The Boomtown Rats

Sunday, October 28, 1979

Sunday, October 21, 1979

Friday, May 25, 1979

Roxy Theater, Los Angeles, Hollywood, CA

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/boomtown-rats/concerts/roxy-may-25-1980.html

Saturday, April 21, 1979

Saturday, April 07, 1979

California World Music Festival, L.A. Memorial Coliseum

Monday, March 05, 1979

Japan Center Theatre, San Fancisco

Wednesday, February 28, 1979

Fox Theatre (San Diego, CA)

The second night of a two-night stand for the Boomtown Rats in San Diego, California.

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/boomtown-rats/concerts/fox-theatre-february-28-1979.html

Tuesday, February 27, 1979

Fox Theatre (San Diego, CA) - The first time Mondays was played

This is a really good stream with a sound deck recording , a top quality concert recording. Most notably, this was the debut performance of I Don't Like Mondays, so a more basic version of the song without some of the phrasing you may be familiar with. Also a rare rendition of Never Bite The Hand That Feeds. Not too dissimilar from the 1978 Hammersmith Odeon set, but certainly a bit different in terms of sound and atmosphere, given this was the Rats trying to break America. Geldof makes a few comments on the state of US radio. More to follow when I have a good listen. Enjoy!

http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/Concerts.aspx?stype=artist&id=896

Blind Date
(I Never Loved) Eva Brown (sic)
Neon Heart
Me And Howard Hughes
Like Clockwork
Medley: Rat Trap / Kicks / Joey
Living On An Island
(She's Gonna) Do You In
She's So Modern
Lookin' After No. 1
Mary Of The 4th Form
Do The Rat
I Don't Like Mondays
Never Bite The Hand That Feeds

Bob Geldof - lead vocals
Pete Briquette - bass, vocals
Gerry Cott - guitar
Simon Crowe - drums, vocals
Johnnie fingers - keyboards
Garry Roberts - guitar, vocals
“Space” Jenner - sax

from the Wolfgang's Vaults

Despite hitting the top of the charts several times in their native UK, the Boomtown Rats never really caught on in America. Their label, Columbia Records, had hyped them as the next big punk band saying they would be in the same league as the Clash and the Pretenders. It didn’t happen. This was mostly because they never had the material to win over radio programmers, despite having a hit with “I Don’t Like Mondays.” Also an early promotion by the label involved sending actual dead rats in plastic bags (purchased from the New York City Sewer Department) to DJs across the country. The publicity stunt backfired and caused the media to react with such disgust that many of these radio personalities, programmers and journalists wrote off the band forever.Led by the charismatic lead vocalist, Bob Geldof, the group certainly had a great showman as their front man on stage. The band, assisted by former Graham Parker reed man, Space Jenner, was certainly comprised of strong musicians. Their two studio albums produced by the future Mr. Shaina Twain, Robert John Mutt Lange (who also produced some of the best records ever made by Foreigner, Huey Lewis, and AC/DC) should have propelled them into stardom, but didn’t.So, why didn’t they take off? Who knows, but some rock historians feel the material simply wasn’t strong enough to cross over from the UK to American play lists.

Some comments from the Wolfgang's Vaults forum

There is a real gem in the Boomtown Rats San Diego concert that was just added: Their piano-and- vocal-only rendition of "I Don't Like Mondays," which was inspired by the tragic school shooting that occurred in San Diego just a month before the show. Here's hoping you can find a Boomtown Rats concert from their subsequent U.S. tour (there was a great one at Santa Monica Civic in 1981 or 82) that includes the finished version of that song along with other songs from their "Fine Art of Surfacing" album. The Rats may not have made it big in the U.S., but those few of us who saw their shows and bought their records knew we were onto something that a lot of other people would regret missing if only they had discovered it.

I was reading the information regarding the Rats on the Concerts page and was surprised at the poor quality of the information. 1. The Boomtown Rats are not a UK band, They come from Ireland, Yes it is a small place, however as most peple know it is not the UK. 2. The problems with the US DJ's did not really have anything to do with their marketing plan or their lack of quality songs, but had more to do with the US DJ's not wanting to play anything that was vaguely controversial.(for more evidence I dont believe that the Pistols were a huge hit either). 3. Rat trap and I dont like mondays are 2 songs that will be around long after many of the US hits from the same era(Air Supply etc)are well and truly consigned to who cares basket?

Monday, February 19, 1979

The Eamonn Andrews Show

This entry is pieced together from the available information from a few sources, page 183/184 of the first edition of Is That It? (which wrongly places it four years after his Late Late Show appearance, and is just another glaring inconsistency in the autobiography) and my memory of watching the show broadcast on Thames Televison in the UK. This article in the Daily Express, Sat 24 Feb 1979 Page 22 gives the date By JUDITH SIMONS Last Monday Bob was airing his views on the Eamonn Andrews television show

Anyway that night the Rats performed Me and Howard Hughes, well they at least mimed to it, before Geldof joined Eamonn Andrews along with Vidal Sassoon and his then wife Beverly. Geldof sat down to set Eamonn Andrews straight about Dublin, much to the host's discomfort. Geldof then proceeded to engage Sassoon on their exercise regimes (Geldof not doing any) and their sleeping habits (Geldof waking up in the late afternoon). There were two other guests, namely Jilly Cooper and Patrick Campbell. Geldof alleges that Campbell, who had a stammer, asked him is Sassoon was a p-p-poofter. Geldof told Campbell he thought he was.

I remember watching with my father who thought Geldof was great for speaking his mind. Maybe not quite as controversial as his Late Late Show appearance, but nonetheless great entertainment from the gob!

