‘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

~ by howard0213 on May 11, 2006.