Citizens of Boomtown: The Story of The Boomtown Rats

[gilbertharding]

I was 9 in 1978, so the only punk I'd ever hear was what got in the charts. I was therefore very impressed by the Boomtown Rats - I can't lie.

I think it is the subsequent feeling of having been conned is what makes me see them as especially risible now.

[gilbertharding]

Do we get to see scenes of Faversham?

I've seen Bob Geldof twice. Once he was queueing up to get in the Tate Modern the year it opened, and the other time he was walking around Faversham with his partner. He is preposterously tall and skinny, and both times he was dressed, oddly, as Bob Geldof.

[Hand Solo]

Could they not just change their name to The Wuhan Bats in a desperate attempt to stay relevant?

Thanks.

[jobotic]

I've seen Bob Geldof twice. Once he was queueing up to get in the Tate Modern the year it opened, and the other time he was walking around Faversham with his partner. He is preposterously tall and skinny, and both times he was dressed, oddly, as Bob Geldof.

he fuckin runs Fav

[Jockice]

Well, I watched it. Half on Sunday evening, half last night. It was okay, although those graphic shots were a bit annoying. And as was pointed out, they were absolutely enormous for a while, so it's not like (as some people would have us believe) they were a universally-derided joke band. You can say what you want about their musical quality but they did mean something to people. Even Alan McGee and Bobby Gillespie, who are of course the coolest people on earth. And Sinead O'Connor, who I take it is a Muslim now. She'll probably be a Scientologist or a Satanist next time she's on TV. I'd put bets on it.

Incidentally, I could never stand Paula Yates. Found her absolutely unbearable on TV. Never wanted to see or hear anything about her again. So what does she go and do? Only went and died on my birthday, that's all. Thanks Paula.

[the science eel]

"I came across a burnt-out motorcycle in the street this morning, no wheels, no seat, just a charred metal skeleton. It had obviously been stolen and dumped by a gang of teenage wild boys. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen since last night's evening sky. You don't find 'art' in galleries, it's all around you. The city is alive and on fire. Long may it burn."

Bobby Gillespie

[Pauline Walnuts]

Does that mean we can set fire to Bobby Gillespie?

[jobotic]

"I came across a burnt-out motorcycle in the street this morning, no wheels, no seat, just a charred metal skeleton. It had obviously been stolen and dumped by a gang of teenage wild boys. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen since last night's evening sky. You don't find 'art' in galleries, it's all around you. The city is alive and on fire. Long may it burn."

Bobby Gillespie

Bobby its the police - someone's twocked Peter Fonda's Harley from Easy Rider that you paid half a million quid for and burned it out in the street!


Fucking little rat boys. I want them caught and I want them banged up!! And I don't want to hear any sob stories. Do they know who I am? I butchered Some Velvet Morning and this is what I get?

[the science eel]

Does that mean we can set fire to Bobby Gillespie?

He was fuming here, it would only have taken a spark...

[Famous Mortimer]

it's not like (as some people would have us believe) they were a universally-derided joke band.

Isn't BBB just saying he thought / thinks they're shite? The only person who's mentioned "universally-derided joke band" is you (and me, now, I guess).

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Who was that band who had a big hit with that song that went # the drummer man/ the drummer man told me he was so in love/ HE WAS SO IN LOVE/ with the majorette/ He longed to something something # ? It sort of sounds like a more playful Boomtown Rats song, but it wasn't them. ( reminiscent of # She's a modern girl, yeah yeah#)
Yes, I know what a Googles is, but I thought I'd share those lyrics with the likes of Jockice, who are bound to remember them and get a nice, nostalgic glow about the song and band in question.
( might start a 70s Powerpop thread in a bit.)

[cosmic-hearse]

It was the rubbishly named TONIGHT

[cosmic-hearse]

(good tune though)

[Jockice]

Of course I knew!

[Jockice]

Isn't BBB just saying he thought / thinks they're shite? The only person who's mentioned "universally-derided joke band" is you (and me, now, I guess).

Nah, I wasn't referring to him in particular, it's more things I can remember reading in the music press, even when they were big and the joy some of that press took in them stopping being big. And then the Band/Live Aid thing was seen by some as a cynical way of making them big again. You had to be there man, you had to be there.

Anyway I wasn't suggesting they were the greatest band ever. There are plenty of very big bands who I think are shite but because of Geldof's extra-curricular activities, I think its a unique case. Mind you, if it hadn't been for that, it's extremely unlikely BBC2 would be showing a documentary about them on a Saturday night in 2020.

[The Culture Bunker]

Nah, I wasn't referring to him in particular, it's more things I can remember reading in the music press, even when they were big and the joy some of that press took in them stopping being big. And then the Band/Live Aid thing was seen by some as a cynical way of making them big again. You had to be there man, you had to be there.

Anyway I wasn't suggesting they were the greatest band ever. There are plenty of very big bands who I think are shite but because of Geldof's extra-curricular activities, I think its a unique case. Mind you, if it hadn't been for that, it's extremely unlikely BBC2 would be showing a documentary about them on a Saturday night in 2020.

From a distance, Geldof putting his band on the bill for Live Aid doesn't come across as trying to get them back in the charts (that ship had long since sailed), more a feeding the ego thing. If anybody else had been organising it, they wouldn't have been in the first 100 acts to get a call. It's a bit like when Kenny Dalglish give himself a game for Liverpool when he was 39... "I can do it, so I will".