Saturday, September 16, 1978

Rock Goes To College/Don't Believe What You Hear

BBC TV - Live Concert - September 1978 - Middlesex Polytechnic Hendon

Mary Of The 4th Form
Introduction - Peter Drummond*
Me & Howard Hughes
I Never Loved Eva Braun
Don't Believe What You Read
Rat Trap
Kicks
Joey's On The Street Again
Living On A Island
She's Gonna Do You In
Like Clockwork
She's So Modern**
Looking After No. 1**

Quite possibly, it was the original broacast of this back in 1978 that turned me into a devotee rather than as casual listener of the Boomtown Rats.

The set list is not dissimilar to the Hammersmith Odeon set, but is a little less polished, and all the better for it. Also visually it was a lot better devoid of any special effects, though you have to remember I have not seen this for almost thirty years now!

It is also the best known Boomtown Rats bootleg. There are other tapes/MP3s out there, of course, but none have really gone beyond the ubiquitous TDK C90 bar this one.

There are two known formats. There is the Vinyl LP....

BOOMTOWN RATS In Concert (Rare 1978 original UK BBC Transcription Service radio library LP, recorded live in concert at the Middlesex Polytechnic, North London; with original cue sheet CN3189/S).

....and the CD (with especially dodgy artwork!)

label STREAMWAY INC. (unofficial)
cat. no. KISS NO. 1

This was last broadcast on the defunct UK Arena back in 1999. Let's hope it will be broadcast again.

Saturday, September 09, 1978

Stevenage, Knebworth Park, Music Festival

9th September 1978 – Stevenage, Knebworth Park, Music Festival
Bands: Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Wilko Johnson, The Tubes, Boomtown Rats

Saturday, July 08, 1978

A Tonic for the Troops

...a Tonic for the Troops!

UK Highest Chart Position: 8
Total number of weeks on chart : 44 (Top 10: 5, Top 20: 18 Top 40: 30)
Entry (ENVY3/ENCAS3): 8th July 1978
Run: 21-8-10-8-12-16-17-24-24-30-34-38-42-0-40-43-24-16-13-14-12-9-10-12-13-13-11-17-13-22-21-33-44-37-41-59-68-0-71 (37 weeks)
Re-entry (ENVY3/ENCAS3): 18th August 1979
Run: 70-57-47-54-56-70-0-70 (7 weeks)

Side 1
Like Clockwork
Blind Date
(I Never Loved) Eva Braun
Living In An Island
Don't Believe What You Read

Side 2

She's So Modern
Me And Howard Hughes
Can't Stop
(Watch Out For) The Normal People
Rat Trap

Bonus Tracks (2005 Re-master)

Neon Heart (John Peel Radio Session)
Do The Rat (B-Side)
D.U.N. L.O.A.G.H.A.I.R.E (B-Side In Ireland)
Rat Trap (Live In Stoke)

Recorded at Relight Studios, Holland and Dieter Dierks Studios, Stommeln, Köln, Germany.

Other Releases

Audio CD (1 July 1993)
Label: Mercury
ASIN: B000006THC

1. Like Clockwork 3:46
2. Blind Date 3:21
3. (I Never Loved) Eva Braun 4:33
4. She's So Modern 2:59
5. Don't Believe What You Read 3:07
6. Living In An Island 4:07
7. Me And Howard Hughes 3:11
8. Can't Stop 2:19
9. (Watch Out For) The Normal People 2:52
10. Rat Trap 4:57
11. Lying Again 3:08
12. How Do You Do ? 2:40
13. So Strange 3:03

Columbia PC 35750(LP)/CK 35750 (CD)

Side 1

A1 Rat Trap 5:12 (Geldof)
A2 Me And Howard Hughes 3:12 (Geldof)
A3 (I Never Loved) Eva Braun 4:39 (Geldof)
A4 Living In An Island 4:11 (Geldof)
A5 Like Clockwork 3:44 (Geldof/Briquette/Crowe)

Side 2

B1 Blind Date 3:22 (Geldof)
B2 Mary Of The 4th Form 3:34 (Geldof)
B3 Don't Believe What You Read 3:08 (Geldof)
B4 She's So Modern 3:00 (Geldof/Fingers)
B5 Joey's On The Street Again 5:53 (Geldof)

On the evening of Friday 22nd September 1978, I watched Rock Goes To College on BBC2. The basic format of the show was that a band played a live 40 minute set at a UK college. Among the bands that featured were an embryonic AC/DC. But the first broadcast was of an up and coming Irish new wave band called The Boomtown Rats. I had heard them on the radio thanks to a couple of singles they had released prior to the album, and seen them on Revolver on ITV a couple of months previous, but this was different. This was a band playing a live set where every song was fucking brilliant!

I had made a very dodgy recording on tape and listened to it again and again in the following week. And on Monday, everyone at school was talking about Geldof saying "shitty" on the TV. Over the next couple of weeks, I duly saved up my pocket money and bought A Tonic for the Troops on the way home from school at the HMV on the Holloway Road.

I had not watched Top of the Pops from the mid-seventies, not because I felt I had to boycott it in the manner of The Clash, but simply because I was never at home on a Thursday evening when it was broadcast. My awareness of the burgeoning punk/new wave scene was down to a couple of well informed friends who had Never Mind the Bollocks on tape and a few bits of coloured vinyl which was popular at the time.

The first single from A Tonic for the Troops was She's So Modern. I was familiar with the song, it was a minor hit, and they had played it on Revolver. Punk by numbers, it could almost have been lifted from Never Mind the Bollocks; Geldof sneering "the right clothes to wear" before the end climax is a straight lift from Johnny Rotten. She's So Modern was a far more radio friendly proposition than Pretty Vacant or Holidays in the Sun, with its trademark Rats chorus in full swing. The verses echo Walk on the Wild Side, naming each girl, with quick snippets on how "modern" they are, but with far more urgency. Magenta de Vine perhaps the most infamous modern girl.

