The Boomtown Rats is an Irish band formed in Dublin in 1975 and originally composed of Bob Geldof, Garry Roberts, Johnnie Fingers, Pete Briquette, Gerry Cott and Simon Crowe. Group which will bear the name of The Nightlife Thugs at its very beginnings. "The Boomtown Rats" is said to be a reference to the gang of children featured in Woody Guthrie's autobiography 'Bound for glory'.
Group which signed a year later in 1976 with the label Ensign Records, label which will allow them to release their first single "Lookin' after N°1" the following year in 1977. First single which will not go unnoticed, from less in England. Single followed by another "Mary of the 4th form" which will also experience a rather favorable course. The two extracts from their eponymous debut album which was released in the wake of the band's excellent start.
Success confirmed and above all amplified the following year in 1978 with the release of the album "A tonic for the troops", an album which this time will work on both sides of the Atlantic. In particular thanks to the single "Rat trap", a title which will give them their first global success and which will also remain as the first Irish single to be ranked No.1 in the English Charts, a mighty feat at the time ...
A boom that peaked a year later in 1979 with the release of what will remain as their Mona Lisa, namely the enormous single "I don’t like Mondays". The title will be a worldwide hit and literally explode the group's reputation internationally. A title written in homage to a shooting that took place in a California school.
Single from the album "The fine art of surfacing", album which will be released the same year and which will also be a hit all over the world. Two other big-caliber singles will be taken from it, namely "Diamond smiles" and "Someone's looking at you".
New single of very big caliber at the beginning of decade 80 with the title “Banana republic” which leaves in 1980. A title which refers in truth to the quoted “banana republic” of Ireland which prohibited the group to occur there. A ban linked to the very aggressive remarks of Geldof on the corrupt side of the Irish political class. The flagship title of the album "Mondo bongo" which will be released a year later in 1981.
The reorientation of the group towards a much more reggae oriented music will create strong tensions between the members of the group with precipitous departures. But also and above all a level of success which will drop sharply in the Charts and bring the group back to a level worthy of ordinary people.
The album "V Deep" which was released in 1982 was the first to pay the price and only saved the furniture with the single "House en fire". Ditto for the album "In the long grass" which will arrive two years later in 1984 which will not only perform even worse than its predecessor, but which will also be unable to produce any global class single.
The year 1984 also saw Geldof embark on the incredible Band Aid adventure with Midge Ure, an incredible adventure intended to raise funds to fight famine in Ethiopia. An adventure that will produce the mythical English and American concerts of July 13, 1985.
A project of such magnitude that it will absorb all of Geldof's forces to the detriment of the Boomtown Rats. Something from which the group will not recover, which will end up separating during the year 1986 ...
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Lookin’ after N° 1 1977
Mary of the 4th form 1977
She’s so modern 1978
Like clockwork 1978
Rat trap 1978
I don’t like Mondays 1979
Diamond smiles 1979
Someone’s looking at you 1979
Banana republic 1980
The elephants graveyard (Guilty) 1981
Up all night 1981
Go man go 1981
Never in a million years 1981
House on fire 1982
Tonight 1984
Drag me down 1984
Dave 1984
A hold of me 1985
Tram glash baby 2020
Here’s a postcard 2020
Clips :
1977 ... from the first title the group makes talk about him. An ideal start to say the least and which positions the group especially ideally for the rest of the events ...
1977 ... the group confirms with this title that the success previously encountered had nothing to do with chance. It promises !
1978 ... of course the success is limited for the moment exclusively in the United Kingdom but it will not last. The great fireworks is fast approaching ...
1978 ... it will not take place during 1978 but this leaves time for the group to gain strength and refine its style. So let's be patient a little longer ...
1978 ... the rocket motors have just ignited and the countdown has just started : 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...
1979 ... take off ! And that, to take off, it will take off. The group will sign here quite simply the biggest success of all its discography and return One Shot in the musical legend of the 80s. All on a title in tribute to the slaughter that took place the same year in the primary school of Grover Cleveland in San Diego and which will make 2 victims. We couldn't ask for a better tribute !
1979 ... now that the group is in orbit, all he has to do is unroll quietly. And to unroll, it will unroll !
1979 ... the BIG year of the group. 2 top hits and 1 mega hit just for this year 1979, that's what we call a full box ! The group has become in a single year one of the biggest musical phenomena of the moment. Too strong little guys !
1980 ... paradoxically, as the year 1979 was rich in titles, the year 1980 will seem somewhat pale next to it. At least on the quantity side because on the quality side, they will get their second mega hit here, just that. HU-GE !
1981 ... we thought they were going to play out like this for years to come and that's not going to be the case, incomprehensible fact. Success will now be limited exclusively to England. Back to square one...
1981 ... as much as the group was a pioneer at the end of the 1970s on the sound side, they did not know how to reinvent themselves at the start of the 1980s. A mistake that they will pay at a high price ...
1981 ... and yet on the production side of titles, the group will put the package in this year 1981. But here it is the quantity that will prevail over the quality. Attention danger...
1981 ... the group is in free fall in the Charts and will never return to the race. Hard law of the trade ...
1982 ... they will save the furniture in extremis with this title. A last major success before the great crossing of the desert ...
1984 ... nothing in 1983 and back in this year 1984 in a form that we will qualify as average. Not enough in any case to get back to the leading pack ...
1984 ... a year 1984 which really marks the starting point of the slow but irreversible programmed disappearance of the group. When it doesn't want anymore, it doesn't want anymore ...
1984 ... and yet it is not the will to move forward at all costs that is lacking. But it is above all the level of inspiration which is no longer high enough to allow them to still believe in it in the long term ...
1985 ... the last major year for the group. The problem is that Geldof has already moved on and sealed the fate of the group definitively ...
2020 ... they will be reborn in a totally unexpected way at the start of the 2020 decade. Unfortunately, a daring bet and above all a lost bet ...
2020 ... and this title will not do better. It starts with a good feeling to want to put the cover back 35 years later but the gap with the new generations has become such that it is a waste of time as they say ...
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