JULY 2 2006 Yes finally I'm telling some music stories

If when you read any of these blogs and I reference the Cathouse era I am talking 1986-1995 ish. This was the time that rock music was alive in Hollywood. I know I sound like an old relic rehashing the good ol days but they were. We didn’t know it at the time. It may seem all fun and happy like a Poison video but there was a lot of dark times as well. We thought we were all indestructible whether it came to sex or drugs. Many proved we were not. Guns n Roses were are friends as was Faster Pussycat, LA Guns,Janes Addiction, Junkyard,Blind Melon,Alice in Chains, White Zombie the list continues. We didnt expect any of us or I should say them to become some of the biggest bands in the world . The scene was different then. Yes I will say that over and over again We would go to clubs not only to see our friends bands play but just to go out. While many basked in sunlight we bathed in the light of neon. Usually you would wake up around the same times the banks were closing. There was no breakfast you started the day wth lunch.We were all nocturnal rats

 There were several places to go almost every night. Of course Cathouse Tuesdays and Bordello Thursday but then again those were my clubs. I promise in future blogs I will go into greater detail not only regarding that era but all that went down at the club. Ok not all that went down but........If you want to know more there is a watered down history lesson at www.cathousehollywood.com

If you know about the Cathouse history you probably know that the first year I opened it I was doing the club with Taime Downe who was my room mate at the time. We lived in a dumpy old apartment on Hollywood Blvd. Taime at that time was starting his own band. He took the name of his band from a Russ Meyer film  Faster Pussycat Kill Kill. Faster Pussycat went on to success with a gold record and a big hit with “House of Pain”

Today Taime and I are better friends than we were in the 80’s or 90’s. He also has a Harley so we ride quite often. For several years we were distant. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with dating my exwife at the time. Todays Blog is from July 2006. Taime and I had not spoke in years.  There was a big rock show with a lot of bands I had not seen in a long time.Poison was also on the bill . This was one year before Rock of Love so I had no idea Bret and I would be working together in the future

JULY 2 2006 Faster Pussycat, Cinderella, Poison are playing in San Bernadino
Ok I aint gonna lie here. Those bands are friends but I would never go out of my way to go see them play. Ive ALWAYS been into the heavier louder and faster stuff . Regardless I got on the Harley and rode to Blockbuster or Hyundai or whatever that place is called. I have an idea for the venue's name  how about.....Hell.
It was way over 100 degrees and for some reason no matter who takes care of me I NEVER have the right passes...Ever. Iswore after Ozzfest I would not go back to that place ever.
.. So after going back and forth I get a working pass go inside and the 1st person I see is Bret Michaels from Poison....I may not have been the biggest Poison supporter but I do have to say this. Brett Michaels truly is one of the good rock guys out there. Very nice very genuine and I hate complimenting people. He made sure me and my friends were all dialed in. He didnt have to do that. We didnt even ask...... I went to look up my old roomate Taime from Faster Pussycat. I had not seen him in years .We  had a falling out but we really need to talk about the Cathouse 20th anniverasry. Of course Faster Pussycat needs to be one of the bands on the bill. Not only was Taime such a big part of the club Faster Pussycat even have a song called “Cathouse” These days Faster Pussycat is not like they used to be .Very Black very dark very goth.more Marilyn Manson than Hanoi Rocks.

       First band on was Faster Pussycat. I can not tell you when I saw this band last. I think once 5 years ago and all the songs had a more techno vibe and I wasnt digging it. The time before that was probably another 5 years. So Taime and the "new Faster Pussycat took the stage. All dressed in Black, perfect for 105 degrees. It was a more goth look darker almost german army. Nope no light colors or shiny things. If I thought the band sucked I would have no problem telling you that. They didint they opened with a new song I think it was called Power and the Glory hole. the song was great no it really was. His old songs were perfect and the boy can still do House of Pain as good or better than the past. Gayle (Mrs Rachtman) never saw  any of these bands. .She really liked the show.
Only complaint. Very curious
The song wasnt called "Best Cathouse in Town" anymore it was something else I dont even know what they said.Perhaps the word Cathouse was left out due to some bitterness.
. So would i go see Faster Pussycat in another 5 years ?
Hey I would go see them again tomorrow. Good job Taime......