The follow up single was Like Clockwork. This was the real breakthrough single for the Rats. A top ten hit, it even brought along a robotic dance from punk followers. Well it did on Revolver! It is one of the few songs that featured writers other than Geldof, with Pete Briquette and Simon Crowe making a contribution. The song starts with a tick-tock refrain, wailing guitar and almost primal drums. When Geldof comes in with the vocal, you half expect Siouxsie Sioux! A staccato disjointed rhythm pervades throughout. This song was a real leap forward in sound with Finger's piano coming to the fore in the instrumental break. The climax of the song is far better experienced live, when Geldof's ape like limbs act as clock hands as he booms tick-tock. The alarm clock is the only way to end it all.

There was another single, but I'll leave that to the end, as the alarm clock's final ring is superseded by the sharp drum beat that opens Blind Date. A couple of well placed guitar chords join the introduction before a mix of drums and bass lead into the song. Geldof jumps in with the vocal, this time evoking Mick Jagger. Running through the dating game with no particular focus, this is a great sounding song, a wonderful guitar solo, and a Rotten-like so long at the end.

Many people familiar with the big hit singles from the Rats would have missed the gems that reside on this album like (I Never Loved) Eva Braun. It starts with a Shirelle-like female vocal, and Geldof takes on the guise of Adolf Hitler as the Leader of the Pack. The ooh-yeahs are from Bowie's Young American period. The military drumming takes the song down in the middle so it can rise to a crescendo and returns at the end for the final pay off with "Gee". Live this song was a real highlight, and showed how musically accomplished the Rats were.

Me and Howard Hughes encapsulates everything that was great about the Boomtown Rats in a single song. Simon Crowe shares vocals with Geldof and the contrast between the two voices gives the song another dimension. The guitar playing by Gerry Cott is superlative. The handclaps over the penultimate chorus refrain, and harmonies make this one of the best songs the Rats ever made.

Don't Believe What You Read is another great track which keeps things simple and has a general attack on the press in the lyrics. Considering this was a pre-tabloid Geldof, it’s certain that if the lyrics were written a year or so later they would be far more biting. The track opens fairly sedately before exploding into a crash of guitar and drums followed by a mini guitar solo prior to Geldof spitting out the song.

Living In An Island starts off with a nice bright and breezy reggae drum and turn into fifty ways to leave your planet! You half expect to hear hop under a bus Gus in the middle. The chorus contains the familiar sing back harmonies, and the end fades out to a calypso rhythm showing the Rats fondness for Caribbean music which had only previously been hinted at on the frivolous DUN LAOGHAIRE.

Can't Stop is one of the more distinctive tracks on the album. There is a sense of paranoia that is more marked in later albums and lyrically the song hints that all was not well in the mind of Bob Geldof with regards to impending fame.

Echoing Never Bite the Hand that Feeds from their debut album, (Watch Out for) the Normal People dissects suburban life. The song burst quickly into life and is a comment on the darker side of respectability. The guitar solo is a real highlight with the vocal who-hoos. Lucky buggers indeed!

And finally Rat Trap! Though I Don't Like Mondays is probably a more well known song, Rat Trap was their first number one. Very similar to Joey from the debut album, Rat Trap is a well crafted mini-epic taking Billy through a drunken night in Dublin to his meeting with Judy in the Italian Cafe. Springsteen-esque, with a wonderful sax solo in the middle of the song and in the fade-out. The first punk/new wave number one (well, the first official one), the song was gratefully received by a nation suffering from Grease overload. Not only did it supplant the infernal Summer Nights at number one, it also held off the individual efforts by Travolta and Newton-John. Well at least until Rod Stewart told us how sexy he was!

A Tonic for the Troops was a marked development from the first album with highly original songs and a departure from their Dublin roots, except Normal People and Rat Trap. It had a very definite sound which is a criticism that could be levelled at the albums that followed. The backing vocals were harmonious, Gerry Cott's guitar solos to the forefront, and Geldof's lyrics had not started veer into the mawkish sentimentality that he could be guilty of. The singer/backing singer call/call-back was well used throughout the album, and the variety of rhythms and changes of pace made it feel like there were far more than ten songs. Johnnie Fingers piano were possibly under utilised, but the sound did not suffer for it.

The album showed The Boomtown Rats to be a more accomplished band than almost all of their peers in terms of song writing and musicianship. A Tonic for the Troops stands as The Boomtown Rats finest moment for the inventiveness and excitement in the songs. Most importantly this album captured the zeitgeist, being around at the right time and effectively defining the sound of 1978 as much as Parallel Lines, Give ‘em Enough Rope and Never Mind the Bollocks all of which it shared the record racks for the whole year.

There are very few albums where every track can be considered excellent, but this is one. The Boomtown Rats went on to make many good songs but arguably never made another great album which not only fitted the times but was timeless.

Personally, I think it is certainly the greatest album of the 1970s and possibly the greatest album of all time!

CD Review

A Tonic for the Troops has had three major re-releases/revisions.

In January 1979, the album was re-released in the US replacing Can't Stop and (Watch Out for) the Normal People with Joey's on the Street Again and Mary of the Fourth Form. The running order of the album was also changed. Rat Trap became the opening track. The album inset also differs, with a black and white photo similar to the picture on the reverse of the Rat Trap single used rather than the collage used on the UK version. This version was subsequently released on CD in 1989. I eagerly snapped it up at the Virgin Megastore on the Champs Eyleese and was glad to hear it again, especially as my turntable was gathering dust back in London. However. there are better versions.

The two UK re-releases in July 1993 and February 2005 are both superior and each has its merits. In the main, they have gathered together all the UK and Irish B-sides from Mary of the Fourth Form through to Rat Trap along with a couple of curiosities.

The 1993 re-release simply has the b-sides of the singles from the album.

