BOBBY BLOTZER Says His Comment About RATT 'Always Crushing MÖTLEY CRÜE Musically' Was 'Blown Out Of Proportion'

Bobby Blotzer says that his recent comment that RATT's "always crushed MÖTLEY CRÜE musically" was blown out of proportion.

Earlier in the month, while talking to the "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell" podcast, the RATT drummer addressed the fact that bands like MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOURNEY have seemingly been able to put aside personal differences between their various bandmembers and continue touring, performing at arenas and stadiums around the world.

"RATT's always crushed MÖTLEY musically," Bobby said. "I think they got more press — [they were associated with] movie stars, explicit sex, murders and shit… so they were always in the magazines. And you know what? They deserve what they got. I don't think they'd wanna go toe-to-toe with us, that's for sure."

Now in a new interview with Artists On Record Starring ADIKA Live!, Blotzer elaborated on his comments while addressing the possibility of the classic RATT lineup reuniting to celebrate the BMG/Rhino Entertainment release of "The Atlantic Years: 1984-1991", a limited-edition box set celebrating RATT's massively successful period where all five of their studio albums were certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I did an interview three weeks ago, and I said to this question with my friend Troy Patrick Farrell — he's got some podcast as well — and he goes right in, man, and starts asking me this stuff: 'Hey, what about MÖTLEY? What about…?' I mean, it wasn't even, like, 'Hey, dude? How're you doing, man? What's happening?' I guess we do that on a regular phone call.

"But in any case, the answer to [the] question [about a possible RATT reunion] is this… Me and Stephen [Pearcy, RATT singer] are on the phone all the time. [We've been] trying [to put together a RATT] reunion [for] two years now… And I just saw an interview with him. I sent him a text, I go, 'Dude, you're throwing me under the bus? What is wrong with you?' 'Cause they were asking him, 'What do you think about Bobby saying that RATT crushes MÖTLEY?' I mean, what I said on that, as the question went from Troy, he said, 'I was talking [SiriusXM radio personality] Eddie Trunk and he was telling me he thought that RATT's catalog blows MÖTLEY CRÜE's away.' And I said, 'It does, in my opinion.' And I'm sure MÖTLEY said the same shit about us. But I respect them, to a certain degree. I mean, I definitely respect their career. I mean, how can you not? So that was blown out of proportion. And then Stephen did an interview and he was, like, 'Yeah, Bob's out there trying to talk about a reunion. Good luck.' And I'm, like, 'Dude, I was just on the phone with you two days ago trying to figure out how much movement we made in the last two months.'"

Regarding the likelihood of RATT's classic lineup doing any shows in the near future, Bobby said: "I want a reunion. We want a reunion. Warren, I understand, wants to take a meeting. That's all I can say about it. If it happens, it happens. If not… I don't need a job. I'm fine. I'd like to rock some more.

"With the help of next year being the 40th anniversary of [RATT's debut album] 'Out Of The Cellar', perhaps we can do something. I was talking to people over at Warner Music/BMG on how we could do a special reissue of 'Out Of The Cellar'. And we were kicking around some ideas, and I said, 'Hey, you guys, maybe you can help reboot the band, going out and doing a reunion.'

"So, I don't know, folks," he added. "Contact Warren DeMartini, [RATT bassist] Juan Croucier. Juan and Stephen aren't best of friends right now, even though they have control of the name. Still, as always, it's a fight, it's in shambles. But when we do it, if we get in a room, it's gonna be funny, fun — let's go. People have gotta understand how much fun we have and not how much grief we have in the band."

When Blotzer initially discussed the prospect of a classic RATT reunion with "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell", he said: "I'm always hoping that this is gonna go down for my own peace of mind and my sleep at night. The 'RATTmares' that I was having for eight years during the litigation were pretty disturbing. It's better now, 'cause it's all over, that bit of it. So now that it is over, that is where it should… Everybody should just brush it off. If we can have a war with Japan and then sell their fucking TVs 10, 15 years later, I think RATT can get up there and shake their butts, make some money, make the people happy, the kids come out, et cetera.

"We're talking," Bobby continued. "Me and Stephen talk about it all the time. We're trying to get hold of Warren. We have somebody in our ring, in our corner, who's hopefully gonna work with us, for us and with us, on a managerial level, and he has reached Warren via the telephone, which we haven't been able to do. It's okay — if he doesn't wanna talk, he doesn't wanna talk. But I think he knows that me and Stephen wanna do it.

