The Good Rats: “From Rats To Riches”

The Good Rats were a five-piece band of New Yorkers who released several excellent albums in the 1970s. They should have been much bigger. The Good Rats were Peppi Marchello (vocals), Mickey Marchello (guitar/vocals), John “The Cat” Gatto (guitar/keyboards),  Lenny Kotke (bass/vocals) and Joe Franco (drums).

Peppi was a great front man – prone to whacking trash cans during live performances – and an excellent lyricist. Their 1978 album From Rats To Riches is full of great cuts: There’s the groovy “Just Found Me A Lady,” the manic “Mr. Mechanic,” the playful “Coo Coo Coo Blues” and the anti-sellout “Dear Sir.” And, is there a cooler song than “Taking It To Detroit”?