Ratt


Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is perhaps best known for hit singles such as "Round and Round" and "Lay It Down", each track having ranked on Billboard's top 40, as numbers 12 and 40, respectively. Other songs such as "Wanted Man", "You're in Love" and "Dance" also have ranked there.
Along with groups such as friendly rivals Mötley Crüe, Ratt has been recognized as instrumental in the formation of the early 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene, also known as "hair metal" or "pop metal".
The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, releasing their latest studio album, Infestation, on April 20, 2010.

History

''Ratt EP'' (1983)

In July 1983, Ratt signed with recording label Time Coast Music run by their manager, Marshall Berle. Time Coast had previously issued records by Spirit and The Alley Cats. Later that same year, Time Coast released in the United States the band's six-track debut EP, simply titled Ratt. Newly formed independent UK label Music for Nations released a seven-track version of the EP in Europe, which included the additional track "You're in Trouble".
Stephen Pearcy wrote four of the six songs that were written back in the Mickey Ratt days circa 1977-81. Pearcy and Robbin Crosby co-wrote the first single, "You Think You're Tough", that found its way onto local radio stations KLOS and KMET.

''Out of the Cellar'' (1984)

The self-titled independent EP was well-received and brought the band to the attention of Atlantic Records which signed them. Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by both fans and critics. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals were noted for melding with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads Crosby and DeMartini, combining the then-prevalent Van Halen and Aerosmith-influenced bravado elements with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Tawny Kitaen, who was previously in a relationship with Crosby, agreed to appear on the cover of their debut full-length album. She also appeared in their video for "Back for More" and on their EP from the previous year.
The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like "Round and Round", "Wanted Man", "Back for More", and "Lack of Communication". Their music videos exposed them to an excited teen audience first tuning into the then fledgling MTV cable network. Marshall Berle's uncle, Milton Berle's guest appearance, dressed in his Uncle Miltie drag character, in the video for "Round and Round" helped draw even more attention to the band.
Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum many times over in the United States, as well as making Ratt stars at home and in the Far East. The album release was capped off by a successful world tour that saw the band sell out stadiums and arenas worldwide, sharing the stage with such acts as Billy Squier, Ozzy Osbourne, Blackfoot, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister and Lita Ford. Out of the Cellar is today widely regarded as the band's best work and a definitive moment in 1980s heavy metal, while "Round and Round" scored at No. 61 on VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs Show.

''Invasion of Your Privacy'' (1985–1986)

The band's second full-length album Invasion of Your Privacy was released July 1985.
It peaked at No. 7. The album met mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. Allmusic.com has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes". It contained the favorites "You're in Love" and "Lay It Down" that assured the band a presence on radio and MTV. Footage from the band's performances at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi were featured in the video to "You're In Love".
DeMartini and Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Pearcy's sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the sales figures or the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum and remains highly regarded amongst fans.
A couple months after the album release, the band released a home video titled '. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video is currently out of print and is very rare and difficult to find. The video was the first commercially available video to certify Gold sales status in the USA and eventually reached Platinum.
The model on Invasions cover is Playboy Playmate Marianne Gravatte, who also made an appearance in the "Lay It Down" music video. Using a beautiful female model on an album cover later became a trend copied by many glam metal bands of the 1980s, such as Great White, and Slaughter, who coincidentally featured Robbin Crosby's wife on the cover of their debut album. Pearcy himself soon posed for Playgirl. Invasion of Your Privacy'' was also one of the many albums that received the attention of the Parents Music Resource Center since the cover and the album title were a reference to voyeurism. The Tipper Gore-led organization presented it at a U.S. Congressional hearing on September 19, 1985 dealing with parental advisory labels on albums that display "inappropriate" content.
The band toured extensively in the United States and Japan sharing stage with the likes of Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden. In August 1985 the band played on the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England, along with ZZ Top, Bon Jovi, Metallica and Magnum.

