THE RATS (Formerly-Boomtown) played this years Rebellion festival.
Here’s 15 Things You Should (or maybe shouldn’t) Know About…THE BOOMTOWN RATS
1) The Boomtown Rats were a legendary Irish New Wave group with Live Aid mastermind Bob Geldof on vocals.
2) The band, featuring original guitarist Garry Roberts and original drummer Simon Crowe, will be reuniting and are confirmed to play this year’s Rebellion Festival in Blackpool on August 8th followed by more tour dates. Geldof will not be participating…
3) The band originally started out as a rhythm n’ blues pub rock band before switching to New Wave years later
4) Their single ‘Rat Trap’, released in 1978, is widely considered to be the first New Wave hit to reach number one on the charts
5) ‘Rat Trap’ was also the first rock song by an Irish band to hit number one in the UK
6) The name ‘Boomtown Rats’ comes from a gang featured in legendary singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory
7) One of the band’s most famous songs, ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, was written in response to a school shooting in California carried out by Brenda Ann Spencer in 1979. When asked why she shot up her school, Spencer replied: ‘I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.’
8) ‘Banana Republic’ was released in 1980 and became the band’s last top 10 hit. It was written in response to the band not being allowed to play in their home country of Ireland due to fear of riots breaking out in the crowd
9) On the band’s 1981 album, ‘Mondo Bongo’ – which featured the hit ‘Banana Republic’ – the band began to experiment with more drum and keyboard based music, marking a distinct departure from their early guitar-driven sound
10) In 1985 the band released their final album, ‘In the Long Grass’ and the band performed at Geldof’s Live Aid – a mammoth global music festival that raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia
11) The band made their final performance in 1986 at Self Aid, a concert to benefit poverty-stricken people of Ireland. Geldof also assumed lead vocal duties with a reformed Thin Lizzy at the festival, which was held 4 months after lead singer Phil Lynott passed away
12) Before recently reuniting with Garry Roberts, drummer Simon Crowe was playing in the Celtic instrumental band Jiggerypipery
13) Roger Waters was sceptical in casting Bob Geldof as Pink in the 1982 movie Pink Floyd: The Wall. Apparently, he was unsure if Geldof could sing the vocals
14) In 2005 the band’s albums were all remastered, and two DVDs of past live performances were released along with a ‘Best-Of’ CD compilation
15) The newest incarnation of the band will feature Roberts, Crowe, Peter Barton of The Animals on bass and Darren Beale of The Electric Shepherds on lead guitar
'The Best of The Boomtown Rats' is out now on Mercury/Universal.
The Rats play The Rebellion Festival.
