‘concert goers.
appear . ..
»&
May 10, 1979.
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Lion's Eye
Lion’ s Eye On Music
The Good Rats —
The Original Rats! |
The birth of The Good Rats
was back in 1964 when Peppi
- Marchello (lead voculist) hi-
jacked his brother Mickey to play
guitare, and a few other buddies
as well, to join his band as the
opening act for Jay And The
Americans. The band ‘recorded
. their first album in 1969, simply.
titled The Good Rats, yet
‘internal problems within the
group caused its break-up. In
1971, Peppi Sank” every penny I
had in the world” into a demo
fape to transport from record
company to record company.
- Both Peppi and Mickey, while
working at odd jobs, continued to
write songs. They put together a
new band which included John
Gatto on guitar and vocals,
Lenny Kotke on bass and vocals,
and Joe Franco on drums - all of
which make up the band you see
today. Since those early days,
the band has released four
albums: 1974 - Tasty; 1976 -
Ratcity in Blue; 1977 - From Rats
to Riches; and 1979 - Birth Comes
To Us All (available on Passport
Records and Tapes). The follow-
ing are excerpts of the interview
with Peppi
Stern - With the British Rock
Stones), did you feel that your
career could be slightly hindered
by being an American band?
Marchello - No. Most American
bands, at least todays American
bands, got as much from the
British Rock and Roll as the early
“British Rock and Roll got from
the American artists. It (music)
“sort of worked its way across the
Atlantic. There's no real distine- -
tion now it just seems like there
is only one type of rock music it's
just universial.
Stern - How was the name The
Good Rats, derived at?
Mouchello - I was just given to
us by the producers of our first
album. It was in the year that
everyone was an “Animal” (i.e.
The Animals , The Beatles, The
Byrds). Being from New York,
we took the New York animal -
the rat!
Stein - Does anyone ever
confuse you with the Boomtown
Rats?
Marchello - They stole our
name! The guy who manages the
Boomtown Rats at one point
worked for us. In 1976. People
just assume that we stole the
name. We formed in '64! That
was before those guys ever knew
Invasion (Zep, Beatles; Who, # what a guitdt was! We are the
Angel
~ Angel. The name alone con-
jures up images of heavenly
bodies. And believe me, 5 young.
‘men are bringing forth a brand of
“heavenly rock” to our souls and
our minds. The band, made up of
Frank DiMino on lead vocals,
Pinky Meadows on lead guitar,
Felix Robinson on bass, Greg
~ Giuffrice on keyboards, and
Barry Branct on drums, set forth
~ to show earth that rock and roll *
‘is here to stay.
Throughout each show, many
spectacular visuals enlighten the
When Angel
appears on stage, they litterally
they don’t walk on,
they materialize out of giant 4
part boxes stacked on top of one
Wizzards of Rock
another, as a god-like voice is
heard introducing Angel to
“earth. In the middle of the set, a
giant holographic face appears,
engulfed within the Angel logo,
and begins to speak. This is done
in the same matter that the face
of the “Mighty Oz” is seen in the
classic motion picture, The
Wizzard of Oz. Many more
magical events take place, but I'd
rather not spoil it for you (Aren't
I kind?)
At a recent interview with the
band, I found out what these:
super stars are really like. One
may imagine rockets to be stuck
up snobs and that they throw off
the “IT don’t give a damn”
attitude. Not true with Angel.
(Photo Courtesy of Casablanca Records)
THE HEAVENLY BODIES OF
ANGEL - LOOKING SINFUL?
L. to R. -
Meadows, and Greg Giuffria
Felix Robinson, Barry Brandt, Frank DiMino, Punky
orriginal rats!
- Stein - On the new album, how
did it feel to work with Max
Mioddleton (Jeff Beck Group and
Manfred Man fame).
Marchello - Max is a gentle-
man! good musician, and just one
hell of a nice guy. He is very easy
to work with.
