The Boomtown Rats

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