History

Early years (1973–1982)

The origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by
singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal
Pystal. The name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in
1976.

Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those same years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with
Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service and Mac Meda with
Askawa.

Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris
Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison,
and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several
demos compilations and a live concert recording.

In 1980, to increase their chances of landing a recording contract with a major label, the band
recorded a single called "Dr. Rock" / "Drivin' on E", which was given to fans at their early Los Angeles
club shows.

In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the band later in the year.
Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982. Bassist Gene
Hunter (from Jake E. Lee's Teaser) and drummer Khurt Maier (who played drums on the early "Tell
the World" recording featured on the compilation Metal Massacre I) temporarily played in Ratt
before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer (ex-Vic Vergeat) and Juan Croucier (previously with Dokken, and
musically active since 1973). DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to
join Ratt. At the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a
band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he
returned in time for the recording of their first EP, later in 1982.[7]

Ratt EP (1983)

In July 1983, Ratt signed with independent Los Angeles recording label Time Coast Music. Later that
same year, Time Coast released in the United States the band's 6-track debut EP, simply titled Ratt.
Newly formed independent UK label Music for Nations released a 7-track version of the EP in Europe,
which included the additional track "You're in Trouble".

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" (which peaked at No.
12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), "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. 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 80s 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 (which is the same position that Out of the Cellar peaked). The album met mostly positive reactions
from fans and critics. Allmusic.com has called it "another batch of solid pop-metal tunes".[8] It
contained the favorites "You're in Love" and "Lay It Down" (which made No. 40 on the Hot 100) 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 highly 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 (selling over two million copies)
and remains highly regarded amongst fans.

A couple months after the album release, the band released a home video titled Ratt: The Video. 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 Invasion's 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 (August '86 issue). 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.[original research?] 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
(especially with this song) 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 (widely bootlegged). Their tour with Poison was the 6th highest grossing tour 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 (supported by Kix, Warrant and Britny Fox) 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,[9] while some claim the sound more akin to hair metal (especially when compared to their raw
early works), but still showing a band of experienced and refined musicians maturing and striving to
expand their sound.[10] Detonator featured among its tracks, "Givin' Yourself Away" (Ratt's only
power ballad, co-written by Pearcy and Diane Warren) 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 (acknowledged in a KNAC interview), despite rumors to the
contrary. (Juan Croucier stated on his message board that Crosby's guitar parts are on the disc but
were low in the mix.) 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.