Lying Again is a good song, almost descending into old time rock 'n' roll. It is fair to say it isn't a glaring omission from Tonic for the Troops itself, as it meanders on with little to say.

How Do You Do? appears to have started as a tirade on the record industry, but ultimately descends into Bon Jovi territory saying as long as the band play well on a Saturday night it'll all be OK! Musically the song is good with a great guitar solo, and a crescendo of an ending. Maybe with better developed lyrics this would have been a great song, instead of been merely good to listen to.

So Strange suggests a darker side to the Rats like Can't Stop. Geldof's vocals and lyrics are biting ("I was bleeding, before I saw the blood") evoking Neon Heart and I Can Make It If You Can from the debut album. Strange that this song was only a B-side as it would have graced any of the first three albums. It also hinted at things to come (Like Wind Chill Factor).

The 2005 re-masters took a slightly differnt tack, with more obscure material.

D.U.N. L.O.A.G.H.A.I.R.E. and Do The Rat are B-side masterpieces. Genius. The Boomtown Rats were a very humorous bunch and in letting their hair down on these B-sides came up with two exceptionally tounge-in-cheek tracks. D.U.N. L.O.A.G.H.A.I.R.E was based on a song called Cocaine In My Brain Geldof took the "A knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork. That's the way we spell New York" refrain and applied it to his home town to hillarious effect. Garry Robberts attempts at spelling Dun Loaghaire are dismissed, and corrects him with "Drab and dreary, Tired and Weary, That's the way you spell Dun Loaghaire". Reminiscent of Derek & Clive, (or possibly Zig & Zag at points, eventually the world gets to spell and sing Dun Loaghaire. All done to a wonderful calypso beat. It was released as a cover flexi in the UK, but also as a b-side to Clockwork on Mulligan records (The Rats Irish label).

Aping The Twist, and other dance craze songs, the Rats create their own, The Rat! With yellowed teeth and greyer hair, I'm less up for doing the Rat to the break of day these days, and it's pretty fair to say The Rat didn't really supplant seventies disco! The song itself is a very basic three chord (if that!) romp, but the lyrics are very sassy and the R’n’B guitar break sounds like it comes from Tiger Feet by Mud! On the CD it ends with a Beatlesque cheer a la All You Need is Love.

Ultimately, two of the greatest flip sides ever, though check out Sham 69's Sunday Morning Nightmare and The Divine Comedy's Lovely Horse as other great examples of the genre!

Neon Heart (John Peel Radio Session) is a stripped down less polished version that the one on the debut album. However it does complete the session that was previously released on the Geldof Crazy single, so from a completist viewpoint is absolutely indispensible.

Rat Trap (Live In Stoke) has a higher pitched intro than usual and sounds like Into The Valley by the Skids at the start. There are no dates associated with this was recording but it sounds like it came from the Rats post-Bongos over Britain as the horns are more complete than I have heard elsewhere and the guitars a little less to the fore.

This album stands as the Boomtown Rats finest hour, and with the B-sides and the track from the Peel Session, the CD editions improves on the original vinyl edition.

CD WARNING: Don’t ditch that vinyl yet!
The versions of Like Clockwork and Rat Trap on the albums aren't the same as the single versions. With Like Clockwork a couple of lines are removed from the bridge on the single (the album version is better, so don’t worry), and with Rat Trap, "Pus and Grime ooze through the scab crusted sores" is replaced "Death and tears pass down the drains and the sewers". Only a Dubliner could have the vocal dexterity to achieve that, and is well worth a listen.

The biggest omission on the CD is Do The Rat’s original introduction. On vinyl, the track opens with the chimes of Big Ben, and varied stereotypes double entendre their way through the introduction, including Pinky's pal! Possibly a victim of the politically correct days, it is not offensive and should have remained. Also the final pay-off is lost.

What's all that got to do with Punk Rock, eh? Mmm, nothing! Oh!

Friday, June 23, 1978

Glasgow - The Apollo

Rats Played here

Friday, March 24, 1978

Lyceum Ballroom, The Strand

Wednesday, December 07, 1977

Glasgow - The Apollo

Rats played here

Friday, December 02, 1977

Cambridge Corn Exchange

Friday 2nd December 1977: Cambridge Corn Exchange.
Support act: The Yachts
Admission Fee: £2.00

The Boomtown Rats played for an hour, doing Joey, Do the rat, Mary of the fourth form, and encore of Looking after no. 1.

http://johnnydee.net/ColonelGomez.htm

Sunday, November 20, 1977

Mary of the Fourth Form

ENY9 Mary of the 4th Form/Do The Rat (NL Mercury 6008 513)
19-Nov-1977
15
44-23-20-{15}-15-16-16-21-36
9 weeks

The second single from the Boomtown Rats was all about Mary Preece the object of Geldof's teenage affections....

"Her name was actually Mary Preece. We used to hang out in a coffee bar and record shop in Dun Laoghaire called Murray's. After school, she'd come down and she'd have rolled up her skirt and she had legs for days. She was drop dead beautiful and I just wanted her so much and knew that I'd never be able to get her. Actually, I did "get off with her" - to use the parlance of the day - at the Killiney Tennis Club Dance. It was deeply passionate in a grabby, feely way. Anyway, Mary subsequently became the personal assistant to the Irish Prime Minister and lives beside my father, bizarrely enough. She's got two or three kids. But God, she was a major babe." - Geldof

Did he get off with her? Methinks not!

"Yeah, she became the PR to the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern. Us Dun Laoghaire kids go far! We played in Vicar Street in Dublin a couple of years ago, and there she was: still gorgeous and still wouldn't shag me. She's married, but I didn't feel that should be an impediment. I mean, I'm an international rock star, for fuck's sake!" - Geldof

Poor Mary, no matter what she does she'll always be known as a teenage temptress...

