The Good Rats
Encyclopedia
The Good Rats are a rock
band from Long Island
, New York
. Their music mixes elements of rock
with blues
and pop
. Although they have had some success both nationally and internationally, it's on their native Long Island that they have always been best known.
In 1969, the band released their first album, the self-titled The Good Rats which had cult popularity with New Yorkers local and transplanted when it launched. Two of its more memorable cuts are the intro song: "We Are The Good Rats" where the band members do the "hello-hello-hello" greeting used by the 3 Stooges; and the landmark "Joey Ferrari", a proto-punk song if there ever was one ("Joey Ferrari, though you're from the poor side, don't give you no right to go wild"). In 1972, the lineup changed, with guitarist Mike Raffenelo, bass player Lenny Kotke and drummer Joe Franco joining the Marchello brothers. John "The Cat" Gatto replaced Raffenelo shortly thereafter.
The Good Rats continued to build a following, playing Long Island’s thriving club scene, along with other notable names such as Twisted Sister
, Zebra
, and Rat Race Choir.
In 1974, the Good Rats released their best-known and most popular album, Tasty
. It featured a blend of hard rock and blues, highlighted by Marchello’s raspy vocals. Various songs from this record, including “Injun Joe”, “Papa Poppa”, a rock ode about cults, the autobiographical numbers “Back to My Music” and “The Songwriter”, and the blues title track, received airplay around the country on FM radio.
"Tasty" was a pop song about the talented musicians who Peppi fired from the band.
During the following years, the Rats performed at venues such as Madison Square Garden
, The Philadelphia Spectrum, The Nassau Coliseum, The Hammersmith Odeon in England
, and New York’s Central Park
, as well as showcase rooms such as The Bottom Line in Manhattan
, My Father’s Place in Roslyn
, NY, Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles
and The Paradise Room in Boston
. They headlined or opened for bands such as Rush
, Journey
, Kiss
, Meat Loaf
, Aerosmith
, Ozzy Osbourne
, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen
, The Allman Brothers Band
, and Styx
. Live shows were famous for the band’s stage antics, as Peppi would play air guitar on his baseball
bat, throw rubber rats into the crowd, and beat the daylights out of a battered garbage can as he sang.
Between 1976 and 1980, The Good Rats released a series of albums, including Ratcity in Blue
, From Rats to Riches, Birth Comes to Us All, and Live At Last, all of which were well received by the band’s fan base, and received some airplay on FM radio, without actually putting the band over the top. In 1981, Gatto and Kotke left the band, and were replaced by future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick
and bass player Schuyler Deale, (who later played with Billy Joel
and Michael Bolton
), for the album Great American Music. The band would do shows through 1983 and then breakup.
Throughout the 1980s, Peppi Marchello continued to write and produce recordings with his son Gene. They toured locally for a while under the name "Popzarocca" until the song "First Love" became a minor hit for the band (now renamed "Marchello"), with the music video receiving minor airplay on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. This band featured Gene on guitar and lead vocals and also included drummer John Miceli (Meatloaf
, Rainbow
, "We Will Rock You
"). The band recorded two albums (only one which was released).
In the mid-1990s, Marchello and sons Gene Marchello and Stefan Marchello began playing out locally under “The Good Rats” name. They released three new studio CDs with this lineup, Tasty Seconds (1996), Let's Have Another Beer (2000), and Play Dum (2002). Marchello also released a live recording of a 1979 appearance on a Rochester radio show, Rats, The Way You Like ’Em.
In 1998, Marchello wrote "A Tale of Two Balls," the introduction to the book Conflicts of Disinterest (Aardwolf Publishing) by sometimes controversial author Clifford Meth
.
In the 2000s, the band continues to play in local venues throughout New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as playing annually in their own summer weekend outdoor festival aptly named "Ratstock". At one point, the "new" Good Rats (Peppi and his sons) performed as the opening act for a reunion performance by the "old" Good Rats. Billed as "The Original Good Rats" Peppi was joined by Mickey, Kotke, Franco, and Gatto on October 4, 2008 in a small venue on Long Island, and for a pair of sold-out shows at B.B. King's in Manhattan.
