The Boomtown Rats

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The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats at Knott's Berry Farm 1981
The Boomtown Rats at Knott's Berry Farm 1981
General information
origin Dún Laoghaire , Ireland
Genre (s) New wave , punk rock , pop punk , alternative rock
founding 1975, 2013
resolution 1986
Founding members
Bob Geldof (until 1986, since 2013)
guitar
 Garry Roberts (until 1986, since 2013)
Johnnie Fingers (until 1986)
Pete Briquette (until 1986, since 2013)
guitar
 Gerry Cott (until 1981)
Simon Crowe (until 1986, since 2013)
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar
 Bob Geldof
guitar
 Garry Roberts
bass
 Pete Briquette
Drums
 Simon Crowe

The Boomtown Rats are an Irish New Wave band with lead singer Bob Geldof , who later became known primarily for his activities around the Band Aid project and the Live Aid concerts in 1985 and 2005.

history

Founded in 1975 in Dún Laoghaire , Ireland under the name Nightlife Thugs, they quickly changed their name to The Boomtown Rats. The new name, borrowed from the name of the workers in the oil fields in the autobiography of Woody Guthrie . In addition to Bob Geldof, the founding members were Gerry Roberts (guitar), Gerry Cott (guitar), Johnnie Fingers (actually John Moylett, keyboard), Pete Briquette (actually Patrick Cusack, bass) and Simon Crowe (drums).

On January 28, 2013, Bob Geldof announced a reunion of the band. For the first time since 1986 the band played together again with their original line-up, namely at the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2013. On July 7, 2013, the Boomtown Rats played in the opening act for the Toten Hosen at the Seenland Festival near Hoyerswerda and gave the first German concert in a long time.

I don't like mondays

The Boomtown Rats' biggest hit is I Don't Like Mondays . The song was written in San Diego , California , inspired by a school slaughter in 1979 . At that time, the 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer shot two adults in a school and wounded eight students and a police officer. Her succinct answer to the question "Why?" Was "I don't like Mondays": "Tell me why?" - "I don't like mondays."

In addition to the 1978 single Rat Trap , I Don't Like Mondays was one of the band's two number one hits in the UK charts.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1977 The Boomtown Rats - - - UK18th
silver
silver

(11 weeks)UK 		-
First published: September 17, 1977
1978 A tonic for the troops - - - UK8th
platinum
platinum

(44 weeks)UK 		US112 (13 weeks)
US
First published: July 8, 1978
1979 The Fine Art of Surfacing DE35 (12 weeks)
DE 		- - UK7th
gold
gold

(26 weeks)UK 		US103 (16 weeks)
US
First published: November 3, 1979
1981 Mondo Bongo DE16 (14 weeks)
DE 		AT19 (2 weeks)
AT 		- UK6th
gold
gold

(7 weeks)UK 		US116 (8 weeks)
US
First published: January 24, 1981
1982 V Deep - - - UK64 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: April 3, 1982
1984 In the Long Grass - - - - US188 (4 weeks)
US
First published: December 1, 1984
2020 Citizens of Boomtown DE41 (1 week)
DE 		AT73 (1 week)
AT 		- UK48 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: March 13, 2020

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1994 Loudmouth - The Best Of - - - UK10
silver
silver

(4 weeks)UK 		-
First published: June 1994
2004 Best of - - - UK43 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: April 2004

more albums

  • 1983: Ratrospective
  • 1987: Greatest Hits
  • 2013: Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1977 Lookin 'After No. 1
The Boomtown Rats 		- - - UK11 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: August 19, 1977
Mary of the 4th Form
The Boomtown Rats 		- - - UK15 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 11, 1977
1978 She's so Modern
A Tonic for the Troops 		- - - UK12 (11 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: March 31, 1978
Like Clockwork
A Tonic for the Troops 		- - - UK6th
silver
silver

(13 weeks)UK 		-
First published: June 9, 1978
Rat Trap
A Tonic for the Troops 		- - - UK1
gold
gold

(15 weeks)UK 		-
First published: October 6, 1978
1979 I Don't Like Mondays
The Fine Art of Surfacing 		DE6 (26 weeks)
DE 		AT10 (10 weeks)
AT 		CH6 (8 weeks)
CH 		UK1
gold
gold

(15 weeks)UK 		US73 (5 weeks)
US
First published: July 13, 1979
Diamond Smiles
The Fine Art of Surfacing 		- - - UK13 (10 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 2, 1979
1980 Someone's Looking at You
The Fine Art of Surfacing 		- - - UK4 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: January 3, 1980
Banana Republic
Mondo Bongo 		DE3 (25 weeks)
DE 		- CH10 (6 weeks)
CH 		UK3
silver
silver

(11 weeks)UK 		-
First published: November 3, 1980
1981 Up All Night
Mondo Bongo 		DE38 (11 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
First published: January 27, 1981
The Elephants Graveyard (Guilty)
Mondo Bongo 		- - - UK26 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: January 27, 1981
Never in a Million Years
V Deep 		- - - UK62 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 5, 1981
1982 House on Fire
V Deep 		DE67 (1 week)
DE 		- - UK24 (8 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: March 7, 1982
1984 Tonight
In the Long Grass 		- - - UK73 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: January 12, 1984
Drag Me Down
In the Long Grass 		- - - UK50 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: May 14, 1984
Dave
In the Long Grass 		- - - UK81 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 12, 1984
1985 A Hold of Me
In the Long Grass 		- - - UK78 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: February 26, 1985

more singles

  • Trash Glam Baby (Release: January 17th, 2020)

swell

  1. ↑ Isle of White Festival line up sees the Boomtown rats reunite
  2. ↑ Jochen Sheytt: Pop songs and their backgrounds - I Don't Like Mondays , in the Internet archive ( Memento from May 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on December 28, 2010)
  3. ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  4. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  5. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK

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