The Boomtown RatsTheBoomtownRats are an Irish new wave band
thathad a series of Irish and UK hits between 1977 and1985. The
group is led by vocalist Bob Geldof.[1] Theother members of the
original line-up were Garry Roberts(lead guitar), Johnnie Fingers
(keyboard), Pete Briquette(bass), Gerry Cott (guitar) and Simon
Crowe (drums).The Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986, but reformed
in2013, without Johnnie Fingers or Gerry Cott.1 BiographyAll six
members originate from Dn Laoghaire,Ireland.[1] Having been booked
for their rst gig underthe name The Nightlife Thugs, the group
agreed on thename change, when Garry Roberts threatened to resignif
they were called that, to the Boomtown Rats after agang of children
that Geldof had read about in WoodyGuthrie's autobiography, Bound
for Glory .[1]Theybecame a notable band, but one whose
accomplishmentswere overshadowed by the charity work of frontman
BobGeldof, a former journalist with the NME magazine.[2]The group
moved to London and signed with EnsignRecords in 1976. Their rst
single, "Lookin' After No.1", came out in August 1977. It reached
the Top 40of the UK Singles Chart,the rst of a long string
ofsuccesses.[1][3] The albumTheBoomtownRats was re-leased the next
month. it included another single, "Maryof the 4th Form".[1] Music
journalist Martin C. Strongcommented, Geldofs moody charisma helped
to givethe band a distinct identity.[2]Their next album, ATonic for
the Troops (1978), featuredthree hit singles, "Like Clockwork",
"Shes So Modern"and "Rat Trap". The US version of the album (with
aslightly dierent selection of tracks) came out the nextyear on
Columbia Records.[1] Mutt Lange produced[3]Rat Trap, which became
the rst rock song by an Irishband to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the
rst of any de-scription by an Irish band to top the ocial chart
used bythe BBC. (The Bachelors had topped the Record Retailerchart
in 1964 with "Diane", but only reached No. 2 onthe UK Singles
Chart). In addition, Rat Trap was alsothe rst newwave song to
claimthe number one spot.[3][4]In 1979, "I Don't Like Mondays", was
released.[1] Thiswas written in response to a school shooting in
Californiacarried out by Brenda Ann Spencer, and also reached No.1
in the UK.[3] It was a worldwide hit, with the exceptionbeing the
United States.[5] It was the bands only song toreach the US
Billboard Hot 100 and was included in thebands third album, The
Fine Art of Surfacing.[1] The al-bumalso contained "Diamond Smiles"
and their next Top10 hit in the UK, "Someones Looking at You".[1]In
1980 "Banana Republic" was released, which was theirlast Top 10
hit, and in the following year the BoomtownRats next studio album
Mondo Bongo was issued.[1]1.1 Cotts departureCott departed from the
band at this point. According toBob Geldofs autobiography, Is That
It?, Cott had growndisillusioned with what he saw as the bands
growing lazi-ness in the studio and their apparent relinquishing of
theirearly R'n'B inuences for cod-reggae.Throughout histime with
the band, Cott had maintained a distance be-tween himself and the
other members and he resigned theday before the end of their 1981
world tour, only hoursafter the rest of the band had decided to
confront him forrefusing to join them and the road crew for a drink
tocelebrate Simon Crowes birthday.Cott had a short-lived solo
career, releasing two UK sin-gles, The Ballad of the Lone Ranger
and Pioneers andthe 1984 Canadian single Alphabet Town.1.2 V
DeepThe bands fth album, V Deep, was released in February1982.[1]
The rst single was Never in a Million Yearswhich did not sell well,
whilst the follow-up House onFire made number 24 in the UK Singles
Chart. In theUS, the albumwas initially rejected by their American
la-bel, who instead issued a four-song EP called The Boom-town Rats