Next on was  the band Slaughter which meant it was time to go find something to eat. Or do anything else..Backstage  It was great catching up with old friends.  It was a reunion of a lot of people I used to work and play with. The next "old friend " I ran into was Fred Coury of Cinderella. Fred and I were very close back in the day. We recalled going to lonely guy Christmas dinners at Sixx's house . We were the guys that didnt have girlfriends not to say we did not have girls just no relationships. Fred and I would go to Vegas and pretend we were highrollers . Fred is one of those really nice guys. I gave him the name cupcake because of that. It became a running joke. One year on Headbangers Ball he called into the show while I was pelted with cupcakes. Ya maybe next time let them thaw a little.

Cinderella has a problem.
They are lumped into that whole 80's hair band  thing. Deserved they did have some pretty silly costumes back in the day but the truth is. The band has songs. Good songs. Songs that I would put in a category with Aerosmith . Yes I think they are that good. They put on a killer show. I was always a fan of Tom Kieffers blusey voice and the man can play some scorching leads too. Cinderella's music does not sound dated at all. I remember when they had a record release party in New Orleans. One night the guys in the band and I went to Bourbon St.
Tom got up on stage with a bunch of ol blues guys and belted out the blues enough to gain some respect from the ol timers. This was not some hipster club. It was an old run down "real blues bar" Tom was the only white cat on stage. I would go see Cinderella again and I may dig up some old records and start playing them again. The show was incredible. I suggest checking them out and for you young pups. Give them a listen

Now on to Poison. Ya know I will tell you this. The band does appear to be having fun on stage and the audience was digging it. The fans were a majority of 40 year old screaming like they were 2 decades younger. They didnt seem like a bunch of relic's. Was I ever a big POISON fan ? NO but the show was a blast. Ididnt think I was going to have a good time but I did. See I did not use the word “nothin” Funny how I appreciate certain bands more now than I did.
On the way home I listened to Lamb of God

JUNE 28 2006- Rebel without a Clue

At these point I was still new to My Space. I had a few hundred “friends”. I was still hesitant to believe in the whole social networking trend that was starting to grow. I get side tracked when I write and instead of going back and writing over I just change directions. Thats how my mind works so go with it people. You may also have noticed that I don’t use spell check. Lately I’ve received a few comments on twitter that I use your when I should use you’re. Another mistake I make frequently  is using their when I should be using there.  you will find many misspellings and grammatical errors in these blogs but if you haven’t noticed I am working on it in the present.  You may  also notice some of my twitter posts  use i’n  instead of in. OK. I have no idea  why that happens it’s an iPhone thing. As I began to blog more in mid 2006  I started giving reviews on some of the random movies I watch or shows I go to.

JUNE 28 2006
 I love watching great movies.  Truth is rarely do I see movies that I recommend. I wouldn’t say I’m a movie snob I just like what I like. I like to be affected I like to be sucked in and for the movie to leave some sort of impression on me. As a teenager  I was never part of the in crowd. all I cared about was skate boarding and punk rock. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I even started dating. I was never uncomfortable going to movies by myself.  I must have been 18 years old. there was a movie theater in Studio City on Ventura Boulevard.  I believe it was called La Reina. Of course it is not there anymore. I dont know what it was that had brought me to that part of the valley that day  but the marquee at the theater said in big letters. JAMES DEAN-DOUBLE BILL “East of Eden” and “Rebel without a Cause”  before I continue do not get confused and think that this was in the early 50s which is when those movies were released. It was probably 30 years since those movies had been in the theatre. I am not that old..I was however   enamored by 50s culture..I loved Rock a Billy and the scene that surrounded era which was  showing a resurgence in the early 80s. I knew James Dean like Marilyn Monroe  were far bigger stars and icons in death than they were when they were alive. I purchased my one ticket and watched the movie “East of Eden”.  I am sure there were several times my jaw dropped and the licorice whips fell to the sticky floor. James Dean  had away with portraying teenage angst on the screen that spoke directly to me. You  could not find any correlations between myself and the character Cal  that James Dean portrayed in the movie. I lived  with my mother and stepfather and sister in Van Nuys. “East of Eden”  was based  around the time of World War I. Cal must compete with his brother Aaron to get the love from his father. I’m not going to continue  because if you didn’t see this movie I want you to go out and rent it.  I will just say the movie left a long-standing impression on me. Next was “Rebel without a Cause” Another incredible  classic film exploring the troubles a teenager goes through in order to fit in. Once again I’m not   describing the movie at all I just want you to rent it. The point  I was trying to make was that when I see a movie I want that movie to grab me and take me on a journey. I dont care if its going to make me laugh  or scare the shit out of me. Just make me feel something ok.

