Album Review: The Boomtown Rats, The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory

Subtitled ‘The First 50 Years’, this 27-track package is a heavyweight reminder of what a dynamic force The Boomtown Rats have always been. During a heyday that included a brace of UK and Irish No.1 singles, among over a dozen chart hits, the band’s irresistibly mouthy leader was frequently saying the unsayable about our dear little Emerald Isle.

The impact of that blistering first decade has subsequently overshadowed the rest of the Rats’ output, so be thankful for the fact that this collection fills in the gaps very effectively. Recent speculation about Bob Geldof’s suitability for the presidency enlivens a listen back to the reggaefied ‘Banana Republic’. Released as a single in 1980, and on the 1981 album Mondo Bongo, it was acerbic and witty commentary on the Ireland of that time, with its 27% inflation, high unemployment and social discontent. The track sounds as good as ever here.

There’s still an uplifting energy to the punkish ‘Looking After No. 1’, ‘She’s So Modern’ and ‘Mary Of The 4th Form’ (all from The Boomtown Rats, 1977). But the media-savvy Geldof avoided becoming mired in punk/new wave tropes, steering the band to more fertile musical pastures via the No.1 single, ‘Rat Trap’ (A Tonic For The Troops, 1978), with its Clarence Clemons-like sax solo; the Devo-style ‘Like Clockwork’ (1978); the real-life, shock-pop drama of the superb ‘I Don’t Mondays’ (1979), a song about a school shooting that sadly feels more relevant than ever in a newly violent and threatening USA and was their biggest global smash; and the edgy urgency of ‘Someone’s Looking At You’ (The Fine Art of Surfacing, 1980).

Chartwise, boom had faded to bust by the mid-’80s. But with Bob Geldof’s lyrical fluency and depth, the Rats were never merely a hit-chasing outfit. Beyond the charts lay other gems like ‘Joey’s On The Street Again’ (1977) and ‘(I Never Loved) Eva Braun’ (1978). Less obvious, but no less effective, thrills come in the sizzle of ‘Neon Heart’ (1977), the Paul McCartney-approved ‘Me And Howard Hughes’ (1978), ‘House On Fire’ (V-Deep, 1982), ‘The Elephant’s Graveyard’ (Mondo Bongo, 1981),‘Tonight’ (In The Long Grass, 1984) and ‘Monster Monkeys’ (Citizens of Boomtown, 2020).

The Rats’ musical achievements, and their impact at home and abroad, had tended to slip off the radar latterly – but now’s the time to celebrate their extraordinary legacy.

9/10