(Redirected from Boomtown Rats)
'The Boomtown Rats' (
1975-
1986) was a
punk rock/
New Wave group led by
Bob Geldof.
All six members were originally from
Dún Laoghaire (pronounced Dunleary),
Ireland. The name Boomtown Rats comes from a gang in
Woody Guthrie's
autobiography, ''
Bound for Glory''. They became known as a notable
band, whose record is overshadowed by the
charity work of their lead singer.
History
The Boomtown Rats released their first single, "Looking After Number One", in 1977, and it went straight into the
UK Singles Chart. The song was a raw, youthful punk rock song that spoke of pure self-interest.
Their debut album, ''
The Boomtown Rats'', featured another single, "Mary of the Fourth Form"; along with "Joey's on the Street Again".
The Rats' second album, ''
A Tonic for the Troops'', was their most commercially successful. It featured three hit singles, "Like Clockwork", "She's So Modern" and "
Rat Trap", which became the first ever rock song by an Irish band to reach #1 in the
UK, and the first of any description by an Irish band to top the chart used by the
BBC (
The Bachelors had topped the Record Retailer chart in 1964 with "
Diane", but only reached number 2 on the
Pick of the Pops chart), and was also the first '
New Wave' song to claim the number one spot.
In 1979, "
I Don't Like Mondays", was released. This was written in response to a school shooting in
California by
Brenda Ann Spencer, and also reached #1 in the UK.
''
The Fine Art of Surfacing'', the band's third album, followed and featured the singles "Diamond Smiles" (about the suicide of a debutante) and "Someone's Looking At You" (a song about fame and paranoia).
In 1980 "Banana Republic" was released. This was their last
Top 10 hit. It written in response to the band not being allowed to play in
Ireland for fear of riots in the audience. After going places where no Irish band had ever gone before, the Rats were stunned by this homecoming, and became very disillusioned with Irish politics.
In 1981 their next studio album ''
Mondo Bongo'' was released. The Rats began experimenting musically in ''Mondo Bongo''; the album's other songs featured a heavy dose of drum- and keyboard-based music, a far cry from the guitar-driven
pub rock of the band's early days.
In 1982,
Gerry Cott left the band prior to the recording of the band's fifth album, ''
V Deep'', which was a major shift in the Rats' music heavily reliant on synthesized sounds.
In 1985 the band's sixth and final album ''In the Long Grass'' was released.
The band's final performance came at
Self Aid, a 1986 concert featuring many Irish rock superstars, to raise awareness of rampant unemployment in Ireland. Their penultimate performance, "Joey's On the Street Again", was a 12-minute long extravaganza with an extended bridge, during which time Geldof ran amongst the crowd. During the bridge section, Geldof broke into the lyrics from another song - a
Woody Guthrie folk song:
'I'm not asking for your Rolls Royce mister
'I'm not asking for your pleasure yacht
'All I want is the right to live, mister
'Can't you give me back that job I lost?
'Oh, that job I lost.'
The reference to this song had a twofold purpose; it fit the theme of the Self-Aid concert, and also was an ironic statement by Geldof about the band's own future unemployment. Following this performance, Geldof addressed the crowd, saying, 'It's been a great ten years; so long, and rest in peace'. The band then performed "Looking After Number One", which was seen as another ironic touch by Geldof; the song harkened back to the band's youthful days of self-interest.
With that performance, the career of the Boomtown Rats was over. They never became a legendary band, but for a time in the late seventies, they were the biggest band in England.
Following the band's breakup, Geldof launched a solo career with Pete Briquette continuing to work alongside him. Gerry Cott had a short-lived solo career, releasing two UK singles, "The Ballad of the Lone Ranger" and "Pioneers" and the 1984 Canadian single "Alphabet Town". Fingers and Crowe founded the band Gung~Ho in the late 1980s. Fingers is currently with the
Japanese band, Greengate, whilst Simon Crowe is in the moderately successful
Celtic instrumental band
Jiggerypipery.
In 2005 the band's albums were all
remastered and re-released and a 'Best Of' compilation was released, along with two DVDs.
Factoids
★ The introduction of the Boomtown Rats song "I Don't Like Mondays" was featured in
Half-Wit episode (3x15) of the popular medical TV Drama, ''
House M.D.''.
★ The Boomtown Rats song "Up All Night" opens the final segment of ''
The Jim Rome Show'', when
Jim Rome announces the 'Huge Call of the Day'.
★
Pete Briquette mixed the live
DVD and
Francesco Cameli mixed the extra tracks for the re-release of the Boomtown Rats albums at
Sphere Studios in London.
★ Geldof starred as Pink in the 1982
movie ''
Pink Floyd The Wall''.
Roger Waters was sceptical about casting Geldof, stating that he was unsure that he could sing the vocals.
★ The Boomtown Rats, and the song "Up All Night", are referenced in the song, "Don't Push", recorded by the band
Sublime on their album, ''
40 Oz. to Freedom''. A line in the song states "If I was a Boomtown Rat I would be stayin' up all night".
Discography
Singles
| Year | Song | UK | CAN | U.S. |
|---|
| 1977 | "Looking After No. 1" | 11 | - | - |
| 1977 | "Mary of the Fourth Form" | 15 | - | - |
| 1978 | "She's So Modern" | 12 | - | - |
| 1978 | "Like Clockwork" | 6 | - | - |
| 1978 | "Rat Trap" | 1 | - | - |
| 1979 | "I Don't Like Mondays" | 1 | 4 | 73 |
| 1979 | "Diamond Smiles" | 13 | - | - |
| 1980 | "Someone's Looking at You" | 4 | 86 | - |
| 1980 | "Banana Republic" | 3 | 47 | - |
| 1981 | "The Elephant's Graveyard" | 26 | - | - |
| 1981 | "Never in A Million Years" | 62 | - | - |
| 1982 | "House on Fire" | 24 | - | - |
| 1982 | "Charmed Lives" | - | - | - |
| 1984 | "Tonight" | 73 | - | - |
| 1984 | "Drag Me Down" | 50 | - | - |
| 1984 | "Dave" | 81 | - | - |
| 1985 | "A Hold of Me" | 78 | - | - |
| 1994 | "I Don't Like Mondays" | 38 | - | - |
Albums
Compilations
★ ''
The Boomtown Rats' Greatest Hits'' (1987) Did not chart
★ ''
Loudmouth'' (1994) UK #10
★ ''
The Best of the Boomtown Rats'' (2003) UK #43
Audio sample
References
★ Liner Notes to ''The Boomtown Rats' Greatest Hits''
★
Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
★ The Guinness Book Of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
★ Guinness Book Of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
★ Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN 0-85112-072-5
★ The Great Rock Discography: 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3
External links
★
Boomtown Rats official website
★
The Best Of The Boomtown Rats
★
Boomtown Rats/Geldof Forum
★
Boomtown Rats History
★
Bob Geldof official website
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
