Boomtown Rats - A Tonic For The Troops

I was once on the same flight as "Sir" Bob Geldof. Flying back from a business trip from Madrid on British Airways in the mid 1990s, he was dressed in a white jacket and trousers, with, if I remember correctly, faint brown strips on the jacket. He looked like a cricket captain about to go for the toss-up, apart from his dreadlocked hair, which looked a mess. Perhaps he always wanted to play for the West Indies ? He was in row 1, I was in the back of the bus.....

I can't remember what prompted me, but a couple of months ago I looked up some of the later songs from the Boomtown Rats, and was surprised by how good "There's Always Someone Looking At You" was, and how great the lyrics were. I especially liked the line "I was shooting my mouth off about saving some fish" describing Geldof's participation at a Greenpeace Save The Whale rally !

I always had a bit of a soft spot for the Boomtown Rats. They were not initially popular with the trendy music press in the UK, who in the early days tended to focus on the selfishness of first single "Lookin' After No 1", referring to Greedy Geldof ( and oh the irony that he went on to become the driving force behing Band/Live Aid ! ). However, a friend had the first album "Boomtown Rats", which whilst not great had some good songs on it, and I bought this, the second album.

I thought it was great, packed with great songs and that the relatively poorest songs would still be good songs on other albums. I liked some of the witty lyrics and sharp observations, as the Rats covered a wide range of topics, some of them quite dark but with upbeat music. I particularly liked "Me And Howard Hughes", a catchy song with some memorable lines such as "Hand me down a strong panacea, one that’s guaranteed to make me feel like Hercules". I had to look up the meaning of panacea, so at least the LP was educational !

I thought the next best song was "Like Clockwork" which I remember one of the music papers ( either New Musical Express or Sounds, I used to get both at one time ) wrote in its singles review "My mind beats time, like Kraftwerk" !! And of course there was the huge hit "Rat Trap" with Bob famously "playing" a candelabra on Top of The Tops ( a song which referenced Top Of The Tops in the lyrics ). "Rat Trap" became the first new wave song to make it to Number 1 in the UK, as well as making The Boomtown Rats the first band from Ireland to be top of the UK chart.

Before replaying, I easily remembered all the tracks.

I still like the quirky, staccato beat of "Like Clockwork" but it now feels closer to something Sparks would have recorded rather than Kraftwerk ! 

"She's So Modern" sounds like they are trying just a little to hard to be punk/new wave and is a bit formulaic, but like nearly all the songs has some great lines and it is where the album title comes from "And Charlie ain't no Nazi, she likes to wear her leather boots, 'cause its exciting for the veterans, and it's a tonic for the troops !"

"Rat Trap" isn't really a punk/new wave number one for despite the gritty street observations there is a strong melody and the saxophone just re-enforces the Bruce Springsteen comparisons. Bob's almost spoken lines are also reminiscent of fellow Irishman, Phil Lynott.

( I Never Loved ) Eva Braun is written from Adolf's point of view... "Of maps and generals and uniforms, I'd always like the big parade", "A little too ambitious maybe, but I never loved Eva Braun". There's some nice military drumming and whistling at the end

Elsewhere, "Blind Date" is how the Rolling Stones might have sounded if they went punk, apart from perhaps the brief Harmonica solo. "Living On An Island" picks up with the hint of Reggae in the chorus and the Oh-Oh boys backing vocals, whilst "Don't Believe What You Read" is a fast paced number not too disimilar in feel to "Lookin' After No 1" but with a nice guitar solo.

"Can't Stop" and "( Watch Out For ) The Normal People" are the least interesting songs on A Tonic For The Troops. Both are fast paced, punkish type songs, but nothing special.

Finally, "Me and Howard Hughes" is still my favourite song on the LP, although the acoustic guitar solo now reminds me of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.

Track Listing :

1. Like Clockwork
2. Blind Date
3. ( I Never Loved ) Eva Braun
4. Living In An Island
5. Don't Believe What You Read
6. She's So Modern
7. Me And Howard Hughes
8. Can't Stop
9. ( Watch Out For ) The Normal People
10.Rat Trap

Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 8

Singles :

She's So Modern ( No 12 - 1978 )
Like Clockwork ( No 6 - 1978 )
Rat Trap ( No 1 - 1978 )