The Boomtown Rats

The Boomtown Rats were one of the bands to come out of the UK new wave, punk genre. The group consisted of Pete Briquette (bass), Gerry Cott (guitar), Johnny Fingers (piano), Bob Geldof (vocals), Garry Roberts (guitar) and Simon Crowe (drummer). This Irish six-piece was primarily active between the years of 1975 - 1985 and best known for hits I Don’t Like Mondays and Rat Trap. In 1977, The Boomtown Rats appeared on Britain’s Top of the Pops performing Mary of the Fourth Form. The band had an interesting stage presence; Geldof was known for being new wave’s Mick Jagger and Fingers performed in striped pyjamas. Two years later, the band set off on a world tour and shortly after Geldof and Fingers wrote the classic I Don’t Like Mondays after hearing about a Californian girl that shot her school principal and injured other fellow students. The track was banned on American radio and only managed to reach #73 on the US charts. But it was named 1979’s Single of the Year by the British Pop and Rock awards and sold over a million copies in England alone.