Biography
Countless rock acts from Long Island achieved global fame, yet an equal number of promising outfits from the same area never crossed into mainstream recognition. Among the latter category, longtime observers of the regional scene often place the Good Rats at the forefront of missed opportunities. Throughout the 1970s the band performed at major East Coast arenas such as Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, and the Philadelphia Spectrum, frequently supporting headliners that included Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Kiss, Journey, Heart, Styx, Meat Loaf, and Rush. Their sound blended bar-band grit with hard-rock drive, echoing early Led Zeppelin before shifting toward a more radio-friendly approach. Formed in the late 1960s, the group retained only one constant member across numerous lineup changes: vocalist Peppi Marchello.
The original roster also featured drummer Joe Franco, who would later spend time in Twisted Sister, bassist and vocalist Lenny Kotke, and guitarists John “The Cat” Gatto and Mickey Marchello. Their self-titled debut arrived in 1969. Subsequent releases earned enthusiastic responses from local audiences and nearby stations yet failed to register elsewhere in the country. The 1974 follow-up Tasty yielded the jazzy title track, which became a fixture on Long Island classic-rock playlists. Around the same period guitarist Tommy Bolin, already celebrated for his work with Billy Cobham and Deep Purple, learned of the band through a mutual acquaintance. Impressed, Bolin arranged a booking at Denver’s Ebbets Field; the visit produced a memorable onstage collaboration with Bolin and drummer Carmine Appice on a cover of Cobham’s “Stratus,” later included on the Bolin anthology Bottom Shelf. Bolin died of a heroin overdose two years afterward.
Undeterred by repeated setbacks, Marchello and his colleagues persisted, issuing further albums that included 1978’s Rats to Riches and Birth Comes to Us All, 1979’s Rat City in Blue, and 1981’s Great American Music, the last of which featured future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. After a period of reduced activity, Peppi assembled a new configuration in the early 1990s that included his son, guitarist Gene Marchello, formerly of the short-lived pop-metal band Marchello. The revived lineup produced the studio albums Tasty Seconds in 1996 and Play Dum in 2002. The classic lineup also reconvened occasionally, among other occasions opening for the newer edition during a pair of Rochester, New York, performances in October 1998. In June 2013 Peppi underwent open-heart surgery to address cardiac issues; although recovery initially appeared promising, he suffered fatal cardiac arrest the following month at age 68.
The original roster also featured drummer Joe Franco, who would later spend time in Twisted Sister, bassist and vocalist Lenny Kotke, and guitarists John “The Cat” Gatto and Mickey Marchello. Their self-titled debut arrived in 1969. Subsequent releases earned enthusiastic responses from local audiences and nearby stations yet failed to register elsewhere in the country. The 1974 follow-up Tasty yielded the jazzy title track, which became a fixture on Long Island classic-rock playlists. Around the same period guitarist Tommy Bolin, already celebrated for his work with Billy Cobham and Deep Purple, learned of the band through a mutual acquaintance. Impressed, Bolin arranged a booking at Denver’s Ebbets Field; the visit produced a memorable onstage collaboration with Bolin and drummer Carmine Appice on a cover of Cobham’s “Stratus,” later included on the Bolin anthology Bottom Shelf. Bolin died of a heroin overdose two years afterward.
Undeterred by repeated setbacks, Marchello and his colleagues persisted, issuing further albums that included 1978’s Rats to Riches and Birth Comes to Us All, 1979’s Rat City in Blue, and 1981’s Great American Music, the last of which featured future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. After a period of reduced activity, Peppi assembled a new configuration in the early 1990s that included his son, guitarist Gene Marchello, formerly of the short-lived pop-metal band Marchello. The revived lineup produced the studio albums Tasty Seconds in 1996 and Play Dum in 2002. The classic lineup also reconvened occasionally, among other occasions opening for the newer edition during a pair of Rochester, New York, performances in October 1998. In June 2013 Peppi underwent open-heart surgery to address cardiac issues; although recovery initially appeared promising, he suffered fatal cardiac arrest the following month at age 68.
Albums