featuring four selections from V Deep. The fullalbum was eventually
issued in the US in late 1982.[6]Afollow-upalbumentitled In The
Long Grass wasrecorded in 1983, but was initially rejected by the
groupslabel.[6] By 1984, the band was touring universities af-ter
becoming unable to fund the guarantee requiredto book mainstream
concert halls. InTheLongGrasswas nally issued in the UK in May
1984, but failed tochart. Two singles,Tonight and Drag Me Down,were
pulled from the album and reached the lower rungsof the UK Singles
Chart, but two further singles, Daveand A Hold Of Me, failed to hit
the UK top 75.The Boomtown Ratsinvolvement with Band Aid (onwhich
they all played) raised their prole again, and In12 2
DISCOGRAPHYJanuary 1985, a revised version of In the Long Grass
wasnally released in the US. The album made the US chartsat #188,
but the associated singles failed to make an im-pact on the charts
or on the radio. The band subsequentlyperformed at Live Aid's
charity performance.[1]1.3 Dave became Rain in the USDave, a single
from the original release of In the LongGrass was re-recorded as
Rain for the US market. Thesong was about the bands saxophone
player and schoolfriend David MacHale (died 2009), who had suered
abreakdown after his girlfriend was found dead in a publictoilet
next to an empty heroin bag.[7] The 'Rain' metaphorin the altered
lyrics referenced Duran Duran's earlier song"Hold Back The Rain",
where Geldofs friend Simon LeBon pleaded with an unnamed band
member to ceasedabbling with narcotics.1.4 Rats splitAfter this,
the band was mothballed whilst Geldof woundup his aairs with the
Band Aid Trust, during whichtime he succeeded in getting them a
one-album deal withVertigo Records. However, both Crowe and Fingers
re-fused to rejoin the Boomtown Rats full-time, preferringto pursue
their own band, Gung Ho.The bands nal performance came at Self Aid,
a 1986concert featuring many Irish rock stars, to raise awarenessof
unemployment in Ireland.[8] Their rendition of Joeyson the Street
Again was 12 minutes long, with an ex-tended bridge, during which
time Geldof ran amongst thecrowd. Following this performance,
Geldof addressedthe crowd, saying, Its been a great ten years; rest
inpeace. The band then performed "Looking After No.1".Following the
bands break-up, Geldof launched a solocareer with Pete Briquette
continuing to work alongsidehim.Garry Roberts co-wrote songs for
Kirsty MacColl be-fore leaving the music business and going on to
become asuccessful salesman of nancial services. Roberts
nowpresents his Guitar Workshop to schools, encouragingpupils to
play the instrument and emphasising the con-tribution of The Blues
to modern Rock and Pop music.After Gung Ho split, Fingers became a
highly success-ful music producer in Japan, as well as being part
of theJapanese band Greengate. Simon Crowe is in the
WestCountry-basedCelticinstrumental bandJiggerypiperyand has also
run a clock making business.In 2005 the bands albums were all
remastered and re-released and a 'Best Of' compilation was
released, alongwith two DVDs. Briquette mixed the live DVD
andFrancescoCameli mixedtheextratracksforthere-release of the
Boomtown Rats albums at Sphere Studiosin London.1.5 The RatsIn
2008, Garry Roberts and Simon Crowe, who had con-tinued playing
together in The Fab Four, with Alan Per-man (ex Hermans Hermits)
and Bob Doyle (who onceauditioned unsuccessfully for E.L.O.),and
The VelcroFlies, with Steve (Dusty) Hill and Gavin Petrie, got
to-gether as The Rats, playing their favourite BoomtownRats songs,
with the classic line-up of two guitars, bassand drums. The band
was initially fronted by Peter Bar-ton, who has a long history,
going back to the early 1980s,of playing with resurrected famous
acts, including TheAnimals, The Hollies and Lieutenant Pigeon.
