Boomtown Rats

• Bob Geldof - mouth
• Gerry Cott - lead guitar
• Gary Roberts - rhythm guitar
• Johnny Fingers (Moylett) - keyboards
• Pete Briquette - bass
• Simon Crowe - drums

Bio:

The Boomtown Rats formed in 1975, playing their first gig as The Nightlife Thugs. They were a back-to-basics rock/R&B band typical in hindsight of 1975, coming between pub rock and the rise of punk. The Rats became very good very quickly and gained a large following in Ireland. They were provocative and thrilling in a country where little was happening at the time.

Their early gigs included covers of The Who ("Substitute", "My Generation"), Bob Marley ("Trenchtown Rock", "Get Up Stand Up"), the Stones, Ronnie Woods ("I Can Feel The Fire Burning") and Robert Parker ("Barefootin'"). Dr.Feelgood's first LP was a major influence. They were regulars at Moran's Hotel in Dublin. They toured Ireland in 1976 on the Falling Asunder Tour with Nightbus and country rock band Cheap Thrills, with each band headlining on alternate nights. The tour ended with a gig at the National Stadium in Dublin. Their 1976 "Neon Heart" demo tape is a mixture of covers and originals. Original drummer Dave Moloney (later in The Vipers) appears on half the tracks, his replacement Simon Crowe on the rest.

Fachtna O'Kelly became their manager. Geldof and O'Kelly were both music journalists (NME and Evening Press respectively) which undoubtedly helped get the band signed to Ensign/Phonogram for a very large fee by the end of 1976. Geldof was also expert at handling the media.

Being associated with the emerging punk rock scene in the early punk days of 1977 when confusion reigned and many pub rock bands were jumping the bandwagon probably also helped raise the bands profile and gave the (excellent) debut single and (uneven) debut LP more impetus. They were soon being slagged off in the fanzines for selling out and for not being punk in the first place anyway, but in fact the band was improving steadily and finally came into it's own in 1978. "[1978] was their most persuasive musical period, one where they hitched the bold excitement they'd inherited from R&B and punk to a widely melodic and mischievous ingenuity" -- Carol Clerk in Uncut

The Rats mixed R&B and pub rock with new wave energy, excitement and power chords. They had something in common with Eddie & The Hot Rods and Graham Parker & The Rumour (there are also moments on the debut LP that recall Bruce Springsteen) but they also had a strong pop sensibility and a gift for clever melodies and arrangements which resulted in some great singles in 1978, including the memorable hit "Rat Trap" which was the first ever UK No.1 by an Irish band. The second album and subsequent singles are all terrific.

By 1979 the band was developing in a more contemporary 'new wave pop' direction and eventually incorporated ska, reggae and world music influences, including adding a horn section. They continued to score hits regularly up until about 1980 after which their profile began to drop. Gerry Cott left in July 1981 over musical differences. The band split in 1986 and Geldof pursued a largely unsuccessful solo career. Johnny Fingers and Simon Crowe recorded as Gung Ho.

See the Videos page for details of online videos.

 

side one:
Little Queenie
My Babe
Gettin' Back To Me¹
Get Up Stand Up
New Wave (New Age)¹
Neon Heart¹
Promised Land
I Can Feel The Fire
Route 66
Born To Burn¹ (recorded at Mulligans)
Jesse James¹ (recorded at Morans)

side two:
Money Honey
All Through The City
Carol
My Generation
Riot In Cell Block #9 (recorded at Morans)
My Babe
Boom Boom
Don't You Just Know It
Getting Back To Me¹
Menage A Trois¹ (Cliff Castle, Dalkey)
Little Queenie

Notes: 22 track demo tape with seven band originals¹. Dave Moloney plays on the first 10 tracks, Simon Crowe on the rest. The insert card reads "Good luck with The Vipers, Dave". A 4 track demo tape sent to UK record labels possibly overlaps with this tape. It certainly included a version of "Riot In Cell Block #9".

tracks:
Joey
Neon Heart
Looking After Number One
Mary Of The 4th Form

tracks:
Lookin' After No. 1
Neon Heart
Joey's On The Street Again
Never Bite The Hand That Feeds
Mary Of The 4th Form
(She's Gonna) Do You In
Close As You'll Ever Be
I Can Make It If You Can
Kicks

The Italian release adds:
Do The Rat
Born To Burn
Mary Of The 4th Form (alternate version)

tracks:
Like Clockwork
Me And Howard Hughes
Living In An Island
(Watch Out For) The Normal People

 

side one:
Like Clockwork
Blind Date
(I Never Loved) Eva Braun
She's So Modern
Don't Believe What You Read

side two:
Living In An Island
Me And Howard Hughes
Can't Stop
(Watch Out For) The Normal People
Rat Trap

Notes:
The Rats switched labels for the USA release of their second album. The US edition omits two tracks ("Can't Stop" and "(Watch Out For) The Normal People") and adds two tracks from the debut ("Joey's On The Street Again" and "Mary of the Fourth Form"). The entire album was also resequenced. Ironically this US edition was the first to gain original CD release.

Mary Of The Fourth Form
Me And Howard Hughes
(I Never Loved) Eva Braun
Don't Believe What You Read
Rat Trap
Kicks
Joey's On The Street Again
Living In An Island
(She's Gonna) Do You In
Like Clockwork
She's So Modern
Lookin After No. 1
Do The Rat

       

   

Blind Date
(I Never Loved) Eva Braun
Me And Howard Hughes
(She's Gonna) Do You In
Rat Trap
Kicks
Joey's On The Street Again
She's So Modern
Don't Believe What You Read
Like Clockwork
The Rat
Lookin After No. 1

Bonus Audio Only Tracks:
Neon Heart
Living On An Island
Mary Of The 4th Form

Bonus Video Clips:
Pale White Girls
One For Me

side one:
Rat Trap (1978)
Looking After No.1 (1977)

side two:
Like Clockwork (1978)
Diamond Smiles (1979)

Never In A Million Years (1981) I Don't Like Mondays (1979) Joey's On The Street Again (1977) Rat Trap (1978) She's So Modern (1978) Up All Night

side one:
Drag Me Down (1984)

side two:
Rat Trap
She's SO Modern

Promo videos
Looking After No.1
She's So Modern
Like Clockwork
Rat Trap
I Don't Like Mondays
Diamond Smiles
Someone's Looking At You
Banana Republic
The Elephants Graveyard
Never In A Million Years
House On Fire
Dave
Tonight
Drag Me Down
A Hold Of Me

On A Night Like This (live)
12 tracks recorded live on the Long Grass tour in 1984

Extras:
Close As You'll Ever Be - live at The Music Machine 1977
Neon Heart - live at The Music Machine 1977
She's Gonna Do You In - live at The Music Machine 1977
Looking After No.1 - live at The Music Machine 1977
Looking After No.1 - Marc TV show 1977
Mary Of The 4th Form - Top of the Pops TV show 1977
Arnold Layne - 6.55 Special TV show 1977
News Flash - 1982
Keep It Up - 1982
Do They Know It's Christmas? - The Tube TV show 1985
Like Clockwork - live at Self Aid 1986
Joey's On The Street Again - live at Self Aid 1986

We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.