The Good Rats, and Kars4Kids

I grew up on Long Island in the 70s, so naturally I saw The Good Rats play around town many times. I saw them at the local clubs, I saw them at Eisenhower Park, and I saw them play with The Ramones at the Nassau Coliseum. Everyone who grew up in the NY area knows The Good Rats! They were a hard rocking guitar based band whose songs had excellent hooks. My two favorite Rats tunes are - "Reason To Kill" and "Writing The Pages." When I got this email recently, I knew I had to pass it along to you all!

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Kars4Kids Launches Jingle Contest with Spokesman Peppi Marchello of The Good Rats

Classic Rock Hall of Famer Jumpstarts National Car Donation YouTube-Based Contest



Lakewood, NJ—July 27, 2009—Kars4Kids, the national car donation program best known for its persistent "1-8-7-7-Kars-for-Kids" jingle, opened the doors this morning to contestants who want to perform, recreate or otherwise spoof their well-known jingle. The contest was launched simultaneously at the charity organization's website and its YouTube channel with a video--the first of three in a series--from famed rock-and-roll songwriter Peppi Marchello and his band The Good Rats.

"While Kars4Kids is a wonderful organization, we know our jingle can make some people a little crazy," said Clifford Meth, VP of Communications. "It's no different than Burger King's 'Have It Your Way' campaign of the 70s or some of the other classic commercials--our jingle gets inside people's heads and sometimes they can't get it out. So we thought we'd give the thousands of people who write about our jingle a chance to change it… or spoof it… or recreate it. And who better to kick that off than Peppi Marchello, one of the very best songwriters and rock-and-roll showmen of the 1970s."

Kars4kids is giving away prizes from Fender Stratocasters to gaming and home theatre systems. While the organization may not change their jingle any time soon, they believe this contest will be fun for everyone.

"Asking me to be spokesman for a national charity? Now that’s a gutsy move," says Marchello, whose band first debuted on Warner Brothers Records in 1969 and has sold more than one million albums. "When we were playing the Uncle Floyd Show or opening for The Grateful Dead, we must've gone through six dozen vehicles. If Kars4Kids had been around, I'd have known what to do with them but instead I'm still getting notices for 30-year-old parking tickets!"

In addition to writing for and fronting The Good Rats, Marchello also produced a number of other artists including Fiona Flanagan (Atlantic Records) and scored Demi Moore's film "No Small Affair" (1984)

"This contest isn't just for musicians or people good with a video camera," notes Meth. "Anyone with a little creativity will have a chance of winning." Meth noted that other professional bands and entertainers will be popping up at the contest site, including J.R. (formerly of the punk-horror band Rosemary's Babies) and Mark Radice, the Emmy-nominated writer for such shows as "Sesame Street."

Kars4Kids is a national charity operating in 49 states. For more information on the contest, visit www.kars4kids.org/contest





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Rats