Track Listing

1. Lookin' After No. 1
2. Neon Heart
3. Joey's On The Street Again
4. Never Bite The Hand That Feeds
5. Mary Of The 4th Form
6. (She'Ss Gonna) Do You In
7. Close As You'll Ever Be
8. I Can Make It If You Can
9. Kicks

Ensign Records - August 1977- Produced by Robert John Lange
Recorded at Dieter Dierk's Studios, Stommen, Koin, West Germany

Additional Tracks on Remaster - Released February 2005  Universal Records

10. Oh Yeah - 1975 Demo
11. My Blues Away - 1975 Demo
12. Sad Boys - 1975 Demo
13. Fanzine Hero - 1975 Demo
14. Bare Footin' - Live In Moran's Hotel Dublin 1975
15. Mary Of The 4th Form - Single Version 

Sleeve Notes from the remastered CD release
THE BOOMTOWN RATS by CHARLES SHAAR MURRAY

Boomtown Rats: the band's name says it all. Parasites amid prosperity, rodents on the make in the sewers of power, a great band name from an era of great band names.As much as Clash or Damned or Sex Pistols - or Stranglers, Buzzcocks and Lurkers - the name forever tags the band as part of the class of '77, when the barbarians finally arrived at the gates of an increasingly stratified and stultifying Rock City.

Freshly arrived from Ireland and ready to make some noise and cause some trouble, like they had back home, the Rats didn't conform precisely to the notional orthodoxies of punk, but then neither did many other bands at the forefront of what those who were scared of the uncompromising term 'punk' later bowdlerised to New Wave. You weren't allowed to have long hair! The Ramones did. Guitar solos verboten! The defence calls Television. Facial hair a capital offence! Two members of The Stranglers are in mortal danger. Age police on the prowl for wrinklies on the run! Cells await Ian Dury, Knox from The Vibrators and most of The Stranglers. Pedal steel guitars and country music too inextricably linked with Laurel Canyon coke-hippies and snooze-inducing Mellow Mafia singer/songwriterismo. Elvis Costello, you're busted.

Go back and check out photos and film clips of the early days of punk, and you find a broad church: a startling variety of look and sound which was only retrospectively flattened into the two-dimensional stereotype of leather jacket, mohican, bondage pants and ramalamadolequeue lyrics. When the Rats were first hitting the club circuit attempting to carve out their very own rat-shaped niche, there was still plenty of room for an Irish sextet who (a) included a keyboard player, (b) trumpeted their desire to 'get rich, get famous and get laid' and (c) featured a hyperactive, aggressively literate vocalist who delighted in using interviews as a platform for extended verbal savagings of their peers.

Ah yes, Mr Geldof. Long before he was anointed as Saint Bob, he rejoiced in the rather less elevated soubriquet of 'Modest' Bob. He acquired this particular nickname right at the outset of the Rats' rise to fame, just as Looking After Number One was first beginning to trouble the charts. One of the red-top tabloids ran an interviewette with Geldof under the inspired headline of 'King Rat!' Unfortunately, the piece was illustrated with a rather fetching photo depicting guitarist Garry Roberts posing with a winsome white rat perched on his leather-jacketed shoulder. The NME gleefully pointed out this appalling error, adding 'we're sure Modest Bob Geldof won't mind.' And 'Modest' Bob he remained for quite some time.

The early Rats battled their way to the upper echelons of the new scene by dint of solid, punchy riff-based rock dynamics and a frenetic, all-action stage show garnished with visual gimmicks and Geldof’s inimitable between-song rants. At one Marquee gig, the club was sardine-can rammed at the height of summer and oxygen was in such short supply that a bare-chested, sweat-drenched Geldof passed out on stage. Revived in the dressing-room, he returned to the fray to deliver an epic tirade of the kind later familiar to millions, denouncing the Marquee's management for being too fokkin' cheap to install any fokkin' air-conditioning.

The original pre-punk Boomtown Rats, who came together in Ireland during the mid-seventies via the usual process of a bunch of musically-inclined mates (and mates of mates) with energy to burn and time on their hands gradually coalescing into a functioning band, started out with a love of rhythm and blues and pitched themselves, according to Geldof, 'somewhere between the Faces and the Feelgoods.' On their first album - this one, for those of you not paying attention - the R&B group is clearly discernible just beneath the punk veneer. Indeed, on tracks like the roistering and only mildly misogynistic shuffle She's Gonna Do You In, the R&B content blatantly practices the fine art of surfacing.

In fact, She's Gonna Do You In was originally pegged as the Rats' first single. Fortunately for all concerned, its revved-up pub-rock boogie was soon elbowed in favour of the soon-to-be-anthemic Looking After Number One. The track had originally appeared on a Phonogram compilation entitled New Wave alongside contribvutions from The Ramones, Dead Boys and a few hastily-licensed tracks from other labels. The interest it attracted there - from your correspondent, among others - led to its emergence on 45, and an NME Single Of the Week nomination.