''Dancing Undercover'' (1986–1987)

Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in September 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with most music critics at the time of its release. From a commercial standpoint however, the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive Platinum albums alive. This is the first album as well to see Crosby's lead guitar duties minimized in favor of DeMartini.
In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a girl on the cover. 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 led many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction more akin to the thrash style promulgated by such bands as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, that proved not to be the case as the slightly experimental undertones of the album were quickly replaced with a bluesier sound throughout their next three releases.
Other popular tracks generated by the album included "Dance" and "Slip of the Lip".
Through 1987, Ratt embarked on a U.S. tour with newcomers Poison, and played in Europe as a part of the Monsters Of Rock Tour. Their tour with Poison was one of the highest grossing tours of 1987. Ratt also played Madison Square Garden.

''Reach for the Sky'' (1988–1989)

The group's follow-up, Reach for the Sky was released in November 1988. Although the album achieved Platinum sales status and reached No. 17 on Billboard's album charts, it was widely panned by critics. Complaints ranged from it being formulaic and sophomoric to the album being uneven and lacking in focus. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. For all the criticisms, Reach for the Sky nevertheless contained the popular tracks "Way Cool Jr." and "I Want a Woman" which received their usual MTV airplay. Those two songs are now regarded as glam metal classics.
The surreal, Dali-esque album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a World War II fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize so as to facilitate the diverse interpretations of their fans. 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 other band members feared that this would keep the record out of certain music stores. The revised version of the album contained the same tracks, but in a different order. After the revised version hit the record stores, producer Beau Hill stepped down from producer duties and tensions within the band increased.
The band started the new year with a concert at the Tokyo Dome headlined by Bon Jovi The other bands in the bill were Kingdom Come and Britny Fox. Ratt soon played the Tokyo Dome on their own. Both appearances have been widely bootlegged.
The tour that followed in the spring of '89 was eventually cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

''Detonator'' (1990–1991)

Ratt's fifth album Detonator was released in August 1990. Sir Arthur Payson took over as producer for the band following Beau Hill's departure after the lackluster results for Reach for the Sky. The album garnered mixed reactions. Critics claimed it lacked the live sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some claim the sound more akin to hair metal, but still showing a band of experienced and refined musicians maturing and striving to expand their sound. Detonator featured among its tracks, "Givin' Yourself Away" and "Lovin' You's a Dirty Job". The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child while Jon Bon Jovi appeared as a guest background vocalist on "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose". Detonator's sales were around 800-900,000. Robbin Crosby played on the album, despite rumors to the contrary. Plagued by addiction for some time, Crosby authored just one song, "Can't Wait on Love", and contributed notably to another, "All or Nothing". Crosby entered a rehab facility during the early stages of recording.
During the seven shows of the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse had reached a point where his playing had become increasingly inconsistent onstage. The band had already removed the acoustic intro to "Back for More", which Crosby performed, along with modifying sections of other songs that featured him as lead guitarist. During one particular show, after the band performed two songs using non-standard tunings, Crosby did not properly switch out guitars with his guitar technician. As a result, he was not in tune with the band for the next two songs. The last show of the Japanese tour, in Osaka, turned out to be Crosby's last with Ratt. He would not record or perform with the band again.
When the band returned to the United States, Crosby checked again into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, UFO, Michael Schenker Group, and McAuley Schenker Group.

Downfall of their career (1991–1992)

Ratt was featured on the first season of MTV Unplugged to promote their most current album and new single, sharing the stage with all-female rock band Vixen. Michael Schenker performed with Ratt at the time of this taping.
At the end of 1991, Ratt released the final single of their career, until 2010's Best of Me. "Nobody Rides for Free" which appeared on Point Break's soundtrack album. The song and video clearly signaled a change in the band. Robbin Crosby did not participate in the recording of the song and was not present for the shooting of the video in which only the four remaining members appeared.
The band never again recorded or performed with the original five members.
Atlantic Records released a greatest hits compilation entitled Ratt & Roll 81-91 in September 1991. The album featured five songs from Detonator, more than any other album featured on the compilation. It also featured the aforementioned song "Nobody Rides for Free".

