In one-man show debut, ex-MTV VJ will dish rock n’ roll dirt — exclusively for Charlotte
When it comes to the heyday of hair metal and ’80s and ’90s hard rock, few were closer to the action than Riki Rachtman.
Best known as host of MTV’s “Headbanger’s Ball,” he also co-owned Hollywood’s infamous Cathouse, the hard-rock club featured heavily in Penelope Spheeris’ 1988 documentary, “The Decline of the Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.” Having since worked in radio, NASCAR, pro wrestling and — most recently — podcasts, Rachtman is finally sharing his rock n’ roll war stories for the first time with “One Foot in the Gutter,” the one-man show he’s bringing to Neighborhood Theatre on Sunday night.
Rachtman, who resides in Mooresville with his wife, recently spoke to The Charlotte Observer about sharing the wild, crazy, and un-glamorous parts of his life for the first time, and about doing so exclusively for the Queen City.
Q. How did this venture come about?
People have been asking me to write a book for decades, but the book I wanted to write isn’t the book everybody wants. There’s a lot of stuff that happened in my life that people have no idea about. I just happened to be a fly on the wall for some of the biggest moments in rock n’ roll history. I’ve always dreamed of doing what Henry Rollins does.
It’s wasn’t that long ago that I went from being host on one of the hottest TV shows and having a syndicated radio show to losing everything. From jail to being bankrupt to the power being turned off to being a car salesman. There’s the story about a relative of mine giving me cocaine when I was 13. Of course there will be salacious (tales of) sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. I want to tell those stories, but hopefully someone will find inspiration in some of these other stories. Just when you think it can’t get worse, it gets worse.
Q. How are you narrowing down what to include?
I never wanted to be that guy that goes to a party and everybody tells a story, and you have to one-up them. I kept those stories to myself. Somebody will write to me and say, “Talk about Lemmy (Kilminster of Motorhead) at your barbecue, or when Vince (Neil) and Axl (Rose) got in that fight in front of you.” These things were just parts of my life. For me to not talk about Nirvana on “Headbangers Ball” or Alice in Chains at a water park — people are nostalgic (for that).
It’ll be fun to get to a point where I (have to decide) what stories to get rid of. What about when I worked with World Championship Wrestling with Ric Flair? What about working with NASCAR? I was on Dale Jr.’s pit crew the day his father died. It’ll be every kind of story. More than sex and drugs.
Q. How did you end up in Mooresville?
I’d been to Charlotte a couple times because of NASCAR and really liked it. Then I saw how much houses are. I’d always lived in Hollywood. It’s very expensive. I rented a house here and fell in love with Mooresville in particular. I can be in Charlotte in a half-hour, or I can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in a couple of hours. The food is great. I had to make a left-hand turn once and somebody let me make a left-hand turn. People return their shopping carts.
Then I met the girl of my dreams (French tattoo artist and model Lea Vendetta, who appeared on the first season of “InkMaster”). We bought a house and I love it here. I ended up doing less for NASCAR and started the headquarters for Cathouse Apparel and Coffee.
Q. Why have the show here and not L.A.?
People are like, “How are you not having your first spoken-word show in Hollywood?” I want to do it in Charlotte. The audience won’t sit there with their arms folded and be like, “Impress me.” I hope I can bring everyone to Hollywood with me.
L.A. today is not like it was in the ’80s and ’90s. There is no music scene. It’s expensive and dangerous. The homeless situation is so sad. Plus, the Neighborhood Theatre is the only venue I’ve been to in Charlotte that reminded me of my old venue, The Cathouse. It doesn’t feel homogenized.
Q. What else do you like about the area?
I was looking for a place to park my motorcycle in Hollywood and now I have a boat. Instead of walking over junkies, I’m outside feeding deer. My mother told me, “People are going to look at you weird. You and your wife have so many tattoos.” What people don’t understand is that there are people that look like us, and the ones that don’t don’t care.
I just don’t talk politics with my neighbors. I’m glad Charlotte isn’t Nashville. I don’t want everybody to move here. People said that before I moved here. I was a Carolina Panthers fan when I lived in L.A.
Q. Why’s that?
When I was on “Headbangers Ball,” somebody from the Panthers sent me a fan letter. L.A. didn’t have a football team then.