continued on like nothing happened.
Our mentality was not so much a family mentality as it was just a gang. It was "us", out there to get "them". "Them" could be anything from an individual to the world, depending on the moment.
We were out to plant our flag and take what's ours.
Back in the early days, Stephen and I pretty much handled the booking. And, we were playing the same places, a lot. It wasn't like we had 35 venues that we circulated. For that matter, we weren't playing 30 shows a month, either. We would do anywhere from 3-5 shows a month, then we would go up north, or something. We weren't playing a lot, mostly weekend stuff, then occasionally during the middle of the week. But, we pretty much played every weekend.
Promotions was interesting. Stephen was a fanatic about it. We had a group of loyal fans, which they call street teams today, who would go out and flyer the gigs of other bands. Whatever was happening, at the Troubadour or the Whisky, we'd have someone there.
Pearcy was really into all that stuff. He'd always be out putting posters on poles and stuff. Me, I never did that kind of shit. I was just way to jaded. I was like, "I'm not going out into the cold, or whatever, to put posters and handbills up on telephone poles.” It was pure laziness, I'm sure.
It wasn't long after that we played with Glen Hughes and Pat Thrawl. They had the Hughes Thrawl band. We headlined there a handful of times with bands like Steeler opening. Tons of others.
One of the first big gigs that RATT did was at Magic Mountain, the amusement park. May 27, 1982. We did two shows there in this huge amphitheater, and Great White played with us. It was completely packed for both shows, and that was a huge crowd. We were like "Ho, boy. Here we go. This shit's on!” That place held well over 3000 people.
Then we did a gig at the USC Mardi Gras. Which had close to 15000 people. It was really weird. Everyone in LA was just freaking out over RATT at that time.
Beyond that, those early days were on the Hollywood Circuit. Sunset Strip. The Roxy, The Whisky a Go-Go, the Troubadour, all of those places. We did some gigs up in Northern California. And, beyond that, we really hadn't ventured outside LA yet.
To my recollections, Marshall Berle was the first real manager to come out of the woodwork when we started to get a bit of a name. That was around August of 1982. Let me put it this way, we were meeting with him in August, and after all the meetings and shit, we probably went with him about a month and a half later. So, by fall of 1982, we were with Marshall Berle.
When Berle first saw us, we had been doing much better at the live shows. We were a lot tighter of a band. It had reached a point where we obviously had to get a record out, and, Berle saw that. Almost immediately after signing with him, we were in the studio recording our self-titled EP.
Music Man Studios on Melrose was where we recorded and mixed. It was really cool, because you'd walk out and Melrose is just like the streets of New York; Stores, clubs, restaurants. It seemed like it was overnight, but in very short order, RATT was selling out shows all over the LA club scene.
Suddenly, this thing was getting exciting. Musically, it had stepped up significantly. RATT was no longer the so-so band it had been when I first saw them, and the crowds were eating it up.
I had been in popular bands around LA a number of times, but it was never like this. Literally, you'd pull up to gigs we were playing and there would be lines clear around the corner. We'd sell out two shows a night, that sort of thing.
Like most things in this business, when you start making a little noise, you tend to draw a lot of attention. We made a lot of fucking noise! Before we knew it, we started having agents, and managers sniffing around us, looking for that next big band. Mötley Crüe was already a monster on the club circuit, and we were right on their heels. In fact, we were becoming fast
Our mentality was not so much a family mentality as it was just a gang. It was "us", out there to get "them". "Them" could be anything from an individual to the world, depending on the moment.
We were out to plant our flag and take what's ours.
Back in the early days, Stephen and I pretty much handled the booking. And, we were playing the same places, a lot. It wasn't like we had 35 venues that we circulated. For that matter, we weren't playing 30 shows a month, either. We would do anywhere from 3-5 shows a month, then we would go up north, or something. We weren't playing a lot, mostly weekend stuff, then occasionally during the middle of the week. But, we pretty much played every weekend.
Promotions was interesting. Stephen was a fanatic about it. We had a group of loyal fans, which they call street teams today, who would go out and flyer the gigs of other bands. Whatever was happening, at the Troubadour or the Whisky, we'd have someone there.
Pearcy was really into all that stuff. He'd always be out putting posters on poles and stuff. Me, I never did that kind of shit. I was just way to jaded. I was like, "I'm not going out into the cold, or whatever, to put posters and handbills up on telephone poles.” It was pure laziness, I'm sure.
It wasn't long after that we played with Glen Hughes and Pat Thrawl. They had the Hughes Thrawl band. We headlined there a handful of times with bands like Steeler opening. Tons of others.
One of the first big gigs that RATT did was at Magic Mountain, the amusement park. May 27, 1982. We did two shows there in this huge amphitheater, and Great White played with us. It was completely packed for both shows, and that was a huge crowd. We were like "Ho, boy. Here we go. This shit's on!” That place held well over 3000 people.
Then we did a gig at the USC Mardi Gras. Which had close to 15000 people. It was really weird. Everyone in LA was just freaking out over RATT at that time.
Beyond that, those early days were on the Hollywood Circuit. Sunset Strip. The Roxy, The Whisky a Go-Go, the Troubadour, all of those places. We did some gigs up in Northern California. And, beyond that, we really hadn't ventured outside LA yet.
To my recollections, Marshall Berle was the first real manager to come out of the woodwork when we started to get a bit of a name. That was around August of 1982. Let me put it this way, we were meeting with him in August, and after all the meetings and shit, we probably went with him about a month and a half later. So, by fall of 1982, we were with Marshall Berle.
When Berle first saw us, we had been doing much better at the live shows. We were a lot tighter of a band. It had reached a point where we obviously had to get a record out, and, Berle saw that. Almost immediately after signing with him, we were in the studio recording our self-titled EP.
Music Man Studios on Melrose was where we recorded and mixed. It was really cool, because you'd walk out and Melrose is just like the streets of New York; Stores, clubs, restaurants. It seemed like it was overnight, but in very short order, RATT was selling out shows all over the LA club scene.
Suddenly, this thing was getting exciting. Musically, it had stepped up significantly. RATT was no longer the so-so band it had been when I first saw them, and the crowds were eating it up.
I had been in popular bands around LA a number of times, but it was never like this. Literally, you'd pull up to gigs we were playing and there would be lines clear around the corner. We'd sell out two shows a night, that sort of thing.
Like most things in this business, when you start making a little noise, you tend to draw a lot of attention. We made a lot of fucking noise! Before we knew it, we started having agents, and managers sniffing around us, looking for that next big band. Mötley Crüe was already a monster on the club circuit, and we were right on their heels. In fact, we were becoming fast
Similar Books