In 2008, Gene Marchello left the band to go out on his own. Nevertheless, The Good Rats, featuring Peppi and Stefan Marchello continued playing weekend club dates around Long Island into 2009. Meanwhile, the "original" lineup of Peppi and Mickey Marchello plus Gatto, Kotke and Franco are scheduled to play at least two more shows at B.B. King's in April 2009. In the summer of 2010
The Good Rats played a free concert in East Meadow.
They were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
(www.limusichalloffame.org) in 2008.
Peppi Marchello is quoted prominently in the IDW Publishing graphic novel Snaked by Clifford Meth
and has been the subject of other stories by the author.
In July, 2009, Peppi Marchello cut a series of three commercials for the car donation organization Kars4Kids
.
The Original Good Rats continue to play two spring shows (in one night) annually at Manhattan's B.B. King's, as well as a show in the fall at "The Crazy Donkey" in Long Island.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Their music mixes elements of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
with blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Although they have had some success both nationally and internationally, it's on their native Long Island that they have always been best known.
History
Formed in 1964, the original group consisted of 5 students from St. John's University...Ted Haenlein, Frank Stapleton, Eric Crane, Denny Ryan and Peppi Marchello. The group was originally called the U-Men and played most of their gigs in the Rockaways (Peyton Place & McNultys) & Long Island (The Attic, Tiger's Tail etc.). In 1966, Frank Stapleton's brother, John, arranged for the group to play at a club in Queens, New York (The John Doe Room) where a record company executive heard them and eventually signed the band, but suggested a name change was in order. The band continued to play top 40 covers while working on their own original music. During the latter part of the sixties, the composition of the band changed...by 1968, Eric, Frank and Ted (drafted and went to Viet Nam, but did rejoin the group from 1970–72) were gone, replaced by Peppi's brother, Mickey, and Crazy Artie (bass) and Jim Roberge(organ).In 1969, the band released their first album, the self-titled The Good Rats which had cult popularity with New Yorkers local and transplanted when it launched. Two of its more memorable cuts are the intro song: "We Are The Good Rats" where the band members do the "hello-hello-hello" greeting used by the 3 Stooges; and the landmark "Joey Ferrari", a proto-punk song if there ever was one ("Joey Ferrari, though you're from the poor side, don't give you no right to go wild"). In 1972, the lineup changed, with guitarist Mike Raffenelo, bass player Lenny Kotke and drummer Joe Franco joining the Marchello brothers. John "The Cat" Gatto replaced Raffenelo shortly thereafter.
The Good Rats continued to build a following, playing Long Island’s thriving club scene, along with other notable names such as Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
, Zebra
Zebra (band)
Zebra is a hard rock band founded in 1975 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It features Randy Jackson , Felix Hanemann and Guy Gelso . Their mainstream debut on Atlantic Records was in 1983 with their eponymous album, highlighted by the singles "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind The Door"...
, and Rat Race Choir.
In 1974, the Good Rats released their best-known and most popular album, Tasty
Tasty (Good Rats album)
Tasty is a 1974 album by Good Rats and was released on the Warner Brothers Records label.-Track listing:Words and music by Peppi Marchello -- arranged by Good Rats# "Back To My Music" 2:34# "Injun Joe" 5:18# "Tasty" 3:22# "Papa Poppa" 5:08...
. It featured a blend of hard rock and blues, highlighted by Marchello’s raspy vocals. Various songs from this record, including “Injun Joe”, “Papa Poppa”, a rock ode about cults, the autobiographical numbers “Back to My Music” and “The Songwriter”, and the blues title track, received airplay around the country on FM radio.
"Tasty" was a pop song about the talented musicians who Peppi fired from the band.
During the following years, the Rats performed at venues such as Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, The Philadelphia Spectrum, The Nassau Coliseum, The Hammersmith Odeon in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and New York’s Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, as well as showcase rooms such as The Bottom Line in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, My Father’s Place in Roslyn
Roslyn, New York
Roslyn is a village in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 2,770...
, NY, Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and The Paradise Room in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. They headlined or opened for bands such as Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, and Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
. Live shows were famous for the band’s stage antics, as Peppi would play air guitar on his baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
bat, throw rubber rats into the crowd, and beat the daylights out of a battered garbage can as he sang.
Between 1976 and 1980, The Good Rats released a series of albums, including Ratcity in Blue
Ratcity in Blue
Ratcity In Blue is a 1976 album by Good Rats and was released on the Platinum Records label.-Track listing:Words and music by Peppi Marchello -- arranged by Good Rats# "Does It Make You Feel Good" 3:29# "Boardwalk Slasher" 3:53...