And yet another Mary was living it up last week, namely Mary Preece, a senior civil servant in the Department of the Taoiseach.
Magnificent Mary did the opening honours at the special retirement bash in Dublin Castle last Friday for Walter Kirwan - deputy secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach for the last 30 years.
Six hundred people turned up to wish Walter well, among them Bertie, Garret, John Hume and the aforementioned sex-bomb Mary.
For those of you too old to remember, Mary was, of course, the inspiration behind Bob Geldof's famous Mary of the Fourth Form hit for the Boomtown Rats in 1977 - Irish Independent - Sunday July 18th 2004

Sittin' in the front row
Mary of the fourth form
Turnin' all the boys down
She's turnin' all their heads around
Hitchin' up her short skirt
Stretchin' out her long legs
Pullin' up her stockings
She's combing out her black hair
Starin' at the teacher
Openin' her lips wide
Shiftin' in her seat. Yeah,
She slowly moves her hips aside

But in the middle of the night
She wakes her Mom to turn out the light
Her make-up's on and her jeans are skin tight
And she's heading to the Pillar Bar

Johnnie looks alright tonight she thinks
He gives her a smoke and he buys her a drink
He shoots a frame and they head off into the night.

Teacher's losing control
Thankfully the bell rings
Mary's left all alone
With no one but the teacher
She quickly drops her pencil
And slowly bends to get it
Teacher is a natural man
His hand moves out to touch her
She straightens and looks around, yeah
She laughs and leaves the room, yeah
Heartbreak for the teacher
Sweet dreams for young Mary

But in the middle of the night
She wakes her Dad to turn out the light
Her make-up's on and her jeans are skin tight
And she's headed to the Pillar Bar

Johnnie looks great tonight, she thinks
He gives her a smoke and he buys her a drink
Shoots a frame and they head off into the night.

Monday, October 17, 1977

Leeds Polytechnic Student Union

Sunday, October 02, 1977

Roundhouse, London

THE ‘LEW LEWIS BAND’ AND ‘YACHTS’ WERE THE SUPPORT ACTS.

Saturday, September 17, 1977

The Boomtown Rats - The Debut Album

Do you remember the first time?

UK Highest Chart Position: 18
Total number of weeks on UK chart : 11
Entry (ENVY1/ENCAS1) : 17th September 1977
UK Run: 53-31-18-23-23-19-27-41-46-49-58

ENSIGN ENVY1/ENCAS1

Side A

Lookin after No. 1
Neon Heart
Joey's on the street again
Never bite the hand that feeds
Mary of the 4th form

Side B

(She's Gonna) Do You In
Close as You'll Ever Be
I can make it if you can
Kicks

MERCURY / UNIVERSAL CD: 982 677-3

Looking After No. 1
Mary Of The 4th Form
Close As You'll Ever Be
Neon Heart
Joey's On The Streets Again
I Can Make It If You Can
Never Bite The Hand That Feeds
(She's Gonna) Do You In
Kicks
Oh Yeah a.k.a. Doin' It Right
My Blues Away
Sad Boys a.k.a. A Second Time
Fanzine Hero
Bare Footin'
Mary Of The 4th Form (Single Version)

Back in 1977, a group I’d never heard of released an album that I was to hear a lot of. It wasn’t until late 1978 that I bought and heard The Boomtown Rats first LP. Maybe it was just as well, as it was the sort of album that would appeal to a fourteen year old schoolboy aspiring to a life of driving a second-hand Capri, and spending his nights on the tiles! I knew some of the songs from seeing the Rats live and hearing the first couple of singles, so it wasn’t entirely virgin territory.

Looking After No. 1 was the Boomtown Rats debut single, and ultimately proved to be the antithesis of its writer. A manifesto of selfish youth, claiming the dole and grabbing all you can. Still perhaps the most urgent song the Rats ever made from the opening drum roll to the "I’m gonna be like ME! " sign off, there is precious little time to catch breath, and the only respite from the selfishness is to put down the listener with a sneering "I don’t wanna be like YOU, at all!!" . There’s also a fabulous seamless guitar solo in the midst of a four chord romp. So now, who was it that said "Don’t give me charity!"?

Mary of the Fourth Form was the second single but differs on the album. This bluesier track centres on the teenage temptress Mary, pre-empting Don't Stand So Close to Me’s pupil-teacher affair. She also toys with the boys in the pool hall, picking her flame to keep her burning through the night. Given my experience of fourth form, this was predominately wild fantasy on the part of Geldof! A track that sleazes along like early Feelgood, it still stands out as one of the best singles of the seventies.

Joey's on the Street Again is Rat Trap mark one, a big ballad like epic, tracing Joey's life from a lad around town, through marriage, his tragic death and aftermath, whose rising crescendo leads into one of the greatest sax solos/fade outs ever captured on record. There are obvious Springsteen comparisons, but this is probably the number one record that the Rats didn't have, preferring to not follow up Rat Trap with it.

Death, or more precisely attempted suicide, rears its ugly head again in Neon Heart. Lyrically, it's all over the place, like a drunken night on the town, but has a great riff throughout and some typically Rattish answering of the verses. There was also some great guitar work by Gerry Cott, a sign of things to come.

Heavily influenced by Dr. Feelgood, (She's Gonna) Do You In is a great track which was a live favourite, when the Rats were touring with Tonic For The Troops. The comedown to near silence followed by the eruption of noise, loses a lot on record and does not have the same impact as hearing it live. Nevertheless, the sneering disrespectful attitude and Geldof's harmonica skills really make this work and its many changes of pace make it a stand out.

