Why wasn't Here's To You the single rather than Silly Thing ?

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Why wasn't Here's To You the single rather than Silly Thing ?

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

Ok, it sounds like a Beatles tribute, but if there is any song that a broad cross section of people would like, this is it.

Personally I think Blow Fish and Six Pack are far more interesting (and a shame Geldof doesn't do a few more like them), but if any song would be played on Radio 2, Here's To You is the one.

Here's To You is the most pleasant and pleasing song Geldof has ever written. And in a good way. Had he come up with it back in 1986, he'd have had a number one!

It uses the riff from George Harrisons My Sweet Lord or a very similar riff which to me amounts to lazy borrowing.

What's with Geldof and his new sentimentality. Is it the pills he talks about on Blowfish.

Listen to Hotel 75 or Talk Me Up - these are real Geldof songs which nobody seems to know. Are people getting soft on this forum.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:

Listen to Hotel 75 or Talk Me Up - these are real Geldof songs which nobody seems to know. Are people getting soft on this forum.

I suspect they are unknown as they are b-sides and unless you have the singles you probably haven't heard them. Personally, I don't care for either of them.

Me? Soft? With my reputation!

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

noelindublin wrote:

Listen to Hotel 75 or Talk Me Up - these are real Geldof songs which nobody seems to know. Are people getting soft on this forum.

I suspect they are unknown as they are b-sides and unless you have the singles you probably haven't heard them. Personally, I don't care for either of them.

Me? Soft? With my reputation!

You can't say either song is sentimental. Hotel 75 is one of the most Rats like songs Geldof has ever done, chugging along with energy. Not a trace of wanting to sound like anyone else on that track.

If I was to compile a Geldof solo top twenty or thirty I'm not certain yet if anything from the new album would be included.

Blowfish borrows heavily from The Lovin' Spoonfuls old classic Summer In The City
just in case anyone thinks its highly original- God forbid. Geldof as he gets older sounds less original and more a cobbler of other peoples, usually classic, songs.

Heres To You steals from George Harrison and as I hear that track all I can think of is GH and wonder what happened to Bob Geldof.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Wednesday 9th of February 2011 04:25:07 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:

Blowfish borrows heavily from The Lovin' Spoonfuls old classic Summer In The City
just in case anyone thinks its highly original- God forbid. Geldof as he gets older sounds less original and more a cobbler of other peoples, usually classic, songs.

I think you mean How I Roll. There is a third writer credit on the track, on the CD inlay, but not one of the original writers (John Sebastian, Steve Boone, Mark Sebastian, if you are interested)

Not sure how original Geldof ever was. Eva Braun is a steal of Leader of the Pack with Bowie thrown in. And the influences have always been to the fore.

One of my favourite bands, Happy Mondays, could rarely be called original all the way from Desmond (O-bla-di, O-bla-da) through Kinky Afro (Lady Marmalade) and onto Reverrend Black Grape (Oh come all ye faithful!). But they did something with the songs and the sounds that made them brilliant. Geldof and Shaun Ryder have a lot in common. It'd be great to have some straight talking between the two. How many fcuks would they manage in a minute. About 100 I reckon.

Laibach · Someone's Looking At You

Geldofs always borrowed, I remember one reviewer of a Rats album (could have been Mondo Bongo) saying the Rats were a pastiche of Elvis Costello and Costello should sue for copyright, I don't mind if artists borrow from others (which most do) as long as the resulting songs are good.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

noelindublin wrote:

Blowfish borrows heavily from The Lovin' Spoonfuls old classic Summer In The City
just in case anyone thinks its highly original- God forbid. Geldof as he gets older sounds less original and more a cobbler of other peoples, usually classic, songs.
I think you mean How I Roll. There is a third writer credit on the track, on the CD inlay, but not one of the original writers (John Sebastian, Steve Boone, Mark Sebastian, if you are interested)

Not sure how original Geldof ever was. Eva Braun is a steal of Leader of the Pack with Bowie thrown in. And the influences have always been to the fore.

One of my favourite bands, Happy Mondays, could rarely be called original all the way from Desmond (O-bla-di, O-bla-da) through Kinky Afro (Lady Marmalade) and onto Reverrend Black Grape (Oh come all ye faithful!). But they did something with the songs and the sounds that made them brilliant. Geldof and Shaun Ryder have a lot in common. It'd be great to have some straight talking between the two. How many fcuks would they manage in a minute. About 100 I reckon.

Yes ArrGee I did mean How I Roll- He slows it down. but the influence is not too masked.

I suppose its hard for anyone to be entirely original- but I could name lots of Rats songs which are hard to pin down. What does Normal People sound like or Never In A Million Years or So Strange.

A slight vocal inflection in Don't Talk To Me and people miss most of the song and start saying he sounds like Buddy Holly- just for a couple of seconds of maybe jokey impersonation. Has anyone any Buddy Holly removing software to clean up that song!

Do you feel insulted when people say that Happy Mondays were just promoted by the NME when real underground dance music was being overlooked in favour of this watered down white mans version?

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Laibach wrote:

Geldofs always borrowed, I remember one reviewer of a Rats album (could have been Mondo Bongo) saying the Rats were a pastiche of Elvis Costello and Costello should sue for copyright, I don't mind if artists borrow from others (which most do) as long as the resulting songs are good.

Rubbish. Just because the Rats and EC had prominent keyboards in lots of their songs the Rats get the short end of the stick. It was probably in relation to Elephants Graveyard and the usual lazy journalism, hearing the keyboard melody of Elephants Graveyard and thinking O it sounds like Elvis Costello.Had EC some sort of copyright on using prominent piano and melody.

The Rats were formed in 1976 and had keyboards on their first album. Journalists hear a bit of saxophone and then lumber the Rats as being like Bruce Springsteen.
Its just pure laziness. Their are loads of subtle differences between these three acts and they all stand up in their own right. Don't think Mood Mambo or Please Don't Go sound like EC. The Rats in general had their own sound even though a lot of the singles sounded like they has more overt influinces.

Agree with your last lines Laibach - a little bit of influince is ok and only natural- I just don't like blatent ripoffs of songs- and I do hear a lot of them as I go about my day!

PS Still have to check out those Dogs Die In Hot Cars- wonder do they sound too like XTC!

Derek The Dane · In the Long Grass

Here´s To You must be the second single.Fantastic song.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Do you feel insulted when people say that Happy Mondays were just promoted by the NME when real underground dance music was being overlooked in favour of this watered down white mans version?

No, cos I don't give a fcuk what people think. If I did, I wouldn't like The Boomtown Rats, I'd be on the Clash and Weller forums.

I didn't even know there were been promoted by the NME because I was away in Europe at the arse end of the eighties, and didn't really know what was happening in the UK. I missed The Stone Roses in 1989. I heard about the Mondays somewhere between my time in Paris and Amsterdam , and first saw them in Amsterdam at the Paradiso.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

I'm with, really is outstanding. Loving it. Much stronger song that SPT. I like that too...