As a new band's first single, Looking After Number One was an impressive indicator of both the Rats' agenda and their capabilities. Simon Crowe's road-drill drumming, Pete Briquette's hammering bass and the snarling, crunchy guitars of Garry Roberts and Gerry Cott (with Johnny Fingers' piano in there somewhere) provided an instant wake-up-and-dance alarm call as well as a sturdy platform for Geldof's obsessive wordplay (the verse which juxtaposes barely-rewritten quotes from Johns Lennon and Donne is a particular delight), restless ambition and decidedly individual take on individualism. My definitive mental image of the Rats as a hard-rocking punk band on the way up (as opposed to their brief but eventful reign as the biggest pop group in Britain) is of a sweating, spitting punk audience, arms waving and fingers pointing, chanting, 'I-I-I don't wanna be like YOU!' at and along with a berserk racehorse-lathered Geldof during the climax of a sold-out club gig.

Actually, that's not quite true. Your humble servant's defining Rats moment came at their first big open-air gig, appearing down-bill from Thin Lizzy (and Graham Parker & The Rumour, and Horslips, but above The Radiators From Space) at Dublin's Dalymount Stadium. Geldof had invited me to jam with them on harmonica during (you guessed it) She's Gonna Do You In. The combination of a somewhat over-demonstrative performance style and an inconveniently trailing microphone leaded resulted in a spontaneous A-over-T tumble which almost resulted in the demolition of poor Mr Crowe's drum kit. Fortunately, I managed both to turn it into a forward roll back to a perpendicular position and to keep playing. Geldof was furious. He thought I'd done it on purpose to upstage him.

The fact that the Rats were originally called The Nitelife Thugs may provide a clue to much of the content of that first album, loaded as it is with grimly picaresque urban fables of alienation and violence. Neon Heart, Joey's On The Streets Again and Close As You'll Ever Be all, in their different ways, point the way to Rat Trap and I Don’t Like Mondays, but only the second single Mary Of The Fourth Form (part of a long, if not entirely honourable, blues-rock tradition of underage fetishization which stretches from Sonny Boy Williamson's Good Morning Little Schoolgirl to The Police's Don't Stand So Close To Me) betrays any indication of how thoroughly the band were about to hone their knack for maniacally hooky pop. This record, in an era of great first albums, remains one of the classic best but by the time 1977 had become 1978, the Rats had become an entirely different kettle of fish. No more sweaty spitty punk gigs for these boys. Modest Bob and his cohorts had springboarded off R 'n B punk to aspire to the toppermost of the poppermost.

1. Looking After No. 1
2. Mary Of The 4th Form
3. Close As You'll Ever Be
4. Neon Heart
5. Joey's On The Streets Again
6. I Can Make It If You Can
7. Never Bite The Hand That Feeds
8. (She's Gonna) Do You In
9. Kicks
10. Oh Yeah - Doin' It Right
11. My Blues Away
12. Sad Boys - A Second Time
13. Fanzine Hero
14. Bare Footin'
15. Mary Of The 4th Form

Back in 1977, a group I’d never heard of released an album that I was to hear a lot of. It wasn’t until late 1978 that I bought and heard The Boomtown Rats first LP. Maybe it was just as well, as it was the sort of album that would appeal to a fourteen year old schoolboy aspiring to a life of driving a second-hand Capri, and spending his nights on the tiles! I knew some of the songs from seeing the Rats live and hearing the first couple of singles, so it wasn’t entirely virgin territory.

Looking After No. 1 was the Boomtown Rats debut single, and ultimately proved to be the antithesis of its writer. A manifesto of selfish youth, claiming the dole and grabbing all you can. Still perhaps the most urgent song the Rats ever made from the opening drum roll to the "I’m gonna be like ME! " sign off, there is precious little time to catch breath, and the only respite from the selfishness is to put down the listener with a sneering "I don’t wanna be like YOU, at all!!" . There’s also a fabulous seamless guitar solo in the midst of a four chord romp. So now, who was it that said "Don’t give me charity!"?

Mary of the Fourth Form was the second single but differs on the album. This bluesier track centres on the teenage temptress Mary, pre-empting Don't Stand So Close to Me’s pupil-teacher affair. She also toys with the boys in the pool hall, picking her flame to keep her burning through the night. Given my experience of fourth form, this was predominately wild fantasy on the part of Geldof! A track that sleazes along like early Feelgood, it still stands out as one of the best singles of the seventies.

Joey's on the Street Again is Rat Trap mark one, a big ballad like epic, tracing Joey's life from a lad around town, through marriage, his tragic death and aftermath, whose rising crescendo leads into one of the greatest sax solos/fade outs ever captured on record. There are obvious Springsteen comparisons, but this is probably the number one record that the Rats didn't have, preferring to not follow up Rat Trap with it.

Death, or more precisely attempted suicide, rears its ugly head again in Neon Heart. Lyrically, it's all over the place, like a drunken night on the town, but has a great riff throughout and some typically Rattish answering of the verses. There was also some great guitar work by Gerry Cott, a sign of things to come.

