The early to mid ’80s was certainly a high point for hard rock and heavy metal – particularly, when you take into account the high amount of now-classic albums that were issued during this time.
And one such album was Ratt’s full-length debut from 1984, Out of the Cellar, which spawned such MTV/radio hits as “Round and Round,” “Back for More,” and “Wanted Man.” With the album celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, BMG (in partnership with Rhino) is reissuing Out of the Cellar as a CD and limited edition vinyl version, both of which includes a previously unreleased track, “Reach for the Sky.”
Just before the reissue’s November 8, 2024 release date, Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy spoke with AllMusic – discussing the album, the significance of the year in which it was originally released, and if the surviving Ratt members could ever reunite.
How did the 40th anniversary edition of Out of the Cellar come about?
“It was talked about months and months ago. And I got wind of it and thought, ‘Wow…OK!’ Because the single that we released with it, I tried to get on the box set [The Atlantic Years: 1984-1991] last year. But this song was written for Out of the Cellar, but never made the record. And I got it on there, finally. And I was very happy that I didn’t go on the box set – we put ‘Nobody Rides for Free’ on that one.”
How do you think that album holds up, listening to it 40 years later?
“I think it holds up. All I would have done now – or Beau Hill, who produced it – was give it more volume. And that’s what we keep trying to do when you remaster – give it more ‘oomph.’ It sounds good. And it sounds better on the vinyl – analog.”
Do you agree that Cellar is the most consistent Ratt album front to back?
“Yeah. We got close with Invasion of Your Privacy, but Cellar…maybe because it was our debut and it kind of hit a nerve. It was hard to do Invasion – the next record. Because Cellar was everything you stood for. You worked for this all your life, and some of these songs on Cellar were ideas I had back in 1978 or something.”
Although “Round and Round” is the best known tune off Cellar, there are other Ratt classics on it, such as “Back for More” – which originally appeared on Ratt’s self-titled EP, and was re-recorded for Cellar.
“It was just a great song. And the reason why we put it on Cellar also – but they chopped it up – was because it was a great live song. It was part of our ‘thing’ in ’83, and our audience and all of that. But that song, it morphed. It was another one of those songs like ‘Round and Round’ – it wasn’t all together, until Beau Hill got ahold of it. But we liked the long version on the EP. That’s what I do live – Ratt from day one has always done the long version live.”
You just mentioned Beau Hill. What did he bring to the album as the producer?
“Just new ideas. He was first-time producer and we were a first-time band. As he would say, we were really hard-headed. We were no dummies – we knew we had great songs. We just didn’t know that some of them were incomplete and needed ‘another ear.’ Because we’d fight him on everything – until he did it right, with some of the things he did for ‘Round and Round’ and the record. Why the song ‘Reach for the Sky’ didn’t make it on the record, I don’t know…I kind of know why, we had ‘The Morning After,’ and it’s a song like ‘Reach for the Sky’ – two lead guitars kind of thing, not single-oriented. But, so be it.”
What do you recall about filming the “Round and Round” video, and how was it working with Milton Berle?
“Oh my God, Miltie…he was in ‘Back for More’ video, too. When we did that ‘Round and Round’ video, what’s even weirder is Don Letts, the guy who directed it – Big Audio Dynamite, remember? – when Milton Berle walked in, he kind of created those parts on the spot. He knew he was going to do a ‘drag thing’ – he just didn’t know what he was going to do.”
“And you’ve got to understand, music video was all new to everybody. It was our first video, and we wanted to do some live stuff and trippy stuff. And Marshall Berle, our manager – and Milton’s nephew – had this crazy idea. It kind of built itself the day of shooting. Because Milton Berle took over. Don Letts just stepped back and said, ‘I’ll take a break here.’ Here’s Mr. Television, right?”
Why do think the year 1984 gave us so many classic hard rock and heavy metal albums? Because besides Out of the Cellar, you had Van Halen: 1984, Twisted Sister: Stay Hungry, Metallica: Ride the Lightning, and Iron Maiden: Powerslave.
“Look how important it was: Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, the Eurythmics. You can go down the line. Everybody was 1984, right? But in our genre, it’s a trip. If I look back on it, it was kind of something that was supposed to happen – creating its own culture, so to speak. Because if you look back on our thing now, even though you call us ‘hair metal’…which I embrace, I don’t care, because it establishes you as ‘one of them from the ’80s. But ’84, even in movies – Ghostbusters, The Karate Kid.”
Was there an attempt to reunite the surviving Ratt members to tour in support of this reissue or the box set from last year?
“I had made those attempts. And some of my guys, they’re complacent and some of them…it’s not even a matter of not needing to financially. It’s a matter of…some of them don’t have the drive that I do. And without Robbin Crosby – who was really important in keeping the band together and keeping us directed – he was the guy who pretty much directed us. I created it, he directed it. I made attempts.”
If I look back on it, it was kind of something that was supposed to happen – creating its own culture, so to speak. Because if you look back on our thing now, even though you call us ‘hair metal’…which I embrace, I don’t care, because it establishes you as ‘one of them from the ’80s.
“But it’s all good. Because I did create it, and when I go out there and do it, they think it’s Ratt anyway. I just have a good time now, because I’m not going to do it forever. Nor do I want to – I have other things in the entertainment business to accomplish, other goals. But I embrace this, and that’s what I’m doing. But what’s trippy is 40 years later, the re-release of Out of the Cellar and how all this came about…is pretty cool. Because I knew we had that song in great shape somewhere.”
“And then the cover for the single. The story of this cover is our album, [1988’s] Reach for the Sky, this was supposed to be one of the covers. And I just went, ‘You know what? I’m going to put this on that song from 1983/84. It just worked. And we’re doing a video – it’s kind of cartoon/animation.”
Some of the people I interviewed for one of my books, World Infestation: The Ratt Story, said that a reunited Ratt should have been included as part of the Stadium Tour a few years ago, with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Joan Jett. Do you agree?
“Of course. But I’m not the one…if it was a vote, of course not – I don’t think Mötley would want to play after us. And that’s how it would have settled up. We still have some kind of competition out there, y’know? We would consider it like, ‘What? We’re going to open up for you?’ So yeah, we should have. It would have made sense. I mean, I don’t care if you put us third, fourth, whatever – our motto was,
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‘Go out there and beat your ass, anyway.’ And if they know you’re playing first, they’ll come and see you first, second, third, or whatever.”
“It will go down again, and we’ll see. Like I said, I tried to get the original guys. We attempted it once, and it was just like, ‘Whoa.’ But, you pretty much called it in the book. And it’s like, at the end of the day, I’m the guy left standing, going, ‘OK, that’s cool. That’s the way it should be: 40 year anniversary.’ And what I’m doing is playing the record live. The original band never even did that! I mean look, there’s ‘business’ in the music business, and that’s where I come in – we weren’t just ‘drug dummies’ in the ’80s, believe me. Some of us had brains in our head…and mis-directed and whatever, as anybody did in the ’80s. I mean, there’s books and books yet to come, and things to talk about.”
“But I’ll tell you, what’s interesting is when I go out now and play that, like I’m on the Back in the Cellar Tour – Official Stephen Pearcy, you can see what I’m doing – but I play this whole record sometimes, top to bottom. And people go, ‘Yeah, ‘Scene of the Crime’! ‘She Wants Money’! Holy shit!’ Because we never really played them – and I’m doing the whole record. So me, I’m going, ‘Alright, what do I do? Give them the greatest hits ’81-’91 or play the record?’ So, sometimes I do.”
Order the 40th anniversary edition of Out of the Cellar here.