Close As You'll Ever Be also follows the suicidal theme, but is lightened by the thought of a perving Geldof being chased by a jealous boyfriend. Similar to (She's Gonna) Do You In, with its changes in pace and loud rocking guitars, this is another track that sounded far better live, especially when Pete Briquette's driving bass kicks in That is not to detract from the fact that this is still a great track on vinyl. A live version was captured on the B-side of Dave many years later.

Never Bite the Hand That Feeds goes off to the Dublin suburbs, not unlike (Watch Out For) The Normal People. A father's lament on his daughter growing up, but who turns out just like anyone one else. The song features another great guitar break from Cott. A more up and at them song, than many of the others on the album.

Unusually personal for Geldof, I Can Make It If You Can, is something very heartfelt. Shades of Angie by the Stones, this is one of the Rats greatest moments where you can really feel the emotion coming through. Fingers' tinkling piano comes to the fore, as does the lingering guitar solo. Only Fall Down of their later work would compare in terms of emotional exposure.

From a personal point of view, Kicks was probably the stand out track when I got the album, expressing the frustrations of a sixteen year old, finding it hard to score, wanting to be a movie, rock or soccer star, and not being able to buy smokes or drinks. Not entirely unlike my own life then! Crashing chords and a real wig-out at the end make this a fine conclusion to a great album.

There are many dark themes in this album, and although you can hear the influences such as the Stones and Dr. Feelgood, it is unmistakably the Boomtown Rats. Lacking some of the lightness of touch of Tonic for the Troops, the general rawness lends itself to a more night time and urban feel. Rat Trap and possibly (Watch Out For) The Normal People would be the only later songs that would have worked with this collection, even Living on an Island would be considered too lightweight to be on here!

This album has stood the test of time better than practically everything from the Boomtown Rats post-I Don't Like Mondays, due to it having a more classic garage rock, R'n'B feel. It certainly stands side-by-side with Tonic for the Troops as essential listening, and as far as debut albums are concerned, very few compare to this in terms of quality.

Personally, I think it’s a close second to Tonic for the Troops as greatest album of the 1970s. So much for objectivity!

CD Review

Unquestionably of all the re-releases this is the most essential. The album was never released on CD until now. Though some tracks have appeared elsewhere, it is the first time stand outs like Kicks and (She's Gonna) Do You In have made it to the silver disc. There are also previously unreleased demo tracks from 1975, and two tracks from single releases. The only notable omission from the era is Born To Burn which was the second b-side on both Lookin' After No. 1 and the 1994 re-release of Mondays.

The extras from the demos unashamedly show some key influences.

Oh Yeah starts with a guitar from Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell, and then turns into something the early Stones would have been proud of. That very distinct lyrical guitar solo from Gerry Cott is there as well.

Kicking in with a Wilco Johnson-like guitar riff and harmonica, My Blues Away echoes early Dr. Feelgood. Ultimately it comes out as a fast paced (She’s Gonna) Do You In even down to the Harmonica break in the middle of the song and the obligatory R’n’B guitar solo.

Another prototype here in the shape of Sad Boys which sounds like I Can Make it if you Can, more influence from the Stones this time from the Exile on Main Street/Goats Head Soup era in the early seventies. Piano and Hammond to the fore, and a great guitar solo. Plenty of nice harmonies off the lead vocal.

As urgent as Lookin’ After No. 1, Fanzine Hero launches off immediately at a breakneck speed. And then suddenly, the song comes down a honky tonk piano solo, straight out of the Jools Holland repertoire before it starts off again with an almost country-like guitar solo and then back to the relentless drive of the song.

It is extraordinary that such good tracks never saw the light of day back in 1977, though the material on the debut album is so strong, that is understandable, especially as there was no more than about 40 minutes to play with on a conventional vinyl LP.

The single version of Mary of the Fourth Form is longer than the LP version. The most notable difference is the drum roll intro, and the shortened guitar solo. There are some other subtle production differences, and if push comes to shove, it does sound better than the LP version.

Finally, there’s Bare Footin’ which was one of the B-sides of Lookin’ After No. 1. It takes the Robert Parker track and pushes it as fast as it can go. The break implores everyone to get on their feet, and it’s a great cover.

The extras combine make this an indispensable CD. Five tracks showcase the origins of the Rats sounds and the other completes the story of the Rats prior to Tonic for the Troops. Well, except for Born To Burn that is! Given that it is about twenty years since CDs became freely available, it has been a long wait. This release does justify the wait.

Friday, September 16, 1977

Marc

The First TV Appearance from the Boomtown Rats, though sadly one of the last from the late great Marc Bolan, who died as a passenger in a Mini driven by his wife Gloria. The car struck a tree after spinning out of control near Gypsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, London. Ironically, Bolan never drove a car nor learned to drive, as he feared he would die driving, though he owned a number of cars.

Marc essentially created Glam Rock, and his hit singles included masterpieces such as Ride A White Swan, Hot Love and Get It On.

The Rats performed Looking After No. 1 Live, complete with dancing girls. The performance was catured on the Someone's Looking At You DVD.

Wednesday, September 14, 1977

Marquee, Wardour Street, London

support Bernie Torme

Saturday, August 27, 1977

Looking After No. 1

ENY4 Looking After No.1/Born To Burn/Barefootin' (live) (NL Mercury 6008 507)

27-Aug-1977

47-28-17-13-{11}-14-15-34-25

9 weeks

The first single release from the Boomtown Rats back in 1977, was a misleading statement of intent. Though it sounds personal, it truly isn't.

"'Number One' was more general. It was a quintessential seventies song - for the 'me' decade... It was not a personal song..... It was a manifesto in one sense and it was about the pervasive selfishness of the time which was beginning to tire me." - Geldof

Fuelled by Geldof's experiences of growing up in a pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, there is an anger and kicking back against the situation Geldof found himself in back in 1976. Geldof rarely expressed his inner feelings (except possibly on later recordings such as Sex Age & Death) and in this song he takes on an opinionated guise. Some of the sentiments are Geldof's, some ain't. You just need to read between the lines. Geldof writes this song as the anti-Lennon, no peace, no love, no brotherhood of man. He sticks two fingers to the world, and claims he's gonna take it all. Especially the cash. So obviously some elements of truth in there!

