Unfairly Dismissed: The Boomtown Rats

A very welcome guest post from 6to5against

I think its fair to say that when you see mention of this band, you will immediately think of one member of that band in particular. And I think it’s also fair to say that your feelings for that one member of the band are somewhat negative. Words like ‘chancer’ might spring to mind when you think of him. Or ‘Gobshite’ perhaps. You might think with irritation about relentless self-promotion, self-regard or even self-obsession. But I’m asking you to put all that aside.

There was more to this band than one member. And there was more to that one member than he makes it easy to appreciate these days.  If nothing else, as a lyricist, he was fiercely articulate.  And when he kept that skill focussed on tight narratives within  the confine of a 3 minute pop song, he did little wrong.

By all accounts the Rats saw themselves as a R+B band to begin with: following the Rolling Stone as the Stones followed the early blues heros. Listening to their first album, I often think a lot of it would have been great fun played live. I can’t vouch for that because I was far too young and in the wrong part of the country to see them during those years. I did see themn on the Late Late show at that stage, though and as a 10/11 year old, I thought they were amazing: Arrogant, musical, stylish. Everythng I could have wished for in a band. I’m not sure any of those early songs stand up well enough to be offered here as evidence – but I’m going to do so anyway.

The hugely successful 2^nd album had a number of good, well crafted pop songs, and Rat Trap. A song that became so iconic it seems pointless to bring it up here: you already know what you feel about it.

The first song I want to put seriously put forward in my defence of the Rats as a band-worthy-of-respect comes from the 3^rd album, the Fine Art of Surfacing. As I remember it, it was only a minor hit, but I always thought of it as a great piece of song writing. The arrangement is flawless, its repeated punchy motifs allowing both the melody and the well-structured narrative to unfold without a wasted word:

This was from the same album. And I can’t think of a better description of urban paranoia and the surveillance society. Written when said society was in its infancy.

If proof were needed that there was more than one significant member of the band, it’s worth noting that their music  grew weaker after the departure of Gerry Cott. He made something of an attempt at a solo career that never seemed to come together commercially, but which I think threw up one or two solid songs in its attempt to do so. I’ve always liked this:

And more recently, he put together this record – which I listen to repeatedly and really enjoy. I don’t think there’s any commercial drive behind it: just the desire to share music once it has been made:

The uneven later offerings did still have some highlights. I think this one from Mondo Bongo might have something something to say about Brexit Britain even if it was written in 1984.

I skipped over one iconic hit because I do want to remind you all of another. A song that I think will stand up long into the future. It is a great piece of writing, combing narrative and comment with a great melody. And the piano part further bolsters my argument that this was a real band, reflecting the varied creative skills of many of its members.