In a new interview with “The Chuck Shute Podcast”, Ratt bassist, Juan Croucier, talked about how he and his bandmates managed to break through as part of the 1980s Sunset Strip scene at a time when the glam metal movement spawned dozens of MTV bands:
“Well, interesting chemistry and dynamic that occurred in Ratt. I’m familiar with band dynamic extensively because I’ve produced and engineered a lot of bands from my studio. So when you see how other bands work in the studio, you start understanding what I consider to be band psychology.
“Every band has some form of band psychology that it operates by or it’s subjected to, depending on if you’re on the giving or receiving end. So Ratt had a chain of events that occurred that brought forth a lineup that made it a very formidable opponent for other bands. We were hungry, young, on a mission, and had absolutely nothing to lose. So we had everything to gain. So, it’s interesting because the record companies had such a grip on the industry, and concert promoters were like the second tier of that.
”There was no way around that. So fast forward to today and it’s a vastly different industry. You have many more categories and subcategories of styles of bands and music. Back in the day, you had hard rock, metal, pop, and then you had like the DeFranco Family, you know, kiddie rock.
”So there weren’t that many genres, although, of course, that’s taking into account punk rock and new wave. But these things were evolving. So it was a really interesting time, and basically the recording end of it… If you were to get into a studio, that was a huge accomplishment in and of itself.”