Took me a while but I finally broke down and bought this LP on E-bay last week. It isn't even available from the Good Rats website, so I'm going to share it here for all my fellow Good Rats fans out there. Would have been something to see these guys and Crack the Sky together on one bill...



By the time of their fourth and best album - From Rats To Riches - (which was later issued on Radar in the UK), the line-up was the gruff-voiced Peppi Marchello, Mickey Marchello (guitar), John 'the Cat' Gatto (guitar), Lenny Kotke (bass) and Joe Franco (drums). This album was recorded on Long Island in late 1977 with Flo And Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) producing. Although their place in the market was never clear they were essentially a good old-fashioned, basic US rock 'n' roll band."



A1 Taking It to Detroit 3:36
A2 Just Found Me a Lady 2:50
A3 Mr. Mechanic 3:39
A4 Dear Sir 3:12
A5 Let Me 4:45
B1 Victory in Space 3:06
B2 Coo Coo Coo Blues 4:37
B3 Don't Hate the Ones Who Bring You Rock & Roll 6:38
B4 Could Be Tonight 2:54
B5 Local Zero 5:08

For fans of The Greatest Band That Was Never Known, Tasty & From Rats to Riches were arguably their best. By 1978 the five man combo of Peppi Marchello-Vocals & Harmonica, Mickey Marchello-Guitar & Vocals, John (The Cat) Gatto-Lead Guitar, Lenny Kotke-Bass & Vocals and Joe Franco-Drums had coalesced into a solid unit mixing balls-out Rock & Roll with barbershop harmonies and turning that into great music that (dammit) should have translated into national fame. At their height in the late '70s and early 80s The Good Rats had performed at Madison Square Garden, the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Nassau Coliseum, the Hammersmith Odeon in England, the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ (a late great venue) and New York's Central Park. The Good Rats had also played most of the major showcase rooms in the country including the Bottom Line (RIP), Paradise in Boston, Whisky in L.A., well... you get the point! They headlined and opened up for such groups as Twisted Sister, Rush, Aerosmith, Meatloaf, Ozzy, Grateful Dead, Kiss, Journey, Heart, Springsteen, Styx and many others.
With Tasty (1978) and From Rats To Riches (1978) the band was at the top of their form. Ranging from power ballads (Songwriter, Let Me) to witty ditties (Fred Upstairs and Ginger Snappers, Coo Coo Coo Blues) to Heavy Rock Injun Joe, Takin' it to Detroit) The Good Rats with their carefully blended harmonies, great (IMHO) writing and stellar musicianship had everything they needed to put themselves among the greats of their day. Dammit, they should have made it, but despite being Picked up by a minor Capitol label and picking up Flo & Eddie for producers, they never made it to the charts, much less got airplay. Still, their albums hold up to this day, and give me a charge every time I put them on. The entire Catalog has been re-released on CD, and if you can find them, buy them...especially these two!

74Mb, MP3@320, 37 Minutes

http://rapidshare.com/files/99878193/From_Rats_To_Riches_.rar

Here is a low bitrate but decent bootleg of the Good Rats from April 9 1979.

http://rapidshare.com/files/99878598/GoodRats1979-04-09.wma