Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy recalled the time he had his mind blown by Van Halen during a recent interview with Metal Edge.
Pearcy, who is from Long Beach, California, formed a band out of San Diego in 1977 called Mickey Ratt. In 1980, he decided to move his band to Los Angeles after seeing Van Halen for the first time. It was at a legendary club on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.
“It was at the Whisky [a Go Go],” said Pearcy. “I lived in San Diego, but a friend of mine kept saying, ‘You gotta see this band – they’re playing Gazzarri’s and they’re amazing.’ I kept missing them at Gazzarri’s, but then one time he said, ‘Okay, now they’re playing the Whisky. You’ve gotta go.’ So I figured, ‘Okay, well, I’ve seen enough of how shows work in San Diego to know that the bands go to the club early and they go in backstage…’ So I drove myself up to the Whisky and I just parked around the corner, on Clark St, and waited. And soon enough I fucking saw Dave [Lee Roth] pull up, park and walk up the steps. And I just yelled out, ‘You wanna smoke a joint?’ He said yeah, and I got in. And once I was inside I said, ‘Later! Where’s Ed?'” [laughs]
Soon after Pearcy became pals with Eddie Van Halen.
“I’d go up to L.A. and see them all the time after that, and I became good friends with Ed,” he said. “I’d go to the house where Ed lived with his mom, and he had a little cot and a little workspace with all his guitars. It was fucking amazing. And I’d go back to San Diego and tell people, ‘There’s this fucking band that’s gonna blow minds!’ ‘Yeah, yeah, sure…’ And then a year or whatever later, you know, boom!”
You can read the rest of Pearcy’s interview with Metal Edge HERE.