Stephen Pearcy Questions ‘True Integrity’ of Bobby Blotzer’s Ratt, Drummer Claims Band Divide ‘Not My Undoing’
What will become of Ratt in 2017? Fans have been watching with a close eye in recent months as onetime band members Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini and Juan Croucier have shared their intent to proceed in 2017 with their own lineup, while drummer Bobby Blotzer has laid claim to the name and toured with his own version of Ratt over the past year. This had led to a legal matter, with the trio of former Ratt members believing that a recent court judgment has cleared the way for things to resume this year, while Blotzer is claiming that WBS, Inc., the band's business partnership that he is part of, currently holds the rights to the name. In separate interviews, Pearcy and Blotzer addressed the situation at hand.
Speaking with All That Shreds, Pearcy stated that he's not a fan of Blotzer's actions, taking the band's name and touring with musicians that aren't part of the classic lineup. "That was a bad move not only for our fans but for business and the true integrity of the entity," says Pearcy. "So hence this person created all these things going down. I don’t want to mention names or bad rap or nothing because justice is peace and things are done and taken care of and like I say the dust has pretty much settled and we’re going out and doing our thing."
He added, "There’s a lot of this mess created but one thing you can’t do especially a person who didn’t write music or anything is try to change a course of history and its four member’s you know and that was the worst thing I thought possible you know we’re not one’s to get out there and chit chat for the sake of doing it. It’s not like the Hitler approach where you tell the people the same thing enough they’ll believe it. Our audience isn’t that stupid. They’re very smart they’ve been around for thirty years you know. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of them hence things took care of themselves pretty much and so we’re moving ahead."
In the course of the chat, he revealed that he and DeMartini have begun writing, and as keen eyed fans have noticed, the Pearcy-on-vocals lineup of Ratt have begun booking shows for 2017. He also revealed that there is no reconciliation coming with Blotzer, and that he, DeMartini, Croucier and Carlos Cavazo are working together and will address the drummer situation when the time comes.
Meanwhile, Blotzer has posted on his Facebook a message about some of the lies and misinformation he claims are out there about the Ratt situation. Though the Pearcy-led Ratt are moving forward, he claims that the recent legal case concerning Juan Croucier has not resulted in a final judgment concerning the name.
"This is not the deed to the house, nor even the car pink slip, folks," says Blotzer. "Until the court gives a FINAL judgment, everything stays status quo, i.e. WBS maintains ownership of the trademark Ratt and still has the right to tour until this is resolved. This is why you have seen Ratt out there on tour with me and the guys kicking ass all over after the summary judgement ruling."
As for the Blotzer-led Ratt recently not playing a scheduled late December show, the drummer reveals that his former bandmates issued a cease-and-desist letter to the venue just shortly before he was boarding his last flight on the way to the venue. When the venue asked them to play minus the Ratt logo backdrop, Blotzer balked. "Clearly these guys did this as a F.U. on me. They did not care about the fans," states the drummer, who reveals that plans are already underway to make up the show.
Speaking about the Pearcy-led Ratt booking shows and utilizing the Ratt name on concert bills, he cautions, "[They] are involved in trademark infringement. These promoters have been sold a car with fake Ratt plates and are now being dragged into this collusion of trademark infringement. Big time. Here's what’s happening next. We have such incriminating truth that we've provided to the court. What I don’t get is that for five years I tried to rally these guys together, and NOW they’re good to go on tour?"
He continues later, "I simply wanted to tour… They didn't. They didn't speak to each other till they saw the huge success we had this past year. We did 70 or so shows, and grossed more money on this tour than any tour Ratt has done in 20 years past. I tried to keep the originals and the rest together. This isn’t my undoing." The next key date in the Ratt legal matter comes with a hearing on Jan. 23. Stay tuned to see how it all plays out. To see Blotzer's entire posting, head here.
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