, sorry about your luck, pal.

[binnie]

Hey its sad when bands get old!

Sex, drugs and rock n roll is great, but it ain't a life with longevity.

Drugs usually make people write better songs, not sure that the case with Ratt!

Loved 'em all the same though

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I wasn't aware Crosby had died from anything, much less from HIV...

Always thought Demartini was quite underrated...

Other than that, pretty much a run of the mill BTM, i.e. make it big, sex, drugs, rock and roll, rehab, lead singer ego, break up, yadda, yadda, yadda....

I saw Ratt and Fastway at San Diego State Univ., July '84.....

[binnie]

Were Ratt any good live?

Never had the pleasure, wasn't born until '82

[Coyote]

Try this...

"You're In Trouble" live

[ALinChainz]

Saw them more than a dozen times in the 80's ... which means I got to see Poison a few more times than anyone should have to because they toured together a lot.

Not a bad show all the time, some times better than others of course ...

Obviously the bright spot was the women ... as far as the eye could see ...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Oh yeah, tons of women there...

[ALinChainz]

One part of the Ratt BTM I thought was cool was when they talked about how they, Pearcy and Crosby, went up to LA and saw VH ... and how that convinced them they had to get out of San Diego.

[binnie]

Coyote, thanks for posting the vid

They sounded pretty good to me,

Didn't look so great, but hey it was the '80's!

Cheers

[Seshmeister]

Thanks for the link.

Also check out The Morning After and Round and Round

I get annoyed when they get lumped in with mediocre 1980s hair bands. Ratt in their prime i.e. the first two albums were a really good band. A lot of good original songs and Warren diMartini was always underated at least by people that never tried to play his stuff. He was a hell of a lot better than a lot of flashier tapping guitarists at the time and their rhythm stuff was outstanding. His solos were a bitch to play, I gave up on them.

But they were pretty dumb. I saw them in 1986 supporting Ozzy and they had two guitar solo spots in a 40 minute set.

Just stupid when they had so many good songs and Crosby was very average.

They got lazy after Invasion of your Privacy and just kept churning out the same stuff. I think they had their own problems by then with various drug stuff. Crosby on heroin and I heard Warren was a cokehead. I've never heard a good word about any of them from people that have met them.

They fucked up big style.

They should have been at least as big as Crue since they were better songwriters and musicians.

Cheers!

[Northern Girl]

Saw Pearcy in Playgirl. Not an attractive bod!!

I'm sure you all care.

[ALinChainz]

I ended up liking everything .. own it all so ... even liked the the latest self titled ...

[binnie]

That's quite an admission, but I'm the same!

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by ALinChainz
I ended up liking everything .. own it all so ... even liked the the latest self titled ...

Really?

I just couldn't imagine even looking at a Playgirl.

[The_KiD]

Just watched it as I Tivo'd it. Very interesting. I would call myself a casual fan but of course knew who the main members in the band were.

I had no idea Robbin Crosby had even died or contracted HIV. In that last interview shown, he seemed pretty much a waste of space. I think the first two Ratt albums were very good especially at the time of their release. Wish I would have caught them live back in the day..

BTW: Also watched the Pantera behind the music and it was very good..


KiD

[Terry]

They were a good band. Pearcy was and is a knucklehead...but in a good way...I mean, the guy wrote and sung some of the dumbest lyrics ever that still make me laugh when I hear them, but I still play 'em.

[binnie]

I think hair metal/ cock rock, whatever you call it gets a bad name,

Ratt was a great band in its day

[fe_lung]

Looking at Robbin Crosby made me wonder, whatever happend to Chris Holmes from WASP? Now there's a guy who shouldn't be alive anymore! Anyone know?

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by Terry
They were a good band. Pearcy was and is a knucklehead...but in a good way...I mean, the guy wrote and sung some of the dumbest lyrics ever that still make me laugh when I hear them, but I still play 'em.

His lyrics seemed to just get dumber and dumber with each album...

My favourite was

Heads I win, tails you lose
I may not be Sherlock
But you ain't got a clue
Heads I win, tails you lose
I may not be a doctor
But you're sick as a flu
Heads I win, tails you lose
I may not be a surgeon
But I'll cut you right through
Heads I win, tails you lose
I may not be a preacher
But it's hell I'll send you to

[MAX]

I saw RATT once back in like '87 and thought they were awesome. I kinda listened to them a lot after Dave left VH. I always thought Warren DiMartini kicked ass on the axe. Unfortunately, when I saw them live, Poison opened. Oh well, Poison also opened when I saw Dave's Skyscraper tour.

[Terry]

Slip Of The Lip, Loving You Is A Dirty Job, I Want A Woman...it's like Mother Goose rhymes sung by a 13 year old who just got his first glimpse at a Penthouse, only the guy was pushing 30 and wearing spandex...

Not that his contemporaries were coming up with stuff on a par with War And Peace or anything...

[Terry]

Only time I got to see them was in 1984, opening for Billy Squier. We went basically to see Ratt, but stuck around for Squier anyway (which was weird in itself, as he was in his Rock Me Tonight pink Danskins phase, and sadly we found that hadn't contained itself to the video - stage poofery that gave Paul Stanley a run for his 3 dollar bill).

Although it's tough to remember because it was so long ago, and I was so baked, I do recall Ratt performed well despite a horrible live mix, and it was clear many were there to see Ratt and not Billy Boy.