"There's some complications, and I don't wanna speak for Stephen and stuff, but him and his partner, Mr.Croucier, have some sloppy ends to tie up before this happens with or without… It's just too vague right now to speak of," Blotzer added. "It has to happen, though. If it doesn't happen with this new release… We've had other greatest-hits [releases] — probably, like, five or six of 'em; I don't even know. I don't keep count; I just look at what's on the check when they come in. But this was the big one. So it would be great if we were doing this. I would we would do it next year. Obviously, it's late in the year now — getting to be late in the year. It's too late to mount a tour, which is generally booked the year before, around September the previous year. Next year [will be] 40 years since '[Out Of The] Cellar' came out, so that's when I hope we do it then. I feel like it's inevitable, but… I don't know. I think everybody's gotta realize the fans wanna see us one more time up there in all the glory."

During the "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell" chat, Bobby also touched upon JOURNEY, whose inner-band squabbles have been in the headlines in recent months. He said: "Listen, you would never think that someone as huge and widespread as JOURNEY would succumb to this kind of Internet babble. I know that I was on the Internet quite a few times, and I was airing dirty laundry, man, 'cause I was not letting certain people like Stephen and that sort, 'I'm quttin' the band. I'm going out and playin' the tunes', it's not gonna go without somebody understanding that this isn't reasonable to us, the other guys in the group. Either way, I wish I would have, in hindsight, not spoken up."

Pearcy is the only member of RATT's classic lineup who has been actively touring, performing many of the RATT's hits with his solo band.

In April 2021, Pearcy was joined by Blotzer during the RATT singer's livestream concert from the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.

RATT — featuring Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini — played a number of shows in 2017 after reforming a year earlier in the midst of a highly publicized legal battle with Blotzer over the rights to the RATT name. They were joined at the gigs by guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on 2010's "Infestation" album, and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

Addressing his legal disputes with the other members of RATT's classic lineup, Bobby told "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell": "It's taken the life out of me as far as the love of the game here. I'll come back with the mothership, RATT, but I'm not really set up to go, 'Hey, let's put something together, Keri Kelli and Robbie Crane,' or whomever. I went through so much in that litigation. And that wasn't the first one, because we were at it with Stephen in 2002 for two and a half years in federal court. It was intense and it was costly. And just what it cost you in your spirit and your heart and your soul, that's where it broke down for me. So right now I'm kind of retired. I know I can go out and rock and tour, but it would have to be starting with RATT, I think. That's the level I wanna do it at."

According to Bobby, RATT has already turned down massive money to reunite for one or more shows. "We've had some pretty huge offers," he told "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell". "This is no joke — we had a million-and-two-fifty-[thousand] offer to open a new arena, and everybody turned it down. I was shocked. I was, like, 'Man…' These are the kind of decisions that chipped away at the infrastructure of doing business in the band. But I don't have any, really, grudges that I can carry around anymore with these guys; I just don't. It's not healthy. And I do love RATT, and I love the guys. I know if we all got into a room and we were looking eye-to-eye, everybody would start laughing and cutting up jokes. It would be a little awkward at first, but I've been there and done it with this. A band that's been around this long, we've done this — been there and done it. So I don't know why we can't do it when others, probably more salacious and dysfunctional, like a MÖTLEY CRÜE [can]. I don't know."

Blotzer went on to offer a "theory" as to why RATT hasn't been able to come back together for a tour when MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOURNEY have overcome their personal differences to play for their fans. He said: "My theory is you can't be a democracy in a band. It doesn't work. You've got too many people voting. You need a leader. And I think that's what MÖTLEY has with [bassist] Nikki Sixx and Allen Kovac, their manager, our old manager. Those two lead the charge. Nikki has always led the charge. And you know what? They listen. And they know where the big stuff is. And they still want it. Some of us, maybe, in this band don't want it. I don't know."

Pressed about why he thinks some members of RATT are not motivated by the idea of getting a hefty paycheck and performing for thousands of adoring fans again, Bobby told "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell": "Like I said a few minutes ago, Warren has stated to somebody that, if we do this, is likely gonna be holding down the managerial position, and [Warren] said he was willing to get in and listen, which is way more than he has said… He's said nothing, really. I only hear tidbits from mutual friends that he speaks to. So I can't speak to… He just kind of sounds like he's done. I don't know if that's really where his heart is.

"See, we make good money sittin' on our asses at home," Blotzer added. "And it's been really a blessing that our royalties have grown in such a way that it's lucrative not going out. And then for the mind baggage that certain people think it's gonna entail, which history has proven that that happens, that might be the fear factor. I hope that that, if we can all get into a room and play, it would dissipate very quickly, in my opinion."

Last June, Pearcy told Atlantic City Weekly that RATT was supposed to do "a big summer tour" in 2022. "I initiated doing something if the [surviving] guys [from the classic lineup] would get together," he revealed. "But there is no reason for them to do it or a need for them to do it, so I decided to just go out solo. And I am better off. Some of these guys [in my solo band] have been with me 18, 20 years. So if you want to Ratt & Roll, come see my shows."