The Boomtown Rats announce anthology album The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory

The Boomtown Rats have announced the release of an anthology album titled The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory, due out on September 19 via Universal Music Recordings, celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

The record will come shortly before the band hits the road for the Happy Birthday Boomtown UK tour, which will kick off in Nottingham on October 10 and wrap up in Liverpool on November 15, with ten stops along the way including Glasgow, London, Manchester and more.

All tracks from First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory were selected by an online fan poll and the band themselves – from their first single 'Lookin’ After No. 1' to their most recent eponymous anthem ‘The Boomtown Rats’.

Hailing from Dún Laoghaire in the mid-70s, The Boomtown Rats debut single 'Looking After No. 1’, taken from their 1977 debut album The Boomtown Rats, crashed into the UK charts. Their second album, A Tonic for the Troops (1978) featured the UK No. 1 hit 'Rat Trap,' which became the first UK chart-topping single by an Irish rock group and the first ‘new wave’ No 1.

Their biggest international success came in 1979 with the release of 'I Don’t Like Mondays,' a haunting ballad inspired by a tragic school shooting in San Diego. It would go on to top the UK Singles Chart and become a global smash, hitting No. 1 in 32 countries.

Over the course of their career, The Boomtown Rats have released seven studio albums, and are widely regarded as one of the most influential and socially conscious bands to emerge from the late 1970s punk explosion.

The Boomtown Rats' The First 50 Years: Tales Of Boomtown Glory will be available on DSPs and as a 24 track double vinyl LP, and 27-track double CD, and can be pre-ordered here.

Check out the full track listings below:

Disc:1
1 Looking After No. 1
2 K.I.S.S
3 Me And Howard Hughes
4 Here's A Postcard
5 Dave
6 Drag Me Down
7 Rat Trap
8 Someone's Looking At You
9 Banana Republic
10 Keep It Up (CD/Digital only)
11 Diamond Smiles
12 When The Night Comes
13 Mary Of The Fourth Form

Disc: 2
1 There's No Tomorrow Like Today
2 The Elephant's Graveyard
3 She's So Modern
4 (I Never Loved) Eva Braun
5 Trash Glam Baby
6 House On Fire (CD/Digital only)
7 The Boomtown Rats!
8 Tonight (CD/Digital only)
9 Like Clockwork
10 Neon Heart
11 Up All Night
12 Monster Monkeys
13 I Don't Like Mondays
14 Joey's On The Street Again

2LP
Side One
1. Lookin’ After No. 1
2. K.I.S.S.
3. Me And Howard Hughes
4. Here’s A Postcard
5. Dave
6. Drag Me Down

Side Two
1. Rat Trap
2. Someone’s Looking At You
3. Banana Republic
4. Diamond Smiles
5. When The Night Comes
6. Mary Of The Fourth Form

Side Three
1. There’s No Tomorrow Like Today
2 The Elephant’s Graveyard
3. She’s So Modern
4. (I Never Loved) Eva Braun
5. Trash Glam Baby
6. The Boomtown Rats

Side Four
1. Like Clockwork
2. Neon Heart
3. Up All Night
4. Monster Monkeys
5. I Don’t Like Mondays
6. Joey’s On The Street Again