The Good Rats
| The Good Rats | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Long Island, New York, United States |
| Genres | Rock, blues, hard rock |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Kapp, Warner Bros., Platinum Records, Passport Records, Radar, Mondo Records, Fireball Records, Uncle Rat Music |
| Associated acts | DUM Popzarocca |
| Members | Stefan Marchello Dan Smiraglia Michael A. Brenna |
| Past members | Peppi Marchello (died 2013) Ted Haenlein Frank Stapleton Eric Crane Denny Ryan Art Fahie Jim Roberge Mike Raffinello (died 2014) Mickey Marchello John Gatto Lenny Kotke Joey Franco Bruce Kulick Schuyler Deale Charlie Zarou George Tebbitt Eddie Jelley Randy Coven Gene Marchello Mike Haupt Matt McCarthy Joe Novello John Argento Dean Guiffrida Michael LaVolpe Terry Guy |
The Good Rats are an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Their music mixes elements of rock with blues and pop. They are best-known on their native Long Island, although they had some success nationally and internationally.
Formed in 1964, the original group consisted of five students from St. John's University, Queens, New York: 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) and Long Island (The Attic, Tiger's Tail etc.)
In 1966, 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 Vietnam, but did rejoin the group from 1970–72) were gone, replaced by Peppi's brother, Mickey, Art Fahey (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 sing the "hello-hello-hello" greeting used by the 3 Stooges; and the landmark "Joey Ferrari", a proto-punk song ("Joey Ferrari, though you're from the poor side, don't give you no right to go wild"). In 1972, the line-up changed, with guitarist Mike Raffinello, bass player Lenny Kotke and drummer Joe Franco joining the Marchello brothers. John "The Cat" Gatto replaced Raffinello shortly thereafter. The Good Rats continued to build a following, playing Long Island's thriving club scene, along with other groups, such as Twisted Sister and Zebra. From 1970-early 1972 the band consisted of Peppi, Mickey,Teddy (guitar) John(bass) and Charlie Zarou (drums)they played weekly The Baldwin Manor, Back Alley Sallys (of which Peppi took on a partnership of the bar)The Rats doing cover tunes, adding originals in, till originals were primarily asked for, during this time songs such as Gino, Hour Glass, Injun Joe, Mean Mother,Yellow Flower, were heavily requested by a fan base that continued to grow rapidly. A rare studio recorded LP, recorded and mastered at Echo Studios, East Meadow, used for shopping the band to record companies had some other great tunes, that were crowd favorites, and until the time of his passing Peppi was asking former members of the lineup for the masters so he could re record long forgotten songs 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. 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 (Manhattan), My Father's Place (Roslyn, New York), Whiskey a Go Go (Los Angeles) and The Paradise Room (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.
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