Steven Pearcy from Ratt memntioned Van Halen during an interview with the San Diego Reader:
Ratt ‘n’ Roll
By Andrew Hamlin
Published Wednesday, June 9, 2010Ratt left San Diego in the ’80s and scrabbled to the big prize in L.A. with their triple-platinum debut LP. After years of decadence, a few more albums, and the eventual drug death of guitarist Robbin Crosby, the band is back with three-fifths of the original lineup on their comeback album Infestation. In the words of lead singer Steven Pearcy, “Right now we’re back to where we should have been a bit ago.” That’ll do for the short form. He shared a few more thoughts on the return of the Ratt, from the road:
[…snip…]
You left San Diego fairly early, but did you learn any lessons from the San Diego music scene?
Mm-hmm! Because my band, Mickey Ratt [their original name], with Chris Hager and John Turner and Tim Garcia, we played everywhere and anywhere and actually became a staple. I had to start all over when I moved the band to Los Angeles in 1980, through meeting Van Halen. But what I learned in San Diego is take it in stride, y’know? Enjoy. It’s a beautiful place. People still to this day drop by [my mother’s] house yelling out, “Ratt, Ratt!” leaving presents and letters.
It was a culture shock going to L.A., but I knew it had to be done. Nobody was offering us a record deal. We’d be headlining Golden Hall, Plaza Hall, Bing Crosby Hall, we were playing in front of 1500 people. In ’77 I took a trip to L.A., Whisky a Go Go, went to a Van Halen sound check, was fortunate enough to get backstage, became friends with Ed [Eddie Van Halen]. And I’d watch them play in front of, like, maybe 50 people, and they were playing like they were in the Forum. I’d go back to San Diego and say, “There’s this band, they’re incredible, we gotta be a part [of it].” It was crazy. Everybody started movin’ up there.
The VHND dug up another VH story from Pearcy. This quote is from Van Halen: A Visual History, 1978-1984, by Neil Zlozower:
“I remember hearing about Van Halen from a friend in L.A. in 1977. Then I saw them at the Starwood around that time and got a chance to meet David Lee Roth. I asked him if he’d like to smoke a joint, and yes he did. After that, I was always going up to L.A. to see them. They were insane, to say the least. I was more of a guitar player/singer at the time. I collected rare, hard to find amps. I wanted to know what Eddie was using – where, how, and what. I finally got to meet him before a Whisky gig and we got to talking about gear. I had a Vox 30 amp and he used one too, but needed another to complete his double-swivel Vox setup. So he bought mine. We became good friends trading, buying, lending gear all the time. I learned a lot from Van Halen, and to this day still think they are one of the best bands to ever hit the world music scene.”