For My Sunday Song #252, we are going to go through “Way Cool Jr.” by Ratt. The song is off their 1988 album ‘Reach for the Sky” which was produced by legendary Beau Hill. The song was the first single off the album and didn’t really light the world on fire. It only went to #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 so no Top 40 for this one. The band was on the downslope of their career but it was songs like this that still kept me interested in the band.
The song was written by Stephen Pearcy, William DeMartini and Beau Hill. It seems to be about a handsome fella that was living his best life and thought he was so cool and that all the women loved him. He was slick, charismatic and probably wore sunglasses inside. He wasn’t a good guy though as he was a drug dealer and getting everyone high. The lyrics make you think he is a blues guitarist, but he is serving something else. It shows the glamours side and the seedy side and is full of contradictions. There has even rumors that the song is about Robbin Crosby who was deep in to the throes of heroin by this point.
Now there is also a possibility this song is about Elvis as he came from Memphis and was really cool guy hanging with the blues crowd that is where he got that sound. He is good-looking and the women love him. Either way, it is pretty cool.
Musically, the song is pure blues rock and roll from the gritty slide guitars by Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby and Bobby Blotzer playing the harmonica and cleaning things with his washboard. Juan Croucier is laying down a funky rhythm on bass and Steven Pearcy struts around on the vocals laying out his coolness for the world to hear. It is a cheesy, over the top song and for me this wasn’t your typical 80’s glam song, it had a little more style and depth musically.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 