The band during their 80s heyday.
"I knew right from the beginning,
That you would end up winning,
I knew right from the start,
You'd put an arrow through my heart."
That you would end up winning,
I knew right from the start,
You'd put an arrow through my heart."
— "Round and Round"
Ratt are an American Hair Metal/Hard Rock band from San Diego, California. They are best known for their 1984 hit single, "Round and Round," from their debut full-length album Out of the Cellar.
The following tropes really want to lay it down, right now:
- Animal Motif: The rats on the album covers, in the videos, and even in the lyrics. ("This rat cage" is mentioned in "Wanted Man.")
- The Big Guy: Robbin Crosby stood 6-foot-6 and weighed around 250 pounds in his prime. At the time of his death, he had reportedly ballooned to 400 pounds due to a pancreatic condition.
- The Cameo/Celebrity Star:
- Milton Berle appeared in the video for "Round and Round" since his (real life) nephewnote was the band's manager at the time.
- Also, that's Tawny Kitaen (Of "Here I Go Again" video fame) on the cover of Out of the Cellar.
- The band itself was the star in a GEICO commercial
about a family complaining about a "rat problem" in the house — which turned out to be the band continually playing "Round and Round."
- Disappeared Dad: "Mother Blues"
- Drugs Are Bad: Robbin Crosby was excruciatingly honest about what his substance abuse did for him - it forced him to leave Ratt, burned up most of the money he had earned in their heyday, left him constantly in and out of rehab, and caused him to contract HIV. It also eventually cost him his life, as he died of an overdose.
- The '80s
- Friends with Benefits: "Round and Round"
- Golddigger: "She Wants Money"
- Greatest Hits Album: Ratt 'n Roll 81-91
- Hair Metal: One of the best examples.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: The video for "Way Cool Jr." ends with a naked woman walking away from the camera down a sidewalk with a guitar covering her butt.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: There is a song with this title on Detonator.
- Heavy Meta: "Dr. Rock"
- "I Want" Song: "I Want a Woman," "I Want to Love You Tonight," "I Want It All"
- Intercourse with You: "I Want a Woman," "Lay It Down," "Round and Round," "Body Talk," "Slip of the Lip," it doesn't end.
- Loose Lips: The Trope Naming phrase ("Loose lips sink ships") is mentioned in the chorus of "Slip of the Lip."
- Outlaw: "Wanted Man"
- Poor Communication Kills: "Lack of Communication"
- Repurposed Pop Song: "Round and Round" has been featured in The Wrestler and in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
- Revolving Door Band: 29 different members covering two separate versions of the band going back to 1976.
- Sanity Slippage Song/"I Am" Song: "I'm Insane."
- Self-Titled Album: Their debut EP and their 1999 album.
- Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll:
- Yes to all.
- Sadly, guitarist Robbin Crosby died of a heroin overdose after developing AIDS.
- Sexophone: "Way Cool Jr."
- Silly Love Songs: "You're in Love"
- Singer Namedrop:
- "Ratt Madness"
- From "Chain Reaction":"RATTs and Abbott tell no tales"
- From "Steel River":"This one ratt is one to say"
- Something Blues: "Mother Blues"
- Take That!: After Stephen Pearcy unsuccessfully sued Bobby Blotzer and Juan Croucier for the rights to the name "Ratt," he toured as a solo and nicknamed his band the Rat Bastards.
- Technician Versus Performer: Warren DeMartini (technician) and Robbin Crosby (performer) had this dynamic. Warren was the melodic and refined lead player with lots of clean legato and wide, lyrical bends, as well as a notable aversion to overtly flashy playing (he could and sometimes did play fast runs, but by his own admission, he wasn't a fan of cheap crowd-pleasing moments and liked being a more subtle player), while Robbin was the more traditional blues-rock player with a style heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Michael Schenker.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: From the chorus for "Scene of the Crime," which is sung seven times:"Cold blooded bitch goin' out on me"
- Underground Comics: Originally named Mickey Ratt, after the underground comic Mickey Rat.
- Video Full of Film Clips: "You're In Love" includes clips from Brother Rat and Love Happy, with the famous scene between Groucho Marx and Marilyn Monroe in one of her first roles.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Ratt
