Bobby Blotzer to Crap All Over Ratt’s Legacy with New Version of Group
After releasing the absolutely unfuckwithable comeback album Infestation in 2010 it’s been a rocky road for Ratt. I’d give you all the details of the legal battles and public infighting that have been going on in the subsequent five years, but that’s all you really need to know: typical Ratt shenanigans.
Now drummer Bobby Blotzer has decided to assemble a band of all new dudes and take them out on the road under the Ratt moniker. The same group did some shows earlier this year under the name Bobby Blotzer’s Ratt Experience; the lineup is Josh Alan (Sin City Sinners), Scotty Griffin (ex-L.A. Guns), Doc Ellis (Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate) and 22-year-old guitar hero Blaze. Who? Exactly. Not Ratt, that’s who.
Worst of all, it doesn’t seem as if Blotzer even has the rights to use the Ratt name. Stephen Pearcy gave up his share when he quit the band (the first time) in 2000, but Warren DeMartini still owns his share and released a statement saying Blotzer is out of line. Not only that, but Blotzer apparently phoned DeMartini earlier this year to ask if he could use Ratt in his band’s name at all — prior to the Bobbly Blotzer’s Ratt Experience tour — and DeMartini said no! Double whammy. DeMartini’s statement, in which he minces no words:
“Back in March, Bob Blotzer phoned me and said he wanted to form a RATT tribute band and call it something like ‘…Ratt Experience.’ I suggested he not use Ratt in the title and call it something like Bob’s Cellar as Ratt’s debut record, ‘Out Of The Cellar’, has rounded its third decade. He said something to the effect that he wanted to use Ratt in the title ‘like Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin.’ I said I had no problem with him playing songs he recorded with Ratt, but I didn’t agree to him using the name in the title. He used it anyway.
Now he is soliciting his tribute band as Ratt which he is completely unauthorized to do. I am totally against it, and steps are being taken to prevent any further misuse of the name as well as representation about future Ratt performances.
But wait! There’s more!
Blotzer recently slammed bassist Juan Croucier — who doesn’t own any stake in the Ratt name — for using Ratt’s logo to launch his new project.
Juan Crucifer, uh oh, trouble ahead. See that logo /trade mark on your press release, opps, it’s owned , by me . Get that check book out my attorney not happy or price friendly for you. Ask Stephen, he can’t remember much, but he can that. dumb and dumber remain, well, Dumber. Sorry Ratt fans!
The hypocrisy here is astounding, even if Blotzer somehow thinks he’s got more of a right to use the logo because he owns at least a partial stake in the name.
Look: I understand dudes gotta eat. Blotzer probably hasn’t got much else going on to generate income — he’s even said as much in recent interviews, he just “wants to work” — and he [rightly] knows that “Ratt” sells way more tickets than “Bobby Blotzer’s Ratt Experience” or “Bob’s Cellar” (lol).
But this is bullshit. I know it’s bullshit, you know it’s bullshit and Bobby fucking Blotzer knows it’s bullshit. He’s taking advantage of a legal loophole to make money for himself, and it’s not fair to the other members of the band and to the fans, many of whom will probably pay good money to see “Ratt” only to be sorely disappointed when Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini aren’t on the stage. It’s deceptive and it’s fucked. If those three can’t get together and work it out, the name Ratt should stay dead.
Somehow Stephen Pearcy comes out looking like the sane one here for quitting when he did, which is nuts, ’cause that dude’s cray cray. The upshot: all these dudes are kinda fucked.
For more on the legal issues behind this abomination, read this article.
