"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 hard ...

band Ratt from their 1984 album '' Out of the Cellar''. 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 i ...

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 a ...

's "

Dirty Diana "Dirty Diana" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It is the ninth track on Jackson's seventh studio album, ''Bad'' (1987). The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988, as the fifth single from the album. It prese ...

") 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 pantry. Some a ...

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 d ...

'' 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 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

: 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 fil ...

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 Prod ...

''. It was used during season 1 of Cobra Kai. The song was also used in the end credits for '' Billy & Mandy Save Christmas'' and in the 2008 film ''

The Wrestler The Wrestler may refer to: * ''The Wrestler'' (1974 film), an American film directed by James A. Westman * ''The Wrestler'' (2008 film), an American film directed by Darren Aronofsky * "The Wrestler" (song), a song from the 2008 film written and ...

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

GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...

, a young couple explains their new home has a Ratt problem—not a

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

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 advertise ...

'' 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, Arcade ...

– 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 Crosby ...

– 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 ban ...

– 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 car ...

– 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