This is what I’m talking about people.  I was going to give you a quick movie review and took half a page telling you about two James Dean movies I’d seen .

Last night I rented "The Worlds Fastest Indian" What a great movie. Anthony Hopkins at his best. One of the movies I need to buy to watch again a few years later.
I have always had  a hard time relaxing so I’ve been renting movies lately trying to clear my head. I’ve been focusing on the Cathouse 20th anniversary. This really is a big deal for me.
I have not announced the date yet and the event has  already received press in Decibel magazine and THURS. The LOS ANGELES TIMES will be letting the cat out of the bag. I didnt tell them anything I didnt even go after the press yet Thursdays paper will be  releasing some of the details

 that wraps up June 2006. This blog page is still new I am experimenting I hope this is working out ok. I plan on reposting old blogs and everything printed in red will be my comments today. Please if you are reading these blogs let me know what you think. Of course these are all very vanilla but I assure you some of the upcoming posts will surprise you.

June 7-June 16 2006 This is where I stepped into the pile of Social Networking for the 1st time

12/20/2010. As we begin a little background of what was going on in 2006. I had purchased a house in Corona CA and had lived there 2 years. I was offered a deal to do a movie about my life and the Cathouse. I held out for months but the deal was sweet and I had a lot of control. As you will see you need to be teflon in this business. So many promises that get you excited then fade away. In upcoming blogs I will talk more about what led me to this spot but lets continue ok?

 I believe talk radio is a good medium to get your point across but of course we can't all be on the radio. There is also talking to a real human or even calling them on the phone. It's not like that anymore  These days we have  changed everything and we do everything backward.Not only do we rarely speak we do it via texts and children of all ages text constantly. It drives me nuts to see a family at a table in a restaurant and everybody is staring down at their smart phone. Seems dumb. Does anyone realize texting is actually a step backward from a phone call. Hey kids check this out its called morse code . So in June of 2006 I went kicking and screaming over to Myspace. Many of you were on Friendster at the time which I never could get logged on to. I also thought the word Blog was weird. It sounds like clog. "Dr my arteries are blogged" Once I started I never stopped. Here are my first blogs
JUNE 7 2006-Ok Ive just set up this My space page and have yet to send 1 request. I dont know how into the whole My Space thing Im going to be but what the hell its up.


JUNE 8 2006- 2 days now has MySpace changed my life? No Nope? I am so late on the whole thing but gimme some time I guess. Pretty hectic getting my schedule together. Looks like Im doing another VH1 countdown show. 80's music.
If you think Im doing all these for money or exposure your wrong. The reason I do all those shows is....I like it. To me this is fun. Im also appearing on a station on Kalamazoo next week. WRKR. Its good a new affiliate for my radio show" Racingrocks. I think we are at 94 stations now. Ok enough is enough. The Mac is on and now I have to write and stare at a computer for 8-9 hours. GO CANES. Ya Im actually excited about the Stanley Cup

JUNE 9 2006  Heard a song from Cult the new Slayer album. The song is fuckin great it sounds like......SLAYER

JUNE 9 2006Ya Ya I know some of my friends could care less about NASCAR. Many of you probably dont know thats a majority of my income. I host a nationally syndicated radio show called Racing Rocks. It is heard on 94 stations across the country. I also host several events for Chevy. Soooo as I was saying. I made a bet in Feb. That I would shave my head bald when Jeff Burton driver of the ..31 won a race. He has not won since 2001 but the way he has been running this year. This Sunday in Pocono could be the day. WARNING. I look like Curious George when Im bald. For months now there has been talk about Cathouse Las Vegas. Im over dealing with these people. It is not happening.  The Movie -4th script has been turned in still waiting. The big one thats been running through my head like a ferret on crack is THE CATHOUSE 20th Anniversary. I have yet to find a location but I have decided the first event will be in L.A.

