RATT frontman Stephen Pearcy recently opened up about the band’s early years and the role VAN HALEN played in shaping his career path. Speaking with 95.5 KLOS radio legend Frazer Smith, Pearcy shared memories of moving from San Diego to Los Angeles and his friendship with guitar icon Eddie Van Halen.
(Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)
“As soon as [I] discovered VAN HALEN in ’78, I was in my band MICKEY RATT in San Diego, as Robbin [Crosby, late RATT guitarist] was in his band PHENOMENON, Jake E. Lee [future Ozzy Osbourne guitarist] was in his band TEASER, Warren [DeMartini, RATT guitarist] was in his band ENFORCER. When I went and saw VAN HALEN — well, first of all, I became friends with Ed that night, Eddie Van Halen, and we traded gear. We had a lot in common. And I went, ‘You know what? January 1st, 1980, I’m f-cking moving to L.A.’ And I did.”
Pearcy explained that after relocating, the reality of starting over hit him quickly.
(Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)
“We moved into a garage room kind of thing, and we started from scratch. ‘Cause we were happening in San Diego; we were doing the Bing Crosby Hall, Golden Hall, Plaza Hall. And then here we are in L.A. and I’m doing blah blah café, Madame Wong’s, playing these places. They paid me to not play. ‘Here’s your 50 bucks. Don’t play. Go home.’ And I was agent, manager, booker — I was doing everything. I was a hustler. And it worked.”
Pearcy credited Eddie Van Halen for showing him the path to success on the Sunset Strip.
(Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)
“I saw VAN HALEN at the Whisky [A Go Go]. They had just left Gazzarri’s, and I went, ‘Okay, I get it. You’ve gotta start here.’ I pretty much followed their schematic, is what I did. I listened to Ed. Like I say, we became friends. I’d go to his pad, and he’d tell me this and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I went, ‘Oh, okay, Gazzarri’s.’ And sure enough, I harassed Bill Gazzarri until he let me in, and he was, like, ‘All right, you can play on a Monday night at 12 o’clock, midnight.’ And I played every night there until we became the house band.”
Eventually, RATT worked their way up the L.A. circuit, moving from Gazzarri’s to the Whisky and beyond, becoming one of the defining acts of the era.
On the 1980s Rock Scene
When asked about the bands coming up alongside RATT, Pearcy was quick to correct misconceptions about the so-called “hair metal” movement.
(Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)
“People think that all these bands, which they’re calling hair metal, we all came out of the same clump of clay, which is not true, because the first batch out of there — VAN HALEN pretty much started it all. But the real guys were, believe it or not, STRYPER was ROXX REGIME, regulars at Gazzarri’s with me, and MÖTLEY CRÜE, W.A.S.P., ARMORED SAINT. There was a real first batch that pretty much spearheaded that ’80s thing. So I break it down to 1980 to ’85, which we were off and running, and then you get the second batch.”
He added that while many bands claimed Hollywood roots, not all were truly from the Sunset Strip.
(Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)
“And then you’ve got all these bands from everywhere else who came to L.A., which people thought, ‘Oh yeah, they’re from Hollywood.’ No, they’re not — they’re from f-cking Pittsburgh. But I
