If you’re from Long Island, New York, over fifty, and have any bit of a rock and roll heart, chances are you have heard of the Good Rats. If rock and roll played a significant role in your life, then you have not only heard of the Good Rats but also attended many Good Rats shows in the once-thriving Long Island Club scene in the 1970s and 80s. Like all long-time Good Rats fans, we always asked the question as to why the band was not known around the world on a level like bands such as The Clash, Thin Lizzy, or The Ramones. The Good Rats wrote and recorded a fantastic body of work. The band delivered high-energy killer shows on a nightly basis. They were the most sought-after band to perform in all the top clubs in New York for many years. Peppi Marchello’s voice was unlike any other in rock and roll. It cut through you with a crazed emotion that could not be forgotten.
The origins of the band began in 1964. In 1969, the band released their first album. Eventually, the band would settle on a lineup defining their glory years. Every song on this Top 10 Essential Good Rats Songs list features the lineup that consisted of Peppi Marchello on lead vocals, John Gatto on lead guitar, Micky Marchello on rhythm guitar, Lenny Kotke on bass, and Joe Franco on drums.
In 2013, the band’s leader, Peppi Marchello, passed away due to a heart attack. At the time, Marchello was still active in the music business. Since their debut album in 1969, The Good Rats have released 14 albums, ending with the 2014 release of Afterlife.
On the band’s website is a banner promoting a Rolling Stone Magazine statement that declared them “The world’s most famous unknown band.” For a Long Islander like myself, The Good Rats will always remain one of the greatest rock and roll bands to come out of the classic rock era. One of our goals here at ClassicRockHistory.com is to turn people on to bands they may have never heard of. We know we will be successful with this one.
# 15 – Just Found Me A Lady
Opening our Top 10 Good Rats Songs list is a long-time fan favorite called “Just Found Me A Lady.” The great, grooving, soul-infused Good Rats Song was released on their From Rats To Riches album in 1978. This one became an excellent sing-along number when the band performed it. If bands were going to cover Good Rats Songs, “Just Found Me A Lady” would be a great choice.
# 14 – Fireball Express
The Good Rat’s “Fireball Express” was released on their 1974 album Tasty. The Tasty album was the band’s most successful record of their career. This Essential Top 15 Good Rats Songs list will showcase a large portion of the material from this magnificent album. After the album was released, the band opened up for some of rock and roll’s most famous artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf, The Allman Brothers Band, Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, and Ozzy Osbourne.
# 13 – Dear Sir
The song “Dear Sir” was released on the band’s From Rats to Riches
LP in 1978. The legendary musical team of Flo & Eddie produced the album. For those of you who may not know the name Flo & Eddie, you may have heard of their first band, “The Turtles.” This one starts out with a heavy dose of synthesizers, piano, and strings.
# 12 – Local Zero
The Good Rats song “Local Zero” was released on the band’s From Rats to Riches LP in 1978. Just listen to Joe Franco’s great drum groove and hi-hat work at the song’s beginning, and you will understand why Franco has always been considered one of the top drummers to hail from Long Island, New York.
# 11 – Back To My Music
Another great track from the legendary Tasty
LP was the Good Rats song “Back To My Music.” The Good Rats Tasty
album is the most represented on this 15 Essential Good Rats Songs List. The song also defines the autobiographical nature of Peppi Marchello’s lyrics. The band often wrote from personal experiences that Long Islanders loved hearing about. However, one may wonder if that hurt them from a universal and international point of acceptance in the long run. It worked for Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, The Eagles and other bands. Nonetheless, the Good Rat’s lyrical connections to Long Island somehow got lost to those who don’t even know where Long Island is.
# 10 – You’re Still Doin’ It
The Good Rats song “You’re Still Doin’ It” featured a slow grooving Fender Rhodes-based song opening leading to Peppi’s thunderous vocal attack. The song also featured a killer lead guitar solo by John Gatto. Great female backing vocals and hook-driven chorus showcased the tremendous musical growth of the band in 1979.
# 9 – School Days
Deep in the heart of the new wave era 1979, the Good Rats released a record that ignored current trends and stayed true to their rock and roll roots. The Good Rats album Birth Comes To Us All featured an onslaught of new Good Rats Songs led by the unforgettable “School Days.”
# 8 – Don’t Hate The Ones Who Bring You Rock And Roll
The song “Don’t Hate The Ones Who Bring You Rock And Roll” was released on the band’s From Rats to Riches LP in 1978. This is probably our favorite chorus out of all the Good Rats Songs on this list. It is one of the greatest songs ever written about the saving grace of Rock and Roll. The song“Don’t Hate the ones who bring you Rock & Roll” is in 13/4 time, a very uncommon time signature.
The song also contained the lyric, “Twisted mothers, twisted brothers, Twisted Sisters. You all gotta be a little twisted if you came to hear us .” These lyrics referred to the famous Long Island band Twisted Sister, who then performed in the same clubs. The Long Island Club scene was very competitive among bands in the 1970s, and bands always took potshots at each other.
# 7 – Coo Coo Blues
The Good Rats song “Coo Coo Blues” was released on the band’s From Rats to Riches
LP in 1978. The great blues piano-driven opening sounded so right underneath the iconic vocal performance of Peppi Marchello. When the band finally found its way into the “Coo Coo Blues” chorus, fans were given one of the all-time great sing-along songs in Good Rats’ history. You will be singing this one all day after hearing it only one time. Once again, another autobiographical song by the band.
