Simon RushworthRATT — The Atlantic Years 1984-1990 (BMG)
If there’s an 80s time capsule buried somewhere beneath West Hollywood’s infamous Sunset Strip then it’s bound to have a version of Ratt sealed within a sickly vacuum of hair spray, stale weed and primitive pyro.
Stephen Pearcy’s pretty boy rockers infested LA’s sleazy underbelly prior to their rapid ascension to the pop rock summit.
And if ever a band epitomised the rise and fall of the iconic hair metal scene it’s the quintet that scored four platinum albums on the bounce…before almost disappearing without a trace.
This revealing vinyl retrospective captures classic Ratt in all their glammed-up, gutter-soaked glory.
Five star career recap
All five of the band’s insanely successful Atlantic Records releases are collected within one carefully curated box but the era-defining music is only part of the story.
Home to a replica tour book, backstage pass, guitar pic, poster and bumper sticker, this long overdue celebration of decadent excess leaves no stone unturned.
Hell, there’s even a seven-inch single version of Nobody Rides For Free, from the soundtrack to hit movie Point Break.
That soaraway cinematic success, released in 1991, paired rising star Keanu Reeves with housewives’ favourite Patrick Swayze.
By then, however, Ratt were neither rising stars nor the housewives’ favourite: theirs was a career in rapid and terminal decline.
But like Reeves skimming the crest of a Pacific Ocean wave, what a ride it had been for Pearcy and his hard rocking pals.
RATT’S debut is top Cellar
Often described as an overnight success — given the short time between the band’s first play on radio and the instant appeal of their full-length debut — Ratt’s tale is anything but.
In fact, Pearcy formed fledgling band Firedome a decade before 1984’s Out Of The Cellar crashed the US album charts in spectacular fashion.
Following Firedome, Crystal Pystal and Mickey Ratt became familiar names on the LA circuit but neither really resonated with management, labels or fans.
In 1981 Ratt was born and by tweaking the name, Pearcy paved the way for fame.
Joined by twin axe attack Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini, one of the most striking frontmen on the LA circuit suddenly looked and sounded the part.
And by the time Juan Croucier (who ditched Dokken) and Bobby Blotzer completed Ratt’s classic line-up, the Strip’s resident rodents were ready to take a bite out of the big bucks record deals being bandied about across town.
On the strength of six figure sales for their self-titled EP, the band signed with Atlantic and hooked up with producer Beau Hill.
It was a match made in heaven as Out Of the Cellar — fuelled by iconic hit Round And Round — went on to shift three million copies and usher in a period of sustained success Stateside.
British Invasion stalls
That Ratt’s dazzling debut and the band’s subsequent hit albums never quite whetted the appetite of British fans proved a constant source of frustration for Pearcy and Atlantic’s bosses alike.
Sophomore album Invasion Of Your Privacy nudged the UK’s top 50 but that was as good as it got for a band mystified by its limited impact across the Pond.
The follow-up to Out Of The Cellar matched its predecessor by peaking at number seven in the Billboard charts.
Lay It Down became Ratt’s second top 40 single and heavy MTV rotation caught the attention of Castle Donington’s tastemakers — in 1985 Pearcy and co. performed alongside Metallica, Bon Jovi and headliners ZZ Top in front of the Monsters Of Rock massive.
But still us Brits didn’t get it.
Widely regarded as Ratt’s tour de force, Invasion Of Your Privacy’s perfectly trimmed 36 minutes showcased the very best of DeMartini and Crosby (who overdosed on heroin aged 42 in 2002) with the talented six stringers duelling across 10 hair metal classics.
Pearcy never sounded better as he belted out You’re In Love, Closer To My Heart and the brilliant Between The Eyes.
Ratt had risen and they’d stay at the top for a while yet.
Dancing Undercover keeps Ratt one step ahead
A third album in three years maintained the momentum and Dancing Undercover guaranteed more of the same from the new masters of hair metal.
If Ratt’s tried and tested formula risked accusations of lazy repetition then the band knew its audience and knew what worked: the sexed up Slip Of The Lip and album opener Dance — featured on Miami Vice — kept Pearcy’s poster boys up front and centre.
By now rival bands would do anything to bag a slot opening up for West Hollywood’s hottest properties: Poison, Cinderella, Cheap Trick and Queensrÿche all fought for supports on the hugely successful Dancing Undercover tour.
Ratt Reach For The Sky on album number four
By the time 1988’s Reach For The Sky hit stores, new kids on the block Guns N Roses had upped the ante and Ratt suddenly had it all to do.
And they just about did it.
Funky single Way Cool Jr. maintained their seat at hair metal’s top table.
At the same time, wrestlers Brian Pillman and Larry Zbyszko picked Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds and City To City as their respective ring walk themes — broadening the reach of the Ratt pack.
Detonator hints at early 90s implosion
Detonator, released in 1990, could and should have been the band’s crowning glory.
After finally splitting with producer Hill, Pearcy and co. hired hitmaker Desmond Child to helm their fifth long player and even roped in Jon Bon Jovi as a backing vocalist on Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.
At the poppier end of Ratt’s accessible scale, Detonator featured some prime power balladry in the shape of the Diane Warren co-write Givin’ Yourself Away.
But even Child couldn’t squeeze out the band’s next big hit.
If the dreamy Detonator couldn’t match the commercial success of its multi-platinum predecessors then it nevertheless bookended a remarkable six-year home run from a band that landed in the right place at just the right time.
Ratt — The Atlantic Years is a joyous reminder of rock’s most flamboyant era. And who doesn’t love a retro-fuelled bumper sticker?
