Were the Good Rats actually any good, or were they lying?

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Inspired by the Mellencamp thread. I've wondered about this for years, actually. I think I heard "Back to My Music" once or twice on a Missouri college radio station in 1980 or so, and I have to admit that I did not change the channel.

― chuck, Monday, 19 April 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

well the only thing I ever heard was this crazy concept album all about how they society turned them into The Good Rats despite their best efforts and it had really creepy stuff about the singer killing his mom cause she was a baaaaad woman

but they had these real lame young rascals beau brummels little lord fauntelroy get-ups on the cover

so yeah they were lying

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 19 April 2004 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Stephane Rebeschini, in his Fuzz, Acid, and Flowers entry on the group, notes that "their singer, Peppi Marchello, was notable for his raunchy timbre."

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 19 April 2004 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

growing up, they used to play the same clubs that NRBQ and Twisted Sister played. Same clubs that Max Creek used to play too. Max Creek were famous for their Dead covers and their many hats.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 19 April 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The Good Rats were a bar tradition and that made their records really up and down. Catering to the topers on Long Island and all, y'know, as a career move that earned them better keep than records with the equivalent of poor indie distribution and sales.

Peppi Marchello was always an aquired taste and his bandmates were (or are) very chopsy musicians. Lots of times the loud singing of
purposely weird and affected lyrics completely overturned the rocking.

"From Rats to Riches" and Tasty" were the keepers for me. "Rat City in Blue" and "Birth Comes to Us All," nah. "Got to Get Back to My Music" was probably one of their most widely played tunes. It's mediocre. "Takin' It to Detroit" was another that got some attention, and one I liked more. "Tasty" was the
highpoint -- "Fireball Express," "Fred Upstairs and Ginger Snappers"
and the best song, "300 Boys," the latter presumably written for the
pedophile fanbase.

They were bizarre-looking early on, overweight and balding with huge beards. The live record was a good party album if you wanted to challenge and bully your guests with slight idiosyncracy.

― George Smith, Monday, 19 April 2004 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

In Greil Marcus' review of the MC5's "Back In The USA," he has this to say about the first Good Rats LP:

"The street music of the MC5 has none of the animalism of the Good Rats (you might still find their brilliant LP - Kapp KS 3580) or uncontrollable drive of those first crucial sides by the Who."

Aside from Peppi, the band on the first LP is entirely different from the later ones.

― Sang Freud (jeff_s), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 00:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I just listened to all the samples on Amazon of their songs. There's a reason they never made it big; they suck.

Looking at all the reviews on Amazon, you see the same comment over and over about how surprised people are that the Rats never made it big. It's almost comical. I got the feeling that their fans were all townies from Long Island who used to see these guys in bars when they were all hammered and stoned, stomping there feet in their shit-kicker boots and burning rubber in the parking lots in their Firebirds.

― Davlo (Davlo), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Didn't one of them join the Eagles?

― dave q, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 14:06 (twenty-two years ago)

nine years pass...

RIP Peppi Marchello

http://thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com/2013/07/peppi-marchello-rip-my-dear-friend.html

― Thus Sang Freud, Thursday, 11 July 2013 11:48 (twelve years ago)

Heard that last night -- Sad news. Nobody else was like him. Wonder if they'll bury him with his baseball bat.

Had forgotten all about starting this thread. I wound up exploring the band some in subsequent years, picking up a few albums from dollar bins, where they're not hard to find. Liked all the ones I found to some extent, some more than others. Some notes I wrote on my favorite, From Rats To Riches:

Rolling Hard Rock 2008 Thread

Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock 2010

― xhuxk, Thursday, 11 July 2013 13:57 (twelve years ago)

Apparently he also produced Fiona's single "Talk To Me."

He kept the Good Rats name going on L.I. with various of his kids and their friends backing him up. Once a year the real band would reunite, usually around Thanksgiving.

― Thus Sang Freud, Thursday, 11 July 2013 14:52 (twelve years ago)

That's a bummer -- learned about them through the Roctober anthology thanks to the exhaustive story on them. Lived the dream to the end!

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 11 July 2013 14:59 (twelve years ago)

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