Hiatus (1992–1996)

In February 1992, Stephen Pearcy exited the group to form a new hard rock band, with former Cinderella drummer Fred Coury called Arcade, before moving on to Vicious Delite in 1995 and the industrial-tinged Vertex in 1996.
Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, which included bassist Krys Baratto. In 1993, Crosby performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. In 1996, Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
Warren DeMartini was in Whitesnake in 1994 and issued two solo releases: the single "Surf's Up!" in 1995 and the album Crazy Enough to Sing to You in 1996.
Bobby Blotzer started numerous small business endeavors, most notably a carpet cleaning business, and had fill in spots with Montrose.
Juan Croucier continued to produce underground bands from his studio called 'The Cellar' and, in 1994, received a lifetime achievement award in Los Angeles.

First reunion and self-titled album (1996–2000)

In 1996, the five classic era members of Ratt began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album after their publishing contract had to be renewed. After meeting with Crosby, it was decided that he was not in any physical shape to record or perform with the band. As the talks continued to progress, bassist Juan Croucier made the decision not to participate in the reunion as well. Rudy Sarzo was first thought as a replacement, but he would end up rejoining Quiet Riot in January 1997. Ratt eventually moved forward with Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member, Robbie Crane on bass. When the band toured in 1997, they were a four-piece; Pearcy occasionally played guitar during this tour.
The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period. In 1998, Ratt secured a worldwide record deal with Sony. The self-titled Ratt album, released in July 1999, featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel.
With A&R guru John Kalodner in control over how the album turned out, bringing in outside writers in the process, the album did not come close to the platinum success that Ratt typically achieved, though the album's first single, "Over the Edge", did graze the Top 40 Mainstream Rock charts.

Two versions of Ratt, and death of Robbin Crosby (2000–2006)

In 1999 Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist. In January 2000, Pearcy left the group again and went on tour with his band Nitronic, which soon after became "Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy". In this period, his record label Top Fuel Records released some archived Ratt material and Pearcy solo work.
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV-positive. He died on June 6, 2002 from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
On May 11, 2006, Ratt was profiled on VH1's Behind the Music. In the episode, it was revealed for the first time publicly that former guitarist Robbin Crosby died of a heroin overdose, and not AIDS-related complications as was sometimes erroneously reported.
During the group's inactive years, present-day and former members continued to work on their own side projects. DeMartini and Jizzy Pearl worked on their respective solo careers and continued to record new material. In a surprising turn of events, Croucier and Pearcy toured with one another during the summer and fall of 2006. Even further surprising many, Blotzer joined them onstage at a show on October 27, 2006.

Second reunion (2006–2008)

On December 1, 2006 the website "Metal Sludge" generated rumors after reporting that Pearcy and Croucier would re-unite with Blotzer and DeMartini. On December 4, 2006, Jizzy Pearl announced on his message board that he was no longer a member of the band, further increasing speculation and excitement. On March 17, 2007, another website stated that Ratt would go on the 2007 tour with Poison and Great White. On April 12, Bravewords reported that White Lion would open for Poison and Ratt, while Great White was still "in talks" to join the tour.
On March 20, 2007, the official Ratt website was finally updated with only the band's logo after a year and a half of being dormant. One week later, Blabbermouth.net reported that Ratt would take part in the "Rocklahoma" festival on July 13–15, 2007 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with original singer Stephen Pearcy and without Juan Croucier, who decided not to participate in the reunion tour. Robbie Crane continued to play bass instead.
Tramp's White Lion was removed from the tour due to legal issues, and Vains of Jenna took their place. The summer tour started June 13, 2007 at the Bi Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., and ended August 19, 2007 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Denver. The tour, which brought Poison and Ratt onstage together for the first time since 1999, visited amphitheaters, festivals and fairs in such cities as Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlantic City and Los Angeles.
Festivals the tour performed at include Birmingham, Ala.'s City Stages, Pryor, Okla.'s Rocklahoma, Sturgis, S.D.'s Buffalo Chip and Newton, IA, Iowa Speedway.
On July 31, 2007, Ratt released a DVD entitled Ratt - Videos from the Cellar: The Atlantic Years which chronicles the band's video history. On August 21, 2007, they also released a best-of CD entitled .
In November 2007, Ratt toured Japan and Australia, the Australian leg featuring Winger as support act. Throughout October the band was to tour Europe, but instead, the band planned to return in June 2008 to perform at some of Europe's most popular rock festivals including Spring and Airbrake as well as several other key dates in the UK and Scandinavia. At the end of January 2008 they played at Motley Cruise, a 4-day cruise in the Caribbean with Vince Neil, Skid Row, Slaughter, Endeverafter, and Lynam.
In May and June 2008, Ratt toured Europe. On June 5, 2008, they were supported by local Leeds bands King Nothing and Slash Vegas at the rock club Rio's.
In August 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio's Hair Nation channel reported that former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi had resigned as rhythm guitarist for Ratt and was rumored to be replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Bobby Blotzer confirmed these rumors stating that Cavazo was set to replace Corabi and would make his debut with the band on August 27. His first show with Ratt was in Baton Rouge, LA.

