"Round and Round" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

band

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

from their 1984 album ''

Out of the Cellar ''Out of the Cellar'' is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Ratt. Released in 1984, it was an immediate success, with wide airplay on radio and heavy rotation on MTV of its singles, especially the hit " Round and Round". The albu ...

''. It was released as a single in 1984 on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

Music video

In the song's music video,

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

(uncle of Ratt manager Marshall Berle) plays both the staid head-of-household as well as the family matron (echoing his famous

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

stunts of the 1950s). Both characters seem perturbed by the loud volume of Ratt's playing, and quickly leave the table. Meanwhile, a seemingly shy yet attractive young woman (played by Lisa Dean, who would later turn up in the video for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's " Dirty Diana") is drawn by the music to the attic. On the way upstairs to the attic, her dress and wig fall off, and she gives herself a makeover. The woman appears in the attic as a completely different person, and begins dancing to the song. At the end of the video, the

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

is dressed as a metalhead and excitedly dancing to the music in a separate room. The song's video was placed on ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' list of the 15 Essential Hair-Metal Videos.

Reception

"Round and Round" is Ratt's biggest hit single, reaching No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1984. The tune was ranked number 51 on '' VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s'' and was named the 61st best

song of all time also by VH1.

In popular culture

"Round and Round" was used in season 1 of the series ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' and season 2 of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...

''. It was used during season 1 of

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed ...

. The song was also used in the end credits for '' Billy & Mandy Save Christmas'' and in the 2008 film '' The Wrestler''. It was also featured in the rhythm video game '' Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s'' as a cover, and as a master recording in ''

Guitar Hero Smash Hits ''Guitar Hero Smash Hits'' (titled ''Guitar Hero Greatest Hits'' in Europe and Australia) is a music rhythm game and the fourth expansion game to the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game features 48 songs originally featured in five previous game ...

'' and '' Rock Band 2''. In a 2020 TV commercial for

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, a young couple explains their new home has a Ratt problem—not a rat problem, as would be a much more likely complaint for homeowners. The band is seen singing "Round and Round" in various parts of the house. The song charted again, reaching #18 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Rock Digital Song Sales Chart on June 4, 2020.

Track listing

# "Round and Round" – 4:22 # "The Morning After" – 3:33

Personnel

RATT

Stephen Pearcy Stephen Eric Pearcy (born July 3, 1956) is an American musician. He is best known as the founder, singer, songwriter and sole remaining original member of the heavy metal band Ratt. He has also created the bands Firedome, Crystal Pystal, Arcad ...

– vocals * Warren DeMartini – lead guitar *

Robbin Crosby Robbinson Lantz Crosby (August 4, 1959 – June 6, 2002) was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal band Ratt, earning several platinum albums in the US in the 1980s. Crosby died in 2002 from a heroin overdose. Early life Cros ...

– rhythm guitar *

Juan Croucier Juan Croucier (born August 22, 1959) is a Cuban-born American musician. He is best known as the bassist for the hard rock/ glam metal band Ratt. Career Croucier attended Torrance High School in Torrance, California, and played in various ...

– bass guitar and backing vocals *

Bobby Blotzer Robert John Blotzer (born October 22, 1958) is an American musician best known as the drummer for metal band Ratt. He attended Torrance High School in Torrance, California along with his Ratt bandmate Juan Croucier. Ratt Blotzer began his care ...

– drums

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Ratt 1984 singles 1984 songs Atlantic Records singles Ratt songs Song recordings produced by Beau Hill Songs written by Robbin Crosby Songs written by Stephen Pearcy Songs written by Warren DeMartini