The Rat Rocks… And Cares
• Beasley’s hard-rocking WRAT (95.9 The Rat Rocks!)/Monmouth-Ocean, NJ celebrates 20 years of its Sunday night specialty show, The Electric Ballroom, with a commemorative anniversary concert on Sunday, December 30 at the House of Independents in Asbury Park, NJ. The event will feature Monster Magnet, along with Blue Coupe (featuring original members of Blue Oyster Cult and Alice Cooper‘s band), The Ribeye Brothers and Frankenstein 3000, fronted by Electric Ballroom host Keith Roth.
Roth and his original co-host Aimee Kristi created the concept for the program 20 years ago. The show, now hosted solely by Keith, plays everything from ’70s glam to ’80s Alternative, Classic Rock, eclectic rock and punk rock from the New York Dolls, The Clash, Ramones, David Bowie, T-Rex, The Replacements, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and more.
“The thing that keeps me motivated to keep doing this is the impact it has on people,” said Roth, a veteran musician for over 30 years. “Discovering things they weren’t aware of; broadening their minds to so much great music and art that wasn’t exposed to the masses. Sadly, over the past 20 years, we have lost a lot of friends who had a major impact on what I consider the musical landscape. We need to keep reminding people of their legacy and infecting the next generations with the timeless sounds. I’m always hoping to hear and share the next Velvet underground or The MC5.” Tickets for this all-ages show are $35 and are available at wrat.com.
• WRAT is also preparing for its 20th annual Broadcast for the People of New Jersey Thanksgiving Season Collection Drive, which will run November 19- 20 at “a local Shoprite location” in Neptune, NJ. The live broadcast runs from 6am-midnight on Monday, November 19 and continues on Tuesday, November 20 from 6am-7pm.
The goal is to fill a 55-foot trailer with items to be donated to three local non-profit organizations — Fulfill, the Family Resource Associates and Holiday Express. There will also be a satellite drop-off location both days from 3-7pm at Brave New World in Toms River, NJ, manned by WRAT personality Gotts… IN PERSON!
“The generosity of our listeners is inspiring,” said Doug Sjonvall, Marketing Director of WRAT. “We’ll be out there — no matter what the weather is! We look forward to filling our 22nd truck with items to benefit needy individuals and families in our community.”