The world owes me a living
I've waited on this dole queue too long
I've been standin' in the rain for fifteen minutes
That's a quarter of an hour too long.

"Twelve months after picking up my dole, going home and writing that song, it was in the Top 20.Weird life. The boy behind me in the queue was called Johnny Fingers. I started talking to him cos he was wearing pyjamas in the rain. He became the piano player." - Geldof

A romantic notion, yet untrue. If the song had been written 12 months earlier, then he would not have been talking to Fingers (who would have been Johnny Moylett at the time) just because he was wearing pyjamas, he'd have been talking to him because they were in the same band and they named him Fingers!

"Soon after I got back from Canada I went down to Fitzgeradld's bar and met Gary Roberts... He was drinking with Johnnie Moylett." - Geldof

Don't believe what you read ? Geldof may well have been in a dole queue at some point, but his life pre-Rats suggest he was well travelled and quite active, working on the roads in London, teaching in Spain, moving to Canada to be a journalist, setting up a free-ad news sheet and working in an abattoir in Dublin. Some lovely word play in the verse condensing the phrase"An Hour Is Sixty Minutes Too Long" into a mere fifteen minutes to highlight the urgency and impatience.

I'll take all they can give me
And then I'm gonna ask for more
Cos the money's buried deep in the bank of England
And I want the key to the vault
I'm gonna take your money
Count your loss when I'm gone.
I'm alright, Jack,
I'm lookin' after number one.
If I want something I get it
Don't matter what I have to do
I'll step on your face, on your mother's grave
Never underestimate me I'm nobody's fool

"Most people get into bands for three very simple rock and roll reasons: to get laid, to get fame, and to get rich." - Geldof

Here Geldof does state his intent. He is on the make and on the take. He's had enough, and he wants your fucking money!

Don't wanna be like you.
Don't wanna live like you.
Don't wanna talk like you, at all.

"It was all punk bravado, but it was a statement of intent. It was my way of saying, I'm going to be me. I'm not a wanker, you cunts." - Geldof

Geldof shows he despises the common herd and wants no part of it. Rather than while away hours in the Dublin bars discussing the problems of the world but not actually doing anything about it, Geldof wants to get going and do something. Time to not be like anyone else. At all.

Don't give me love thy neighbour
Don't give me charity
Don't give me peace and love or the good lord above
You only get in my way with your stupid ideas

"Intellectually I resisted, but though logic stripped away the cant and ceremony I still could not rid myself of the voodoo." - Geldof

Geldof here bashes Catholicism. Seeing the church as the oppressor, he dismisses its stupid ideas. Yet still they get in the way, Catholic guilt no doubt.

I am an island
Entire of myself
And when I get old, older than today
I'll never need anybody's help in any way.
I'm gonna be like
I'm gonna be like
I'm gonna be like ME!

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind..." - John Donne

Geldof cleverly inverts the John Donne poem to cast himself adrift of the masses for the final pay off that he's going to help himself and no one else.....

...and famously ends up totally contradicting this whole song within ten years.

Geldof normally casts himself as an observer and critic in his songwriting, yet here he adopts another persona fearful of revealing his true self. Kicks sees Geldof revisit teenage frustrations, so he was to do this again.

Still the last word from Geldof on the inspiration behind one of the Rats' finest moments....

"Dr Feelgood were absolutely central to the Rats. When I heard "Down By The Jetty", it just fucking Blew. Me. Away. I still have it in the car. The Feelgoods and R&B were it for me. Our early live set used to be their entire first album and that was pretty well it. So "Looking After No 1" was my attempt to write a Feelgood's song at about 90 miles an hour." - Geldof

Sunday, August 21, 1977

Dalymount Park, Dublin.

To celebrate Phil Lynott's birthday, Ireland's first ever major outdoor rock event featuring Thin Lizzy, Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Boomtown Rats, Fairport Convention, Stepaside, The Radiators and Stagalee.

Thursday, August 18, 1977

Marquee, Wardour Street, London

support Bernie Torme

Thursday, August 11, 1977

Lodestar Hotel, Ribchester

Support from Demolition, and Disco Punk Chris Graham (surely not the boomtownrats.co.uk webmeister!)

Wednesday, August 03, 1977

Marquee, Wardour Street, London

support The Darts

Friday, July 15, 1977

Marquee, Wardour Street, London

support Tools

Thursday, July 07, 1977

Boomtown Rats vs Skrewdriver

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/boomtown_rats_vs_skrewdriver.htm

Friday, June 17, 1977

Cardiff University

Support for Tom Petty

Tom Petty

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers toured the UK in 1977, with a little known Irish band in tow, who blew them off the stage!

Terminal Romance UK Tour

June 16, 1977 Birmingham Town Hall
June 17, 1977 Cardiff University
June 18, 1977 Aylesbury Friars Club
June 19, 1977 Rainbow Theatre, London
June 20, 1977 Club Lafayette, Wolverhampton

The Boomtown Rats arrived in punk-drunk Britain in early 1977, self-aggrandizing Dubliners with a serious taste for classic rock, but dripping such vehemently snot-nosed arrogance that it was hard to hold that against them. Certainly their first major London show, opening for the newly ascendant Tom Petty, gave the passive onlooker plenty to think about -- graffiti that insisted "Rats Eat Heartbreakers" appeared all across town and, on-stage, they did. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,3161715,00.html

Thursday, June 16, 1977

Birmingham Town Hall

Support for Tom Petty

Friday, June 03, 1977

Marquee, Wardour Street, London

The Rats first gig in London supported by Sidewinder.