# 6 – Taking It To Detroit
One of the most popular Good Rats Songs of the band’s career was also released on the band’s From Rats to Riches LP in 1978. If you had ever intended a Good Rats show, you would admit that their “Taking It To Detroit” performance was always one of the show’s highlights.
# 5 – Reason To Kill
One of the band’s most exciting rock and roll records that they ever released was entitled Rat City in Blue. A titled spoof on the Gershwin classic “Rhapsody in Blue.” The album was full of amazing performances by the band. Some would argue that it was their best album. How could you not love that legendary back cover?
# 4 – Does It Make You Feel Good?
The Good Rats song “Does It Make You Feel Good” was the opening track to their phenomenal Rat City In Blue album. The song’s killer opening guitar riff set the tone for perhaps the greatest vocal performance of Peppi Marchello’s career. Easily one of the greatest Good Rats Songs ever released.
# 3 – Papa Poppa
The last three songs on our Essential Good Rats Songs list all hail from their classic 1974 album Tasty. The first of the group is the classic story of “Papa Poppa.” This one featured a rare acoustic guitar opening. However, John Gatto’s electric guitar lead at the song’s opening set the band up for the next electric performance. Great guitar work, amazing harmonies; it just didn’t get any better.Wow!
# 2 – Injun Joe
The groove starts nice and easy and then kicks into that legendary Good Rats sound. Before you know it, Peppi Marchello’s singing at the height of his register in perfect tune. Peppi Marchello sang with a passion that few singers found in their performances. Listen to his ending licks on the song’s choruses, and you’ll discover his brilliance. Once again, John Gatto lays down a fantastic guitar solo while Micky Marchello’s Peter Townsend’s rhythmic guitar playing wraps around Gatto’s virtuosity. And let’s not forget Lenny Kotke’s bass playing that kept the whole machine running tight.
# 1 – Tasty
A record store in Commack Long Island was owned by the same Artie that played bass in the Good Rats for a short period. The same Artie was also sung about in the lyrics to “Tasty. “We had a bass player named crazy Art, He overplayed his bass a lot.”We had to kick him in the pants, his fingers moved like vitus dance….because he couldn’t play Tasty….”
As kids we used to go into Artie’s music store called Music Den and sing those lyrics before he would throw us out. But he always let us back in because we spent a lot of money there. If there were a contest to determine the most popular Good Rats song of all time, well, there would be no doubt that the classic Good Rats song “Tasty” would win. The song’s lyrics and melody were so well written that it was surprising that the song was not a bigger hit. Perhaps it was because of the autobiographical nature of the song, or simply the record company did not put enough money into promoting the band, which was also a common theme sung about by Peppi Marchello.
Regardless of the band’s lack of international fame, they were defined as local Long Island heroes. The Good Rats defined an era of great rock and roll, authentic and virtuoso playing, brilliantly written songs, and captivating performances.
We hope this presentation of Good Rats Songs has won you over and made you a fan of one of the great unheralded bands of the classic rock era.
Updated December 14, 2023
Live in Rochester Ny ,Good Rats played the Penny Arcade many times ,still have their first 4 albums .Great band !
Great piece. Yet I was SURE the #1 song would be their Tour de Force title track from Rat City in Blue! To me, that’s the song that puts them in the category oh highly proficient musicians of the day, the Tubes, Queen, Zappa, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, even some of the great Charlie Daniels band Saddle Tramp stuff. Also, for some reason, I never noticed the similarities to Freddie Mercury, when the vocals are really rockin’! Keep up the good work. The world needs it.
Definitely a difficult task to pick out a specific group of tunes for this piece from this awesome band. From someone who spent most of the eighties with this band, I would definitely add Yellow Flower to this list. Thank you for this article and the tunes.
How could you leave out “Rat City in Blue”. The most amazing guitar harmony instrumental of all time!
Just great,,, Thank you for this page. I was class of 73 in North Babylon and rocked out to these guys many,many times at a place called Ubie’s OTJ’s on sunrise hwy.
Thanks again
Jim
Great list! Love them and also feel they never got their due….Missed a few of my favorites: 300 Boys, Victory In Space, Boardwalk Slasher and who can forget Yellow Flower!
Never got to see them in their heyday, but caught them in Jersey in the 90’s and 00’s with Peppi’s son on guitar in local clubs. They even let me jam on harmonica with them one time!
Wildly undersampling Rat City in Blue………. better than Tasty IMHO
For me, best of their songs was ” The Hobo “, so full of dynamic. Sorrowly, can’t find the words of
this song in all the net. Perhaps, an old rocker, like me could help ? I’m from Germany.
Regards
Seen them a few times in the seventies,, a couple of shows at the Penny Arcade in Rochester NY. They were always an over the top ROCK AND ROLL band. I sure do miss those days.
Great list , thanx !!!.
Yeah, they were awesome!! Saw them in Jersey sometime in the 80’s, but sadly I couldn’t narrow it down any further than that. Yeah, take another puff there, timmyboy, you just KNOW that will help!!! 🙂
Micky wasn’t just rhythm guirat. He did alot of the solos too.