Rachtman Tunes In With ‘Loveline’ : Radio: He has gone from roaming rock clubs to dispensing advice to young listeners on KROQ.

“Everybody talks about the skeletons in their closet. Well, that’s mine right there,” says Riki Rachtman, referring to his appearance in the film “The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.”

In Penelope Spheeris’ 1988 documentary about the outrageous and often self-absorbed world of heavy-metal music, a wild-eyed Rachtman can be found extolling the salacious aspects of his Los Angeles hard-rock den, the Cathouse. The brash club owner is presented as an unapologetic personification of heavy-metal decadence.

As the host of MTV’s heavy-metal video program “Headbanger’s Ball,” Rachtman is still very involved in this rowdy rock sub-genre. But he’s also living a far more subdued lifestyle these days. Indeed, his nights of hard partying at L.A.’s rock clubs have been replaced by nights of dispensing advice to the mostly young listeners who call into KROQ-FM’s popular “Loveline” show with their personal problems. (The show also features longtime co-host Dr. Drew Pinsky, a.k.a. Dr. Drew.)

Since joining “Loveline” last August, Rachtman has brought an additional element of responsibility and taste to a show that, in the hands of its previous co-host, Jim (the Poorman) Trenton, was as much a forum for bawdy jokes and crude remarks as it was a vehicle to dispense helpful advice to adolescents, teens and young adults.

(Trenton was suspended last August for orchestrating a prank in which a group of listeners converged outside another KROQ personality’s home. He has since filed a lawsuit against KROQ and its owner, Infinity Broadcasting Corp., seeking ownership rights to “Loveline” and $22.5 million in damages for being pulled off the air.)

“Some people might have thought twice about calling (when Trenton co-hosted the show) because they thought (he) would make a joke out of their problem,” says Rachtman, who shut down the Cathouse about a year ago. “Sometimes things are funny, but if I think a joke is going to really hurt somebody, I won’t go for the laugh.”

Empathy is one of Rachtman’s strengths as “Loveline” co-host. He has gone through his share of problems with relationships and depression. And as a recovering alcoholic and former drug addict, he knows firsthand the hellish experience of substance addiction.

Rachtman had sunken so far into the abyss of drug and alcohol abuse in the mid-’80s that he says the manager of the notoriously decadent Guns N’ Roses asked him to stay away from the band because he was a bad influence on them.

“A lot of the things that people call about are things that I’ve gone through, or that I’m going through right now,” Rachtman says. “I’ve gone through all the drugs, the suicidal problems. The relationship problems I’m going through every day. I’m trying to learn how to shut up because I talk too much (on the show). I don’t always listen to everybody else because they say their problem and I go on about how I’ve gone through the same thing. But I can really relate to a lot of things.”

Some fans of the old “Loveline” show have complained that the new program lacks the type of over-the-top drama and tension that resulted from the odd pairing of the serious-minded Pinsky and the outlandish Poorman. While Pinsky often cringed at the Poorman’s comments, he stayed on board because the show offered a rare chance to reach high-risk adolescents who were attracted to the program’s sometimes raunchy ambience. Since Rachtman’s arrival, Pinsky says, more women and young adults are now listening to the program.

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“The Poorman had a real unique ability and he’s a serious talent,” says Pinsky, who has an internal medicine practice and specializes in chemical dependency. But with the Poorman, “we constantly verged on the edge of being exploitative and harming people. Every night I would go home upset. Now I feel proud and comfortable, and I feel like we’re doing some good work here and there. I enjoy working with Riki. He’s a hell of a nice guy, and he’s genuinely interested in what people are saying and feeling.”

Nevertheless, Rachtman is at heart a rebellious street kid who at times still comes across as a hormone-driven adolescent. And not everything he says on the air is going to win the endorsement of the PC police. He once jokingly suggested that a member of a celebrity baseball team recruit singer Tevin Campbell because he is black and thus “could probably play baseball.”

“I speak my mind and I like to joke around,” offers Rachtman. “If you can’t joke about racism, then I think you’re more of a racist. I’ll make jokes about white people, Mexicans, blacks, Jews. . . . (After the Tevin Campbell comment) I got a call from this black guy who was furious. So I said, ‘Hey, come down and be a guest on the show.’ So he did and we talked and he stated his point. We ended up being friends.”

The San Fernando Valley-raised Rachtman began hosting “Headbanger’s Ball” in 1990. Every Saturday at midnight he can be seen introducing heavy-metal videos and interviewing the musicians who play this earsplitting music. But it’s “Loveline” that gives Rachtman the much appreciated opportunity to express his own opinions and personality.

“ ‘Loveline’ is more me,” he remarks. “If you don’t like the show, you don’t like me. I’m not playing a character.”

Rachtman is nothing if not driven. His brain seems to be flooded with various project ideas. He is currently lining up investors for a retail clothing store he plans to establish. He’s also the singer of a punk band called Battery Club, which he hopes will move up in the rock ranks. Then there’s the idea of co-writing a book with Pinsky, and the goal of getting “Loveline” syndicated nationally.

“Loveline” is of particular importance to Rachtman because it also has therapeutic value to him.

“The show has done a lot to help me,” he states. “I’m a screwed-up guy. I’m not going to lie. I look at the cup as being half empty. It helps me when I hear people telling the same drug story I’ve told, and helping people by sharing my own experiences and lending my advice helps me keep sane.”

* “Loveline” can be heard on KROQ-FM (106.7) 8-10 p.m. Sundays and Monday through Thursday between 10 p.m. and midnight.