, From Rats to Riches, Birth Comes to Us All, and Live At Last, all of which were well received by the band’s fan base, and received some airplay on FM radio, without actually putting the band over the top. In 1981, Gatto and Kotke left the band, and were replaced by future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick
Bruce Kulick
Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist, musician and a member of the band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick had been a longtime member of the band Kiss....
and bass player Schuyler Deale, (who later played with Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
and Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
), for the album Great American Music. The band would do shows through 1983 and then breakup.
Throughout the 1980s, Peppi Marchello continued to write and produce recordings with his son Gene. They toured locally for a while under the name "Popzarocca" until the song "First Love" became a minor hit for the band (now renamed "Marchello"), with the music video receiving minor airplay on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. This band featured Gene on guitar and lead vocals and also included drummer John Miceli (Meatloaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
, "We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it #330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century...
"). The band recorded two albums (only one which was released).
In the mid-1990s, Marchello and sons Gene Marchello and Stefan Marchello began playing out locally under “The Good Rats” name. They released three new studio CDs with this lineup, Tasty Seconds (1996), Let's Have Another Beer (2000), and Play Dum (2002). Marchello also released a live recording of a 1979 appearance on a Rochester radio show, Rats, The Way You Like ’Em.
In 1998, Marchello wrote "A Tale of Two Balls," the introduction to the book Conflicts of Disinterest (Aardwolf Publishing) by sometimes controversial author Clifford Meth
Clifford Meth
Clifford Lawrence Meth is an American writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."-Early life:...
.
In the 2000s, the band continues to play in local venues throughout New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as playing annually in their own summer weekend outdoor festival aptly named "Ratstock". At one point, the "new" Good Rats (Peppi and his sons) performed as the opening act for a reunion performance by the "old" Good Rats. Billed as "The Original Good Rats" Peppi was joined by Mickey, Kotke, Franco, and Gatto on October 4, 2008 in a small venue on Long Island, and for a pair of sold-out shows at B.B. King's in Manhattan.
In 2008, Gene Marchello left the band to go out on his own. Nevertheless, The Good Rats, featuring Peppi and Stefan Marchello continued playing weekend club dates around Long Island into 2009. Meanwhile, the "original" lineup of Peppi and Mickey Marchello plus Gatto, Kotke and Franco are scheduled to play at least two more shows at B.B. King's in April 2009. In the summer of 2010
The Good Rats played a free concert in East Meadow.
They were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
(www.limusichalloffame.org) in 2008.
Peppi Marchello is quoted prominently in the IDW Publishing graphic novel Snaked by Clifford Meth
Clifford Meth
Clifford Lawrence Meth is an American writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."-Early life:...
and has been the subject of other stories by the author.
In July, 2009, Peppi Marchello cut a series of three commercials for the car donation organization Kars4Kids
Kars4Kids
Kars4Kids is a national car donation organization headquartered in Lakewood, NJ, that operates in 49 states. Donations to Kars4Kids benefit Joy for Our Youth a national organization dedicated to addressing the educational, material, emotional and spiritual needs of Jewish children and their...
.
The Original Good Rats continue to play two spring shows (in one night) annually at Manhattan's B.B. King's, as well as a show in the fall at "The Crazy Donkey" in Long Island.
Discography
- The Good Rats (1969)
- TastyTasty (Good Rats album)Tasty is a 1974 album by Good Rats and was released on the Warner Brothers Records label.-Track listing:Words and music by Peppi Marchello -- arranged by Good Rats# "Back To My Music" 2:34# "Injun Joe" 5:18# "Tasty" 3:22# "Papa Poppa" 5:08...
(1974) - Ratcity in BlueRatcity in BlueRatcity In Blue is a 1976 album by Good Rats and was released on the Platinum Records label.-Track listing:Words and music by Peppi Marchello -- arranged by Good Rats# "Does It Make You Feel Good" 3:29# "Boardwalk Slasher" 3:53...
(1976) - From Rats to Riches (1978)
- Rats, The Way You Like 'Em (1979)
- Birth Comes to Us All (1979)
- Live at Last (1980)
- Great American Music (1981)
- Tasty Seconds (1996)
- Lets Have Another Beer (2000)
- Play Dum (2002)