Heavily influenced by Dr. Feelgood, (She's Gonna) Do You In is a great track which was a live favourite, when the Rats were touring with Tonic For The Troops. The comedown to near silence followed by the eruption of noise, loses a lot on record and does not have the same impact as hearing it live. Nevertheless, the sneering disrespectful attitude and Geldof's harmonica skills really make this work and its many changes of pace make it a stand out.

Close As You'll Ever Be also follows the suicidal theme, but is lightened by the thought of a perving Geldof being chased by a jealous boyfriend. Similar to (She's Gonna) Do You In, with its changes in pace and loud rocking guitars, this is another track that sounded far better live, especially when Pete Briquette's driving bass kicks in That is not to detract from the fact that this is still a great track on vinyl. A live version was captured on the B-side of Dave many years later.

Never Bite the Hand That Feeds goes off to the Dublin suburbs, not unlike (Watch Out For) The Normal People. A father's lament on his daughter growing up, but who turns out just like anyone one else. The song features another great guitar break from Cott. A more up and at them song, than many of the others on the album.

Unusually personal for Geldof, I Can Make It If You Can, is something very heartfelt. Shades of Angie by the Stones, this is one of the Rats greatest moments where you can really feel the emotion coming through. Fingers' tinkling piano comes to the fore, as does the lingering guitar solo. Only Fall Down of their later work would compare in terms of emotional exposure.

From a personal point of view, Kicks was probably the stand out track when I got the album, expressing the frustrations of a sixteen year old, finding it hard to score, wanting to be a movie, rock or soccer star, and not being able to buy smokes or drinks. Not entirely unlike my own life then! Crashing chords and a real wig-out at the end make this a fine conclusion to a great album.

There are many dark themes in this album, and although you can hear the influences such as the Stones and Dr. Feelgood, it is unmistakably the Boomtown Rats. Lacking some of the lightness of touch of Tonic for the Troops, the general rawness lends itself to a more night time and urban feel. Rat Trap and possibly (Watch Out For) The Normal People would be the only later songs that would have worked with this collection, even Living on an Island would be considered too lightweight to be on here!

This album has stood the test of time better than practically everything from the Boomtown Rats post-I Don't Like Mondays, due to it having a more classic garage rock, R'n'B feel. It certainly stands side-by-side with Tonic for the Troops as essential listening, and as far as debut albums are concerned, very few compare to this in terms of quality.

Personally, I think it’s a close second to Tonic for the Troops as greatest album of the 1970s. So much for objectivity!

CD Review
Unquestionably of all the re-releases this is the most essential. The album was never released on CD until now. Though some tracks have appeared elsewhere, it is the first time stand outs like Kicks and (She's Gonna) Do You In have made it to the silver disc. There are also previously unreleased demo tracks from 1975, and two tracks from single releases. The only notable omission from the era is Born To Burn which was the second b-side on both Lookin' After No. 1 and the 1994 re-release of Mondays.

The extras from the demos unashamedly show some key influences.

Oh Yeah starts with a guitar from Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell, and then turns into something the early Stones would have been proud of. That very distinct lyrical guitar solo from Gerry Cott is there as well.

Kicking in with a Wilco Johnson-like guitar riff and harmonica, My Blues Away echoes early Dr. Feelgood. Ultimately it comes out as a fast paced (She’s Gonna) Do You In even down to the Harmonica break in the middle of the song and the obligatory R’n’B guitar solo.

Another prototype here in the shape of Sad Boys which sounds like I Can Make it if you Can, more influence from the Stones this time from the Exile on Main Street/Goats Head Soup era in the early seventies. Piano and Hammond to the fore, and a great guitar solo. Plenty of nice harmonies off the lead vocal.

As urgent as Lookin’ After No. 1, Fanzine Hero launches off immediately at a breakneck speed. And then suddenly, the song comes down a honky tonk piano solo, straight out of the Jools Holland repertoire before it starts off again with an almost country-like guitar solo and then back to the relentless drive of the song.

It is extraordinary that such good tracks never saw the light of day back in 1977, though the material on the debut album is so strong, that is understandable, especially as there was no more than about 40 minutes to play with on a conventional vinyl LP.

The single version of Mary of the Fourth Form is longer than the LP version. The most notable difference is the drum roll intro, and the shortened guitar solo. There are some other subtle production differences, and if push comes to shove, it does sound better than the LP version.

Finally, there’s Bare Footin’ which was one of the B-sides of Lookin’ After No. 1. It takes the Robert Parker track and pushes it as fast as it can go. The break implores everyone to get on their feet, and it’s a great cover.

The extras combine make this an indispensable CD. Five tracks showcase the origins of the Rats sounds and the other completes the story of the Rats prior to Tonic for the Troops. Well, except for Born To Burn that is! Given that it is about twenty years since CDs became freely available, it has been a long wait. This release does justify the wait.