Stephen Pearcy- Sex, Drugs and Ratt and Roll: My Life In
Rock (Gallery Books)
Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy’s autobiography, Sex, Drugs and Ratt and Roll: My Life In Rock follows the
tried and true formula for rock bios; growing up, getting a guitar, starting a
band, gigging hard, growing a following, getting a deal, touring non-stop with
all the pre-requisite dangers and delights of life on the road, followed
closely by success and excess and the inevitable belly flop into decline.
While the story is formulaic it is spiced with Pearcy’s
seemingly endless fascination with his manhood and his generous nature as he
tells tall tales of his desire to share it with as many interested parties as
possible. While epic and legendary stories have been told about rock stars
sexual appetites and excesses the Ratt-man’s seems to defy reality. For a guy
who proudly details his appetites for chemical destruction, his near total
recall of all things groupie seems to strain credulity. He certainly doesn’t
leave me with the impression that he his free time journaling the history of
his excesses to aid with later recall.
Pearcy does detail the early 80s Los Angeles music scene
where hair and hairspray ruled and the newly launched MTV was proving to be a
ripe for the picking way for even marginal bands to garner exposure beyond
squeaky tight radio playlists. The proper mix of high hair, eyeliner, and
screaming guitars captured on video, was a sure fire way to be beamed into the
living rooms of America. From there it was a short hop to full on stardom and
it was a leap Pearcy and Ratt made with their break through single Round and Round.
Always lemmings, music business types beat a path to places
like the Whisky, looking to snap up a legion of White Rain laden posers during
the peak period from 1983 to about 1987 when the next big thing were hard
rockers with a dirty street edge, ala Guns and Roses. The final death knell for
the early hair metal legion came in the form of angst ridden, flannel wearing
grunge rockers from the great northwest. While they tried to hang on, and still
do to a very limited mix and match extent Pearcy and company never quite made
their way back to repeat the glory days.
Sex, Drugs and Ratt
and Roll is the written word equivalent to cotton candy, it’s okay when you
eat it in small doses, but after a while your teeth will start to hurt.
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