  We report a comparative Raman spectroscopic study of the
quasi-one-dimensional charge-density-wave systems \ab (A = K, Rb). The
temperature and polarization dependent experiments reveal charge-coupled
vibrational Raman features. The strongly temperature-dependent collective
amplitudon mode in both materials differ by about 3 cm, thus revealing the role
of alkali atom. We discus the observed vibrational features in terms of
charge-density-wave ground state accompanied by change in the crystal symmetry.
A frequency-kink in some modes seen in \bb between T = 80 K and 100 K supports
the first-order lock-in transition, unlike \rb. The unusually sharp Raman
lines(limited by the instrumental response) at very low temperatures and their
temperature evolution suggests that the decay of the low energy phonons is
strongly influenced by the presence of the temperature dependent charge density
wave gap.