They returned on 15th July (support Tools), 3rd August (support The Darts), 18th August (support Bernie Torme), and 14th September (support Bernie Torme).

Saturday, May 07, 1977

Rats come across Irish Sea and invade Ribchester

Everybody screamed and roared for more
Lodestar Angels shouting "Encore"
Time was the enemy, we had to kill it dead
The clock kept creeping round so we went to bed instead.
Neon Heart

Back in 1977, the Boomtown Rats played their first ever U.K. gig at the Lodestar at Ribchester.

Apparently Geldof, and presumably the rest of the band, stayed at the Victoria Hotel in Clitheroe and charmed the locals in his inimatible manner!

www.oldclitheroe.co.uk/page49.htm

A very little known fact about the Vic is probably the most famous person to stay the night there is no other than 'Sir' Bob Geldof. From the stage 'Sir' Bob gave Clitheroe a right slagging calling it 'a right shithole'.

Friday, May 06, 1977

The First UK Gig?

10 Great Newport Street, London

Having just been signed to their first major recording contract, Dublin's Boomtown Rats, lead by vocalist Bob Geldof, performed for a group of record company employees at Studio 51 in London.

This is where the Ken Coyler Jazz Club (also called Studio 51) used to be - a jazz club that turned R&B and rock & roll through the sixties. The Rolling Stones were regulars at the basement club, and it's where Lennon & McCartney spotted the Stones manager walking outside and asked him for an introduction.

They there and then offered the Stones I Wanna Be Your Man, and it became their first British hit.

Monday, April 04, 1977

Barwell Court - The Rats' House!

Barwell Court has achieved fame and immortality in the well-documented annals of pop history, the Boomtown Rats lived here for a year prior to releasing their first single

http://www.surreyhouses.com/homes/hot-houses/hh2.php?find=Barwell+Court

Thursday, October 21, 1976

Rats sign to Ensign Records

About one year after their first gig, The Boomtown Rats were signed to Ensign records by Nigel Grainge and Chris Hill and moved into Barwell Court, Surrey.

Other renowned acts on Ensign included World Party, The Waterboys, Eddy Grant, Sinead O'Connor, Black Slate,Phil Fearon & Galaxy

Monday, December 22, 1975

The 1975 Demos

Oh Yeah a.k.a. Doin' It Right
My Blues Away
Sad Boys a.k.a. A Second Time
Fanzine Hero

Now I can't tell you exactly when these tracks were recorded or even where, but it is safe to say they were probably done between the debut gig on Halloween and Christmas. Barefootin' was recorded live at Moran's in Dublin around this time as well.

Oh Yeah starts with a guitar from Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell, and then turns into something the early Stones would have been proud of. That very distinct lyrical guitar solo from Gerry Cott is there as well.Kicking in with a Wilko Johnson-like guitar riff and harmonica,

My Blues Away echoes early Dr. Feelgood. Ultimately it comes out as a fast paced (She’s Gonna) Do You In even down to the Harmonica break in the middle of the song and the obligatory R’n’B guitar solo.

Another prototype here in the shape of Sad Boys which sounds like I Can Make it if you Can, more influence from the Stones this time from the Exile on Main Street/Goats Head Soup era in the early seventies. Piano and Hammond to the fore, and a great guitar solo. Plenty of nice harmonies off the lead vocal.

As urgent as Lookin’ After No. 1, Fanzine Hero launches off immediately at a breakneck speed. And then suddenly, the song comes down a honky tonk piano solo, straight out of the Jools Holland repertoire before it starts off again with an almost country-like guitar solo and then back to the relentless drive of the song. Unlike the other tracks here, Fanzine Hero was broadcast on Boxing Day 1979 as part of Paul Gambachini's Year of the Rat on BBC Radio 1, along with other rare Rats material.

It is extraordinary that such good tracks never saw the light of day until the reissues at the start of this year. However the material on the debut album is so strong, and there was no more than about 40 minutes to play with on a conventional vinyl LP.

Thursday, November 20, 1975

Moran's Hotel Dublin

The date of this gig (and the other monthly gigs) is not quite known, but one gig is known for the recording of Robert Parker's Barefootin'

If you were there (at any_, please post a comment!

Friday, October 31, 1975

Bolton Street College of Technology, Dublin

The Nightlife Thugs were billed to play Dublin's Bolton Street College of Technology on Halloween 1975. This gig was arranged by Gerry Cott and after some prompting from Bob Geldof, he negotiated a fee of £60 (£10 each!). After playing for over an hour the band took a break. On their return, Bob Geldof scrubbed The Nightlife Thugs from the blackboard where their name was displayed and replaced it with The Boomtown Rats.

So successful was the gig, that Geldof got his first rock and roll shag that same night!

http://www.bobgeldof.info/Articles/parkinson.html

Forum

Garrick Roberts

Garrick Roberts (born 16 June 1954, in Ireland) was a guitarist with the Irish new wave band, The Boomtown Rats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Roberts

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof, KBE, known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October 1951), is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Geldof

Simon Crowe

Simon Crowe (Drums) b. 14 April 1955, Dublin, Eire

Gerry Cott

Gerry Cott (Guitar) (b.15th October 1954, Eire; guitar)

Pete Briquette

Pete Briquette is the stage name of Patrick Andrew Cusack (born 2 July 1954, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland). He was the bassist for The Boomtown Rats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Briquette

Johnnie Fingers

Johnnie Fingers (real name John Moylett, born 10 September 1956 in Ireland) is a pop pianist, and was a founding member of the New Wave band, The Boomtown Rats. He was notable for his stage costume of striped pyjamas as well as his melodic piano style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Fingers