Neighborhood
Kenmore Square
Years Active
1974 - 1997
Boston Then Video Exclusive: Al Quint, Suburban Voice
View more of the interview with Al Quint»
The Story:
Boston’s punk birthplace, the Rathskeller but more commonly known as The Rat, was open from 1974 - 1997 under Jim Harold. The Rat was just as it sounds (“rathskeller” meaning “council cellar” in German), it was a divvy basement rock club with a restaurant and bar above. The venue first opened in the 60s under the same name with The Remains as its original house band. Later it became known as TJ's. Future owner, Jim Harold, worked there in '70 and was fired. He decided to buy the place, in part, because he never wanted to be fired again, and the club reverted back to its old name in ‘74.
Many famous national acts have graced the stage at The Rat--the Cars, the Police, Talking Heads, the Ramones, Joan Jett, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Sonic Youth, the Minutemen, and the Pixies--to many local ones and almost every band in this project. The Rat is full of countless memories and stories. It’s where Mickey Clean and the Mezz begged management to let them play in ‘73; the Neighborhoods, Real Kids, Lyres, and Nervous Eaters played out in the 70s; the Rock ‘N’ Rumble called home its first three years; the Damned almost peed on Paul Blowfish during an interview; Hüsker Dü opened for R.E.M. in ‘84; the bouncers beat up folks for slam-dancing before they knew better; the owner created a short-lived record label to help give bands a platform, before hopefully getting a major signing; and it is where one of the first places Boston musicians could play original music when places were only booking cover bands.
The Rat had music seven nights a week with two to three bands playing a couple of sets each night, and the weekends were saved for top local and big-name acts. It was also famous for its disgusting bathrooms, which Harold only had redone once (because they were destroyed shortly after) during his tenure. The house soundman was Granny (aka, Richard Weiderman) who used to play at the venue when it was TJ’s, and a constant presence at the door was Mitch Cerullo, the legendary and beloved manager and doorman who wore a three-piece suit and due laryngectomy, had to use a device to talk. TMax, founder of The Noise, made t-shirts with his likeness that immediately sold out.
By 1975, the venue was the place and scene for underground punk. In ‘76, Harold released the double disc Live At the Rat, off his own Rat Records, with tracks by club regulars like Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band, DMZ, The Real Kids, Thundertrain, Marc Thor, and others. Rock critic Brett Milano called the album the “city’s first important document.” By 1977, punk had exploded and according to Boston Groupie News, gained publicity with the Sex Pistols. In the summer of ‘77, Time Magazine visited the Rat and other music institutions, publishing a piece that focused mostly on punk’s outrageous nature.
Over time Harold continued to buy space in the Rat’s building, eventually owning the whole place. In 1980, he invited The Hoodoo BBQ owner, Jim Ryan, to open shop upstairs above the club where it remained until ‘87. The two establishments mixed well and the venture was a success. Of the collaboration, Doug Simmons of The Phoenix, wrote in ‘82:
“More than anything else it was the Hoodoo's opening, in 1980, that restored the Rat to its position at the forefront of Boston's rock culture. It had held that position from 1975 to 1977, but then the underground music scene dispersed to other places.”
The Rat’s last show was on November 15, 1997, with Gang Green on stage closing with “Alcohol.” The club and the surrounding block were bulldozed to make way for the Hotel Commonwealth, owned in part by BU. Similar to the closing of the Underground in ‘81 (in which BU also played a part), folks tour the place a part, grabbing what they could of memorabilia from the paper-mache rats hanging from the ceiling to bulletinboards, chairs, and a bathroom stall door.
David Lenson of Western Mass’ Valley Advocate said it best:
“In the physical plant of the place, above all, is a kind of monument to Punk and what it hoped to accomplish. The swiss cheese rug lies beneath the feet of the new audience just as it once lay beneath the feet of Patti Smith on her way to the boards. Real rats still peer out of corners at loading and unloading bands with eyes like broken green bottles. Once I saw a rat jump from a second-floor window into the parking lot, then pause for a second, give a shake and run off. Perhaps that is the sort of metaphor for rock and roll that only the Rat can provide.”
[Content combined from Wikiepdia, Suburban Voice, Boston Groupie News, Culture Brats, New England Music Scrapbook, and The Phoenix]