Barton wasreplaced on lead vocals and bass by Bob Bradbury, whowas
the founder and main songwriter in Hello. DarrenBeale, formerly of
The Caves, played lead guitar. Saxo-phone player Andy Hamilton, who
toured and recordedwith The Boomtown Rats, including at Live Aid,
playedas a guest at some gigs.GerryCott
andJohnnieFingerswereinvitedtojointhe band when circumstances
allow. Cott attended theBoomtown Rats second gig (at The 100 Club
on OxfordStreet, London). Fingers, meanwhile, works for the
FujiRock Festival in Japan, but plans to join the band on stagewhen
he is in the UK.On 21 June 2009, Geldof, Roberts, and Briquette got
to-gether in Dublin to play Dave, at a party to celebratethe life
of Boomtown Rats close friend and saxophoneplayer, Doctor Dave
MacHale, who had died of can-cer in Frankfurt. Dave was a song
Geldof wrote forMacHale in 1983, after MacHales girlfriend died
from aheroin overdose.[9]On 20 September 2011, Gerry Cott guested
with Geldof,Briquette and the rest of Geldofs band at The
CadoganHall, London.They played three Boomtown Rats songstogether
prior to the encores. Cott returned to the stagefor the nal encore
playing on two Geldof solo songs.[10]1.6 The Boomtown Rats
reformThe Boomtown Rats reformed in 2013. Bob Geldof said,Playing
again with the Rats and doing those great songsagain will be
exciting afresh. We were an amazing bandand I just feel its the
right time to re-Rat, to go back toBoomtown for a visit.[11] In
June 2013, it was announcedthat the band would be embarking on a UK
and Irelandtour supported by a new Best of album called Back
toBoomtown: Classic Rats Hits.[12]2 DiscographyMain article: The
Boomtown Rats discography32.1 Studio albumsThe Boomtown Rats
(1977)A Tonic for the Troops (1978)The Fine Art of Surfacing
(1979)Mondo Bongo (1981)V Deep (1982)In the Long Grass (1984)2.2 UK
Top 40 singles"Lookin' After No. 1" (1977) No. 11"Mary of the 4th
Form" (1977) No. 15"Shes So Modern" (1978) No. 12"Like Clockwork"
(1978) No. 6"Rat Trap" (1978) No. 1"I Don't Like Mondays" (1979)
No. 1"Diamond Smiles" (1979) No. 13"Someones Looking at You" (1980)
No. 4"Banana Republic" (1980) No. 3The Elephants Graveyard
(Guilty)" (1981) No. 26House on Fire (1982) No. 24"I Don't Like
Mondays" (CD single re-issue) (1994)No. 383 References[1] Biography
by William Ruhlmann. Allmusic.com. Re-trieved 8 March 2009.[2]
Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography(5th ed.).
Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 105106. ISBN1-84195-017-3.[3] Roberts,
David (2006). British Hit Singles &Albums (19thed.).London:
Guinness World Records Limited.p.71.ISBN 1-904994-10-5.[4] Rice, Jo
(1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number OneHits (1st ed.). Eneld,
Middlesex: Guinness SuperlativesLtd. p. 193. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.[5]
Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number OneHits (1st ed.).
Eneld, Middlesex: Guinness SuperlativesLtd. p. 198. ISBN
0-85112-250-7.[6]
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=boomtown_rats[7] Bob Geldof
Is That It? (1985) ISBN 0-330-44292-9[8] Roberts, David (1998).
Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.).London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p.
55. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.[9] Geldof Reunites With Fellow Rats in
Blackrock. Hot-press.com. Retrieved 15 May 2011.[10] Bob Geldof,
Cadogan Hall review. thisislondon.co.uk.Retrieved 22 September
2011.[11] Jonze, Tim (28 January 2013). Boomtown Rats re-formfor
Isle of Wight festival. The Guardian. Retrieved 28January 2013.[12]
Eames, Tom (17 June 2013). Boomtown Rats announcenew 'Classic'
album, UK and Ireland tour. Digital Spy.Retrieved 13 September
2013.Liner Notes to The Boomtown Rats Greatest Hits4 External
linksBoomtown Rats ocial websiteBoomtown Rats History4 5 TEXT AND
IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES5 Text and image sources,
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