Its pretty high on my priority list now...... 

Heres a little background. There is a method to my madness You will see the shave my head bet was actually a ploy and it worked to my benefit. It was also around this time I was offered a nice deal to make a movie about the Cathouse . The movie was brought to me I ended up turning them down several times. This was also the time I started thinking about the Cathouse 20th anniversary. If you dont know what the cathouse is go to www.cathousehollywood.com

JUNE 13 2006 Ya know Ive always hated those people that talked the talk but....never walked it. On CathouseHollywood.com I have been coming off as one of those . There was talk about Cathouse Las Vegas. Never happened. The Movie -4th script has been turned in still waiting. Now the thing I'm stressing about is THE CATHOUSE 20th Anniversary.I have yet to find a location but I have decided the first event will be in L.A.

Its pretty high on my priority list now...... It will not be in a large location so when tickets go on sale gettum.

Here is where we stand now. I dont have a date I have not secured a loctaion.

When I have the date I will announce it  Thats it for a while. Details here before anywhere else

JUNE 14 2006 Back at VH1 today this time the Greatest songs of the 80's. IF ithere is a number in the title Im probably doing the show. This one should be fun. Its not just metal songs of the 80's. Kajagoogoo,Wham you name it. I got started as a dj in some LA clubs. ( little known fact). I was damn good too. I could mix with the best of em. ya I could do the whole scratching thing but that was in 84-85.Having a DJ in a rock band was far from the norm. I remember certain songs for different reasons. Gap Band- Party Train was over 7 minutes so if ya had to take a piss that was the song I would play. I cant remember normal shit these days but all those songs are stuck in my head. No really try to stump me. Name a new wave hit I know who did it. Sad eh?

June 15 2006

Thanks for the Birthday greetings. So far instead of going for a run or going to the gym Ive had a maple scone and some kind of Apple fritter thing. Thanks Gayle.I love doughnuts

So I taped 100 greatest songs of the 80's for VH1 yesterday. It was a good time. My memory is shot. I cant remember most of the Cathouse days or better yet what I did last weekend. However that 80s music stuff Its stuck in my head. Not just metal or punk. All of it New Wave, Hiphop. How the hell did I remember songs from "The Outfield" or words to Hall and Oates.

When I hosted a talk radio show in LA called Riki Rachtman Radio I used to do a segment called New Wave Brain where listeners would call in and try to stump me by naming a song title and I would say the band or visa versa. If you ever heard that show you know I was the Ruler......OH WELL THere goes my Metal / Punk street cred......Oh yeah... I never had any anyways.......The only drag of the whole day was fuckin traffic. I rode my motorcycle it was about 170 miles round trip. Traffic sucked and I am getting reall pissed off at morons talking on cell phones while they drive. Any other bikers know what Im talking about....Cut me off while your on your cell and I WILL PULL UP NEXT TO YOU AND GIVE YOUR DOOR A LITTLE TAP WITH THE STEEL TOE. Ok enough . Got to go edit some nascar stuff for the radio show....Getting older doesnt mean you have to Age

JUNE 16 2006

Ok this makes sense. I started my day with a run.The came home and found a maple scone from Starbucks. Those things have more fat in them then your supposed to consume in a day. Hey this isn't Riki talk is it?

So most of Fridays are spent working on my radio show racing rocks but I have been consumed with putting this Cathouse 20th anniversary together. No kidding I have recieved emails from out of the country asking for the date so people could come out. That puts more pressure on. This aint no money gig for me. My Ego is huge and I want to throw one last historic event. Yup shut them all up. Show em how its done. Of course Ill need some favors from some freinds...............................I believe the Cathouse is really what molded me more than anything Ive done in my past