The Rise and Fall of Ratt (Remember When...)

I caught the premiere of Ratt: Behind the Music last night. Being a teenager in the mid 80s, I was already pretty familiar with the band, and their story. Well, at least part of the story. Like all good Behind the Music episodes, Ratt's was filled with firsthand accounts of the band's rise from nothing to the top of the Billboard charts -- and its slow descent into an artifact of the "hair metal" era.

The real shocker of the episode was the decline of guitarist Robbin Crosby. Crosby had helped form the band with singer Stephen Pearcy in the early 80s, but by the time the band had "made it" as an international supergroup, his role had been minimzied. Apparently this caused him a lot of embarrassment and hurt (must have been hard to realize this while surrounded by dozens of groupies more than willing to do whatever he wanted and all those millions of dollars), so he started taking heroin to "ease the pain" and soon found himself a full-blown addict.

His story is one of the sadder ones. His addiction eventually affected his on-stage performances, causing him to be fired by the band. Shortly thereafter, his Playboy Playmate wife (Laurie Carr) left him. By 1994, he had contracted HIV from an infected needle and was living in a one room shack in a bad part of Los Angeles. Crosby gave his final interview in 1999. He was overweight, talked very slowly, and seemed almost on the verge of tears when talking about his fall from grace. Apparently, he had a series of other health problems and was living in a hospice. He died in 2002 from an overdose. His former bandmates hadn't seen him in years.

After wtaching that episode I logged onto Napster and listened to some Ratt. Some of it seemed a little dated and corny, but for the most part, I liked it.

Tag: Behind the Music

'Ratt: Behind The Music' Premieres Tonight

Tonight is the premiere of Ratt's Behind the Music episode on VH1. The Behind the Music show is almost always great whether you like the artist or not. When I was 14, no one was cooler than Ratt in my opinion. I loved those guys! Sure, I grew out of that stuff; but whenever I hear "Round and Round" or "Lay It Down" or one of the other Ratt hits, it always puts a smile on my face.

Their BTM should be especially interesting due to all the drama that has surrounded the band. You know: the sex, the drugs, the groupies, the firings, the successes, the failures, etc, etc. The episode premieres tonight at 9 ET.

Here is VH1's blurb about the show:

Ratt grabbed a decade of decadence by the tail, but their legendary excess came back to bite them -- it cost them their career, and, in the case of guitarist Robbin Crosby, his life. This special edition of Behind the Music contains exclusive behind the scenes footage of the band, as well as an never before seen interview with Robbin Crosby, conducted three years before his death. In the beginning, band crawled up from the Sunset Strip's hair metal scene in the early `80s scene to record a fistful of multiplatinum albums and fill arenas around the globe.

Throughout the `80s, Ratt -- vocalist Stephen Pearcy, guitarists Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini, bassist Juan Croucier and drummer Bobby Blotzer -- were the toast of pop metal, thanks to the 1984 breakout hit Round and Round, whose video became an MTV staple. As the band became arena headliners, they turned all of America into their personal playground. Backstage, there was an endless procession of Jack Daniels, cocaine, pot, and young women willing to do anything to be near their heavy metal heroes.

But the partying would eventually tear the band apart. Vocalist Stephen Pearcy's excessive boozing alienated the rest of the band and affected his performances - while onstage, he often forgot what city he was in. While DeMartini, Cloucier and Blotzer channeled their anger at their singer, Robbin Crosby was quietly wasting away. By 1985, he'd begun a debilitating heroin addiction that would lead to his ouster from the band in 1990. Already in a spiral, Crosby would get more bad news in 1994 - he was diagnosed as HIV positive. The diagnosis triggering a physical and emotional free-fall that would in 2002 result in his death from a fatal heroin overdose. Ratt: Behind The Music reveals the bands harrowing journey, from the beginning to the end and back to the newest beginnings for the surviving band members.

I will say one thing about my metal past that is (arguably) better than my indie rock present: groupies. The quantity and quality of slutty women that at metal concerts is much higher than that of a Death Cab For Cutie show, I'll tell you that. You won't find anyone dressed like the girl above.

Tag: Ratt