''Infestation'' and hiatus (2009–2011)

Ratt joined a variety of other hard rock acts on the November 2009 cruise entitled "ShipRocked". In April 2009 Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records announced the signing of a worldwide deal with Ratt. Their new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Infestation reached No. 30 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. A video for the first single titled "Best of Me" was filmed, followed by a world tour in support of Infestation. Infestation also marked something of a return to Atlantic, as Roadrunner has been owned by Atlantic since 2006.
In a March 18, 2010 interview with Metalholic Magazine, DeMartini said of the new album Infestation: "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
Ratt were confirmed to play the main stage at the Download Festival 2010 at Donington Park, UK in June 2010. However, on June 8, 2010, it was announced on Download Festival's website Ratt had pulled out of the festival due to surgery of one of the band members.
On October 26, 2010, it was announced Ratt would be going into an indefinite hiatus after tensions within the band reared their head. It was left uncertain whether Ratt would disband permanently, but bassist Robbie Crane, confirmed following the end of the band's tour supporting the album Infestation, the band would go on indefinite hiatus. He also confirmed all members were busy with their own projects: him touring with Lynch Mob, frontman Stephen Pearcy touring with his solo band, Warren DeMartini touring with his and Dee Snider's Christmas band, and Carlos Cavazo and Bobby Blotzer working on a project together. It was also rumoured bassist Robbie Crane would not be returning to Ratt, if they chose to reunite. On October 27, 2010, Pearcy said Ratt would be on hiatus "for a while.". However, he later confirmed a Ratt tour would be possible in 2012 after his other commitments. During his time as guest guitarist on That Metal Show, DeMartini said the band were in the talking stages of getting back to writing in the winter.

Reunion with Croucier and second departure of Pearcy (2012–2015)

In January 2012, singer Stephen Pearcy said Ratt was in the process of writing material for a new album, planned to be released that summer. Also that month, it was announced Ratt would have played at the M3 Rock Festival in the summer of 2012. On March 22, bassist Robbie Crane announced his departure from Ratt to focus on Lynch Mob. In April 2012, rumors arose original bassist Juan Croucier would rejoin the band that summer; these rumors were confirmed when Croucier played with Ratt at the M3 festival on May 12.
In January 2013, drummer Bobby Blotzer said, with songwriting completed, pre-production of the band's next album would begin in the near future with Brian Howes producing. In January 2014, for the first time since joining Ratt in 1982, drummer Bobby Blotzer had to miss a few shows, due to neck surgery he had in October 2013. Drummer Jimmy DeGrasso filled-in for him for these shows.
On April 24, 2014, Stephen Pearcy announced that he had left the band again, explaining he was "officially done with having anything to do with them due to the constant turmoil, unresolved business, personal attacks/threats in the public forum, and most of all, the disrespect to the fans."

