Boomtown Rats

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The Boomtown Rats (1975-1986) was a punk rock/New Wave group led by Bob Geldof.

All six members were originally from Dún Laoghaire (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.

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 song by an Irish band to reach #1 in the UK, 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 Boomtown Rats'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 the Boomtown Rats last Top 10 hit. It written in response to the Boomtown Rats 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 Boomtown Rats were stunned by this homecoming, and became very disillusioned with Irish politics

In 1981 the Boomtown Rats next studio album Mondo Bongo was released. The Boomtown 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 Boomtown Rats's early days.

In 1982, Gerry Cott, left the Boomtown Rats prior to the recording of the band's fifth album, V Deep, which was a major shift in the Boomtown Rats music heavily reliant on synthesized sounds.

In 1985, the Boomtown Rats sixth and final album, In the Long Grass was released.

The Boomtown Rats final performance came at Self Aid, a 1986 concert featuring many Irish rock superstars, to raise awareness of rampant unemployment in Ireland. The Boomtown Rats 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 Boomtown Rats 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 Boomtown Rats 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. The Boomtown Rats never became a legendary band, but for a time in the late seventies, the Boomtown Rats were the biggest band in England.

Following the Boomtown Rats 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 Boomtown Rats albums were all remastered and re-released, a 'Best Of' compilation was released, along with two DVDs.

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