Lovin' You's A Dirty Job
by Ratt

Album: Detonator (1990)
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Songfacts®:

  • This slice of Ratt and Roll is a play on the phrase, "It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it." Lead singer Stephen Pearcy plays the part of a guy whose girl puts him through the paces. No matter how difficult she makes his life, he's determined to stick it out. He's the man for this dirty job.
  • Pearcy, Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini and bass player Juan Croucier wrote this song with Desmond Child, a hitmaker whose credits include "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" by Aerosmith and "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss. That big chorus with lots of harmony vocals is his trademark.

    The song was a departure from previous Ratt material, which they wrote themselves. "Piecing together these songs that aren't really hard-rock/metal/Hollywood/Sunset Strip trips from the '80s, we step outside the box," Pearcy told Songfacts. "With Desmond, we got some great songs. There's a lot of Desmond in there lyrically."
  • This was the lead single from Ratt's fifth album, Detonator. It's loaded with songs co-written and produced by Desmond Child, which is a formula for success, but it didn't connect, and the album was Ratt's first not to go Platinum. A lot of it had to do with band discord; guitarist Robbin Crosby developed a drug addiction and left that band a short time later. Ratt broke up in 1992 and didn't return to action until 1996.

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