For those of you who followed the Sunset Strip scene in the 70's & early 80's, you know that Van Halen owned the Strip long before their 80's counterparts, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue and RATT. Van Halen had been playing in Pasadena backyards since 1972....with its first Sunset Strip gig at Gazzarri's in 1974.
Quite obviously, Diamond Dave, Eddie, Alex, & Micheal were groundbreaking at the time and paved the way for the Explosion of Decadence that was yet to come, called "The 80's".
We, here at Stephen Pearcys' "Top Fuel" Headquarters want to give a Big Shout Out to David Lee Roths camp. Thanking them for the Instagram post that shows RATT in a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode, in which Robbin Crosby, Warren DiMartini, & Stephen Pearcy all share stories of the impact that Van Halen had on them in those early, defining years.
diamonddaveleeroth Members of Ratt talk about the first time they saw Van Halen! Cool stuff! 🐁🐭🐁🐭🐁🐭💎🎸🔥🎶⚡💥💯⭐🤟
What you might not know is that Stephen Pearcy, not only attended those early Van Halen gigs in the late 70's but also became fast friends with David Lee Roth & Eddie Van Halen. Sharing a love of guitars, EVH & SP would swap amps and parts, Stephen would bring friends (Robbin, Tommy, Chris) to hang out at Alex & Eddie's house in Pasadena, (where both brothers still lived with their parents). It wasn't uncommon for Stephen to go to Eddies house only to find him completely disassembling one guitar as he turned it into another. Prior to Stephen making his move to L.A. on New Years Day 1980, he would drive up from San Diego to watch his friends band, Van Halen, play The Whiskey & Gazzarris, oftentimes as he sat side stage next to Eddies amp.
So by the time Van Halen would play San Diego in 1979, Stephen and Robbin were the first ones Eddie called when he realized that he needed more amps to knock out the San Diego crowd with a wall of amps rather than just a stack. Listen here to that very gig ...
As Stephen hit the Sunset Strip scene with his band, Mickey RATT .... shortened to RATT, in 1981, it wouldn't be long before he, too, was enjoying the taste of success brought about by RATT's 1984 debut album "Out of the Cellar". The album shot up the charts and went Triple Platinum. Soon enough, he and Eddie would be neighbors.
So there you have it...the cool history about the friendship between David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, and Stephen Pearcy.
Cheers to a Very Good Friend, Mr. Roth and a Million Thank You's for the Shout Out on the DiamondDavidLeeRoth Instagram page. It was our pleasure to tell VH1 how Van Halen not only inspired RATT, but literally changed the game for everyone in Rock n' Roll.
Author: #misstruthadare