That said, they're worthy of a documentary as they were huge for a short time, and Geldof is an interesting figure, though curiously (like the Jam) did very little in the States. I would have said Geldof's attitude might have been a problem, but Elvis Costello was a prickly little shite and it didn't do his chances any harm at all. All the same, interesting they didn't get even one decent hit there, when the likes of Joe Jackson, Gary Numan, Nick Lowe and the Clash were scoring Stateside. I read an article about the Clash from the late 70s, where Strummer is whining about having to do a few radio interviews, and is told Geldof and Johnny Fingers were doing about ten a day, so they obviously had a punt at it.

[daf]

Elvis Costello was a prickly little shite and it didn't do his chances any harm at all.

Though being all racist about Ray Charles while pissed off his tits pretty much tanked his career over there for a few years.

[The Culture Bunker]

Though being all racist about Ray Charles while pissed off his tits pretty much tanked his career over there for a few years.

It's interesting that his debut appears to be his best seller in the States, as for me it's far the weakest of that opening four album salvo, missing at it does the Attractions. Post 'Get Happy', he only made one album that I ever feel inclined to listen to, 'Imperial Bedroom', and he was reduced to blaming the record company for his diminishing returns.

[Brundle-Fly]

It's interesting that his debut appears to be his best seller in the States, as for me it's far the weakest of that opening four album salvo, missing at it does the Attractions. Post 'Get Happy', he only made one album that I ever feel inclined to listen to, 'Imperial Bedroom', and he was reduced to blaming the record company for his diminishing returns.

He recorded some amazing albums after Imperial Bedroom though.

[ollyboro]

Every time  there's a documentary about 70s music in Ireland, the section devoted to the conservative nature of Ireland at the time amazes me. The show bands, the social rules, the church, the laws....fuck me, if Punk shook up Britain, it must have felt like a tsunami in Ireland.

[The Culture Bunker]

He recorded some amazing albums after Imperial Bedroom though.

Eh, not for me. Some good songs, but never anything I would consider a consistently enjoyable listen in the manner of This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!! and Imperial Bedroom.

Goodbye Cruel World is perhaps the worst album by a songwriter I admire that I own, which is sort of noteworthy. I think he's one of those people whose work I enjoy when he's at his lowest point as a person - glad he's in a good place these days, but it doesn't mean I enjoy the creative results. I generally feel the same about Springsteen and Billy Bragg.

[non capisco]

I think he's one of those people whose work I enjoy when he's at his lowest point as a person

No love for Blood and Chocolate then? My favourite EC joint and written and recorded when his first marriage had fallen apart, he was drinking like a fish and he'd supposedly pissed off all of The Attractions.

[The Culture Bunker]

No love for Blood and Chocolate then? My favourite EC joint and written and recorded when his first marriage had fallen apart, he was drinking like a fish and he'd supposedly pissed off all of The Attractions.

Assuming joint means album, I always found it a bit unfocused, maybe because he'd shacked up with Cait O'Riordan by then, as well as relations with the band on the rocks. It has some great moments, but a few tracks I've no interest at all in. I prefer the stuff when his marriage was in the process of falling apart due to his chronic tendency of going out on the dip. 'Imperial Bedroom' for me is a great album of being torn between his wife and one particular other woman.

But I've led matters from the subject at hand, sorry.

[Egyptian Feast]

It's interesting that his debut appears to be his best seller in the States, as for me it's far the weakest of that opening four album salvo, missing at it does the Attractions. Post 'Get Happy', he only made one album that I ever feel inclined to listen to, 'Imperial Bedroom', and he was reduced to blaming the record company for his diminishing returns.

I really would love to hear the unreleased Attractions version of 'My Aim Is True', but it doesn't seem like Elvis wants it to be heard. It seems to be many people's favourite (often people who were around at the time), but I agree it's his weakest early album for the same reason.

[The Culture Bunker]

I really would love to hear the unreleased Attractions version of 'My Aim Is True', but it doesn't seem like Elvis wants it to be heard.

I wouldn't be surprised if the presence of a certain Bruce Thomas was part of the reason.

[non capisco]

I didn't even know this version existed. Love the early Attractions live versions of the My Aim Is True material so dying to hear this now.

[Brundle-Fly]

Punch The Clock, King Of America, The Juliet Letters are all brilliant imco

[Egyptian Feast]

I wouldn't be surprised if the presence of a certain Bruce Thomas was part of the reason.

Ha, you could be right! He's pretty good at putting worthwhile stuff on reissues, so you'd think it would've been released by now. It's very unlikely to be shit, since the Attractions were a) shit hot and b) familiar with the material.

I didn't even know this version existed. Love the early Attractions live versions of the My Aim Is True material so dying to hear this now.

I only found out about it recently myself, reading the Wikipedia pages for his early albums, and was simultaneously delighted and annoyed. Why the hell is this not already available? Maybe he'll bring out a deluxe version for the 50th anniversary.

Boomtown Rats thread properly derailed now. I'm tempted to give the doc a watch. I quite like the two number 1s and I love the video for 'I Don't Like Mondays'. One of my all time favourite music videos. Geldof is obviously a colossal gobshite, but his repeated startled reaction to the band singing the title at him is gold no matter how many times I see it. He's usually worth a watch even (especially?) if he's talking shite, which is more than you can say for professional docshitter Bono.

[the science eel]

Bono looking proper old and tired in this. So maybe worth a watch :)

[gib]

years ago i read geldof's autobiography and it was alright. The only bit i remember is where he lost his virginity to a mature lady in his street. She lived in his street, she didn't do him there. She didn't actually live in the street, before anyone thinks of doing a reply based on that.

do any other posters have vague memories of bob geldof's autobiography?