For My Sunday Song #260 and the final in the 10 song set is “Round and Round” by Ratt. The song is the first single off the band’s 1984 classic album ‘Out of the Cellar’. It reached #12 on the Hot 100 propelling the album to #7 and sells over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone. It broke the band in to one of the biggest acts in the world and the top acts in that whole 80’s Rock scene. The song was written by Warren DeMartini, Robbin Crosby and Stephen Pearcy.
The song is about a girl that he is really in to and he wants to be with her. She isn’t willing to give it up yet, but he knows he will get there in the end. The two go round and round playing all the games until the end and they both get what they knew would happen right from the start.
What makes the song great are those sleazy vocals by Stephen Pearcy matched perfectly with the nasty guitar riffs by Crosby and DeMartini and the dual solo, man, don’t get me started on that. It is all pure metal sleaze! The song is heavy, yet catchy as hell. The chorus is infectious and musically it is aggressive and pure fun. You can’t help but move and the song gets stuck in your head and can’t escape. It would be the blueprint of what was to hit the scene on the Sunset Strip and MTV for years to come!
Speaking of MTV, what really put this song over the top for the band was the video they released. Their manager at the time was Marshall Berle. Marshall had a pretty famous uncle that you might have heard of named Milton Berle, the legendary comedian. With his famous Uncle Miltie character dressed in drag, he makes an appearance in the video which draws it national attention. This video sums up the 80’s nicely.
