From 1990-1995, many tuned in to MTV’s Headbangers Ball to get their weekly dose of metal via videos, interviews, and news – hosted by Riki Rachtman, who had previously co-owned the famous LA metal club, the Cathouse. Recently, Rachtman has launched his own one-man spoken word show, entitled One Foot In The Gutter (after the trademark phrase that he would sign off each Headbangers Ball episode with). 

And in August, he will be taking his one-man show out on the road once again, with stops in Texas, Arizona, and a special homecoming show in Hollywood (check out the Cathouse site for a list of dates and to purchase tickets). Rachtman spoke with BraveWords correspondent Greg Prato about how the show came about, what attendees can expect, and what the feedback has been thus far. 

BraveWords: How did the idea come up to do a spoken word show?

Riki Rachtman: “I have pretty much spent many, many decades watching all my friends go out on the road. And there was jealousy, envy, and I always thought, ‘That would be so cool to go on tour.’ I also obviously like to talk, and everybody has been asking me for decades to write a book. And I always thought the book I would write might not be the book that everybody expects. And then something happened where I was going to do a Cathouse night, and one of the bands fell through, and they said, ‘Why don’t you just do something else here?’ And I said, ‘What if I just do this storytelling show?’ For me, I’d watched Henry Rollins [do spoken word] so many times, and I was like, ‘I can do this storytelling show, but it will be multimedia, it will be a lot of comedy, some inspirational.’ And I did my first show in Charlotte, and the show ended up being well over three hours. Which I didn’t plan on that happening. It was sold out at a big venue and it was the best time I ever had. And it was the first time that I walked off stage and thought, ‘Wow. I really like this, more than anything I’ve ever done in my career. I really love doing these shows.’ 

“And then I tweaked them a little bit more, and then four shows came up, and then eleven shows, and then eighteen shows, and then four shows in Australia. I mean, I sold out in Sydney! And now I’ve got these final eight shows, and there’s nothing that I’m more satisfied with than these shows. Because I really put my heart into it, and a lot of it is very personal. But to read the reviews and to see that people of all ages – not just my age group – go to the shows and really dig it, that’s very flattering. Because if you liked me on Headbangers Ball, you’ll probably like the videos [in the show]. You didn’t watch Headbangers Ball to see me, you didn’t go to the Cathouse to see me. But if you go to the show, you’re there because you know I’m going to be telling some stories, so it’s also very flattering. I’ve been working a long time since the ‘80s, but I’ve always been doing stuff that I always thought, ‘Nobody’s here to see me. They all want me to play these videos, or come to my club to see girls or Guns N’ Roses.’ So, this was something that I did on my own, and that I’m very proud of.”

BraveWords: How much of the show is pre-planned, and how much of the show do you do off the cuff?

Riki Rachtman: “Well, considering that there’s a lot of videos and photos in the show, there is without a doubt a format. Because there are so many great stories that people want to hear, and for me to make up a different show every week means that there wouldn’t be most of those great stories. But is every show exactly the same? No. Every show I feed off the crowd, I don’t know where I’m going to go. It’s not scripted – it just gets bullet points of, ‘You know you’ve got to start this, you know you’ve got to start that.’ And some parts of the show are almost like a play – I take everybody into my room in the ‘70s, and discover certain bands that were so important on vinyl. The show goes in so many different directions.”

BraveWords: Why do you think spoken word shows have become so popular for rock personalities to do?

Riki Rachtman: “I think there are a couple of reasons. I think I separate my show because it’s kind of like a play – there’s a lot of photos and video and effects that are in my show. It’s more like this presentation. But for people like Bruce Dickinson – who does a phenomenal show – it’s just like they can go out on tour and play some performances and they don’t have to bring a band and just go up and tell the stories. I think some people like doing it. It’s also much easier. Y’know, there are a lot of bands that probably shouldn’t be touring, but if they got up there and told stories, for us rock fans, what a cool way to learn more about our favorite bands than to hear them talk and hear these stories coming from them. I think it’s more personal. Whether they’re in halls of 2,000 or 200, it still feels very personal.”

BraveWords: Can you give some hints about a few topics you touch upon in your show?

Riki Rachtman: “There’s many stories that people have heard about or read about in the books – whether it’s Axl/Bowie, Axl/Vince, the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. But I’m telling these stories how they really happened – because I was there. I’m not some writer talking about the ‘80s/’90s scene. I was a big part of it and the Cathouse was a big part of it – and all of the things that I did. Some of the stories people know, but a lot of them they have no idea. And I’m very open about, ‘People don’t know about the drugs, the arrests, the bankruptcies, the fucked up relationships, the different band things that happened in and around Headbangers Ball or the Cathouse. So, it’s all of that. For me to just talk about the shows, it sounds like I’m doing nothing but boasting, but all anybody has to do is read any of the reviews – in America or Australia – and it speaks for itself. I like it that people don’t know what they’re getting when they show up – because you don’t. And from the very get-go, it’s a unique show. And like I said, I’m very proud of it, and very flattered that people enjoy it.”

BraveWords: What has the feedback been like thus far from the shows, and have any renowned rock musicians seen the show?

Riki Rachtman: “There were people that showed up that I didn’t even know were going to show up. When I was in New York, Alan Robert from Life of Agony was there, and Jami Morgan from Code Orange showed up. But it’s the LA show that’s a whole different story – which is August 13th. Because the LA show, I have a lot of people that are in the stories that I talk about. People that I knew as kids that became a big rock band, people that were in big rock bands that went to the Cathouse, of course Taime [Downe, of Faster Pussycat and who Riki co-owned the Cathouse with]. There are so many people that are part of these stories that are all coming to the LA show. Not only is that show almost sold out, but that’s going to be the show that I figured, ‘I’ve got to film a show.’ 

“So I’m going to get a camera crew there and I’m going to film that show. And that’s going to be the show that’s going to be very interesting, because so many people from my show are going to be in the audience. When I’m talking about this person doing drugs in the VIP room, I have to look out and see that person! So, I’ve put a lot of thought into that LA show, but I can’t change it just because we’re in LA. If anything, there will be more stuff, because if I talk about certain artists or certain places, most of the people in the audience were at the Cathouse or part of the Sunset Strip. Or know some of these people I talk about. Or know the answers to some of these little pop culture items. So, the LA show is definitely going to be unique.”