Legal issues and two versions of Ratt again (2015–2018)

In June 2015, Bobby Blotzer formed a band called Bobby Blotzer's Ratt Experience to tour. In August 2015, Juan Croucier formed a touring band that plays Ratt's deep cuts, with the band debuting in September. Within days, Blotzer criticized Croucier for using the band's logo, arguing trademark infringement.
In September 2015, Blotzer took over control of WBS, a company he set up with DeMartini and Pearcy in 1997 to handle RATT business, over the objection of DeMartini and announced that he had "taken control" of Ratt and his Ratt Experience lineup was the real Ratt and would be embarking a tour in 2016 titled the American Made Re-Invasion Tour. Within days, Warren DeMartini spoke out against Blotzer using the name, as he still has control over the Ratt name on his half, but Blotzer claims he has the legal right to do so on his half. In October 2015, DeMartini sued Blotzer for falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the real thing.
On November 5, 2015, the Los Angeles federal court rejected Warren DeMartini's attempt to procure an injunction to prevent Bobby Blotzer from using and touring under the Ratt trademark, as WBS, Inc. owns the Ratt trademark.
From that time until early 2017, Blotzer toured using the name Ratt. Members that joined him included Joshua Alan on vocals, Michael "Doc" Ellis on guitar, Blaze on guitar, and Scott Griffin on bass. Former bassist Robbie Crane replaced Griffin in March 2016. In August 2016, Blotzer added Mitch Perry on guitar, Stacey Blades on guitar, and Brad Lang on bass, as Crane, Blaze, and Ellis went on to work on their own projects. The 2016 Re-Invasion tour took Ratt throughout North America on their own and also accompanying many others, including Bret Michaels, Jack Russell's Great White, Warrant, L.A. Guns, Lita Ford, Steelheart, Dokken, Downtread, Trixter, Winger, and more. They opened for Miranda Lambert during Buffalo Chip at the 2016 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Their tour also took them to the UK, including Hard Rock Hell and London.
During this time, Blotzer was using WBS to sue the band's original bassist, Juan Croucier, for trademark infringement. On April 12, 2016, the court denied Blotzer's application for a temporary restraining order against Croucier, explaining that it was unclear whether WBS owned the trademark. On November 8, 2016 that Court granted summary judgment against WBS and in favor of Croucier, finding that the trademark rights had never properly been transferred to WBS and thus were still held by the RATT Partnership under its 1985 partnership agreement. Blotzer had also used WBS to sue Pearcy for trademark infringement in a separate lawsuit, but that lawsuit ended with the same finding.
On November 29, 2016, Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini announced that they had expelled Blotzer from the Ratt Partnership and announced their own Back for More Tour, with the kickoff sold out show in February in Minnesota with Jimmy DeGrasso on drums who was also their drummer for a surprise show on Monsters of Rock Cruise in October 2016.
Despite the Court finding that judgment should be entered against WBS in the Croucier and Pearcy cases because it had no rights in the trademark and despite being expelled from the Partnership, Blotzer continued to tour as RATT with his band through WBS into early 2017 claiming that he could do so because final judgment had not yet been entered in the cases. On January 23, 2017, vocalist Joshua Alan announced his departure from Blotzer's version to pursue his own musical career. On March 5, former Quiet Riot vocalist Seann Nicols was announced as the new member. Nicols performed one date with Blotzer's band on March 18, 2017.
In June 2017, judgment was finally entered in the Croucier case, and Blotzer's WBS filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit appellate court. In May 2018, the RATT Partnership filed suit against Blotzer and WBS for trademark infringement for continuing to perform as RATT after February 2016, when it was adjudicated that WBS had no rights in the RATT marks and Blotzer was expelled from the Partnership. In March 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of Croucier, and sent the case back to the district court to determine whether WBS and its counsel should be liable for Croucier's attorneys' fees.

Ratt's "New Breed" (2018–present)

On June 1, 2018, it was announced by vocalist Pearcy that Ratt would move forward with him and bassist Croucier, after it was confirmed that DeMartini had departed from Ratt with Cavazo and Degrasso following. On July 5, 2018, it was revealed that Pearcy and Croucier would be joined by Black 'N Blue drummer Pete Holmes, and guitarists Jordan Ziff, and Chris Sanders. In February 2020, guitarist Chris Sanders announced his departure, and as of July 2020, no replacement has been announced.
In April 2020, Ratt was featured in a GEICO commercial, in which new homeowners loved their house, except for the "rat" problem. The band was shown performing their hit "Round and Round" in different parts of the house to the consternation of the new owners.

Members

Current