skip to main |
skip to sidebar
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 8. THE BOOMTOWN RATS (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th October 2021
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 8, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "A Tonic For The Troops", their 1978 hit album, Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats respond to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some of the tracks from the album which brought them their first Number 1 single with 'Rat Trap'.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 7. THE BOOMTOWN RATS (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th October 2021
John Wilson continues with the series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 7, A-side. 'A Tonic For The Troops'
Named after a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, The Boomtown Rats had a series of hits between 1977 and 1985. Signed by Mercury records the same year that punk rock exploded in Britain, it was their second album 'A Tonic for the Troops', with tracks like "She's So Modern", "Like Clockwork" and "Me and Howard Hughes", that brought them their first Number 1 hit with "Rat Trap".
It's an album that treats dark themes like suicide and euthanasia in an often upbeat, pop-punk style - one critic described the track "Eva Braun" as "the happiest, cheeriest, best upbeat song about Hitler ever written." And another said "Vintage superstars who look like eyesores and sound like dinosaurs should carefully study this album."
The band broke-up in 1986, but reformed in 2013 to tour the UK. This will be a unique opportunity not only to hear them talk about their album but also to see them perform exclusive versions of key tracks.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
CLASSIC SINGLES: I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS (320kbs-m4a/62mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 1st March 2018
Respected record producer Tony Visconti continues his series celebrating classic singles with a look at I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats, which reached number 1 in the summer of 1979. First broadcast in 2007.
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays [Connoisseur Collection]
The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap [Premier]
The Boomtown Rats - She's So Modern [Vertigo]
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays [Connoisseur Collection]
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Oliver's Army [Sony TV/Columbia]
The Boomtown Rats - Joey's On The Street Again
Van Morrison - Wavelength [Polydor]
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays [Connoisseur Collection]
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays (Live At Live Aid)
Tori Amos - I Don't Like Mondays
G4 - I Don't Like Mondays
Bon Jovi & Bob Geldof - I Don't Like Mondays (Live At Wembley)
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays [Connoisseur Collection]