Stern - To quote Fether Tulls’
Ian Anderson, do you feel that
you will ever be “too old to rock
* and roll”? :
Marchello - Every job has the
threat of loosing touch. But
music is always there to perk
- people up. During the depression
everyone was real down but
music helped people liven up. Ya
need people to play music - I'm
never gonna be too old to rock &
roll! :
The Good Rats proved to be
everything I'd imangned. The
hard driving rock mixes with soft
balads to form an album not to be
passed up. Peppis’ oldest son,
Gene, 10, makes a cameo
“appearence on the album in a
song entitled Geno. Meeting
Gene was an experience as well.
The love for his father and music
just shines in his eyes. Could he
be another rocker in the starting
stages? .
The Good Rats are better than
good - they're fantastic! Next
time they are in the area, go
check them out. You won't be
dissappointed. And try & catch a
rat - they spend $12,000 a year on
em and boy, what a souvenior!
....Special thanks go out to Ellen
~ Smith and Ida lamgson at the
Howard Bloom Org. in New
York.-Also to Rich (“Face”) who
help us out backstage, and of
cource to the band.
They are very “down to earth”
and proud musicians. They are in
the proffession to make kids
happy, and that's exactly what
they do. And Angel communicate
with their audience something
many bands shun away from.
Angel delivers hard rock and
roll as well as slow, beautiful
ballads on all five albums —
Angel, Helluva Band, On Earth
~ As It Is In Heaven, White Hot,
and their latest effort, Sinful, all
available on Casablanca records
and tapes.
And speaking of Sinful, what
an album! Hard driving riffs
provide the ingredients to form
one of the bands best discs. But
recording records is only one of
the ventures that Angel is on.
They are actors as well and will
be proved, in the forthcoming
Casablanca Filmworks feature
film entitled “The Foxes".
One may think back to October
when Kiss showed their acting
talents in a flick entitled Kiss
Meets The Phantom. In No Way
Shape or form are Angel to be
compared to Kiss. As Frank
DiMino puts it, “Sometimes
people think that we are the
oppisite of Kiss. We are not like
them at all. The music is so
totally differnent, Well, it speaks
for itself! I'll just be happy if the
comparison is never made again!”
So folks, there you have it. A
band, so bold and so good, that it
is a little hard to believe that
Rock & Roll‘ Interviews
(Photo Courtesy of Aris ah coords
THE ORIGINAL RATS
Sitting - Joe Franco, Standing L. to R. -
Mickey Marchello, Pepp)
Marchello, John Gatto, and backround Lenny Kotke. .
New Album and
Music
Watch out for the new one by
Jimmi Mack (widley known for
his songwriting talents with the
Earl Slick Band), entitled On The
Corner, available on Big Tree
Records and tapes, BT-76014.
Jimmi is an uprising star and just
appeared at sigma sound studios
to record for WMMR radio. Some
of the best cuts on the album are
“Ain’t gonna make It; “Give It
Away; “I'd Rather Be The One;
“Subway; and the title cut, “On
The Corner”. It's a dinamite
disc-pick it up. ‘cause you won't
be sorry.
. Also on the way is the new
Cheap Trick effort entitled
Dream Police as soon as Live At
Budikahn dies down, the album
will be shipped probably pla-
tinum!
OK all you Zeppelin freaks!
The new album by this infamous
band is Compleated! It should be
News
released either next month or in
the fall. A tour is also in the
works and will probably touch
down in Phila. during the
summer. The band is now
stronger than ever - “Rock &
Roll!
The Who will be on tour this
summer with Ken Jones on
drums to replace the Kete, grect,
Keith Moon. In the talking stage
are the additions of a keyboardist
and another guitarist to help out
on the floor. Rodger Daltry will
have a solo album out soon - don
miss it!
Have a good summer, folks and
don’t forget to check out J.F.K.
stadium this summer for some of
the best outdoor concerts pre-
sented. See you all next year
“Rock and Roll all nite, and party
every day!
il’hotn by Donna Curran:
Yes! YES is scheduled to appear at the Spectrum in Philadelphia
Continued on Page 8 June 20th and 2] st.
Stephanie Stern
ra