Radio play

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Radio play

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Heres To You for me is Geldof going Chris De Burgh- one of the songs I definitely do not like. Nearest thing to a blatant sellout.

I think the single thing operates on the principle that it is available for downloading as a single. I'm just too lazy to look up the rules of the charts as see what qualifies as a single ie a physical disc or vinyl record or whatever.

RE Downtown Radio Belfast- 42 plays in a month is pretty good. Not sure if DJ's have free reign to play whatever they like- most radio stations these days use formula playlists playing predictible tosh for the masses. All it takes is one or two DJ'S to take a shining to Geldof's single and that should amount to forty plays in a month. Geldof's media companys have been trying to gain a foothold in Northern Ireland as he wants Ni to have a more central part in UK affairs and not be seen as periforal. Don't think there is any business connection with Geldof and Downtown Radio.

ArrGee are you gonna set up Rat FM?

Laibach · Someone's Looking At You

Bit harsh comparing it to Chris De Burgh, Heres To You for me is one of the best tracks on the album, I'd rather listen to this than Systematic Six Pack which I find souless and tuneless, I wasn't that keen on Blowfish either however I did find myself leaping around like a madman to it at the weekend and thinking its the best bloody track on the album, I was very drunk though, when I sobered up it was back to playing my faves Heres To You, Mary Says and Silly Pretty Thing.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Laibach wrote:

Bit harsh comparing it to Chris De Burgh, Heres To You for me is one of the best tracks on the album, I'd rather listen to this than Systematic Six Pack which I find souless and tuneless, I wasn't that keen on Blowfish either however I did find myself leaping around like a madman to it at the weekend and thinking its the best bloody track on the album, I was very drunk though, when I sobered up it was back to playing my faves Heres To You, Mary Says and Silly Pretty Thing.

Sorry Laiback, I was mixing it up with To Live In Love which is the Chris De Burgh confusion. This just shows how little I've been listening to the new album. Here's To You is sort of ok, but it borrows too heavily the guitar riff from George Harrisons My Sweet Lord and I find the lyrics a bit too sentimental.

Don't know if you have heard much of Captain Beefheart but Blowfish and Systematic both have a Beefheart kind of feel. Those unfamiliar with Beefheart might be a little surprised at this sound, but Geldof in the recent Mercury records documentary said one of his heroes was Captain Beefheart and that was how the Boomtown Rats might sound if they had stayed together. I'd rather this edgy, uneasy sound to predictable crowd pleasing stuff .

PS That Pugwash song was written by Thomas Walsh of Pugwash [and the Duckworth Lewis Method] and Andy Partridge. Found this on the Wiki site about Pugwash!

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
ArrGee - are you gonna set up Rat FM?

There's a good idea. However the time has probably passed me by for running up and down tower blocks with a bag of records and a turntable. I do remember picking up a few in the London area in the mid 80s that were worth listening to that used to play Theatre of Hate/Spear of Destiny, Killing Joke and oddly Blancmange! One had Napoleon's XIV's There Coming To Take Me Away as it's theme tune. I can't remember the names of the stations, though South London Radio rings a bell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_the_United_Kingdom#1970s_and_1980s

Laibach · Someone's Looking At You

To Live In Love is my least favouraite track on the album. I haven't heard any Captain Beefheart but I will give them a try. I've heard Bob Talking of his admiration for Doctor Feelgood and Van Morrison so I picked up the best of albums of both at the local library, Doctor Feelgood is growing on me but I'm a complete convert to Van Morrison, will have to seek out more of his albums. I noticed Neil Hanlon from The Divine Comedy in the video for At The Sea by Pugwash, I see hes one half of The Duckworth Lewis Method too, I used to like the Divine Comedy so I'll check that out, though it appears to be a concept album about Cricket.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Laibach wrote:
I've heard Bob Talking of his admiration for Dr. Feelgood and Van Morrison so I picked up the best of albums of both at the local library...

With regard to Dr. Feelgood, it is better to listen to Down By The Jetty, Malpractise , Stupidity (their live album), and Sneaking Suspicion as some of their later hits are not as good as many of the album tracks. Be Seeing You is also worth checking out even though Wilko Johnson had left by then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Feelgood

http://theboomtownrats.blogspot.com/2006/06/down-by-jetty.html

Dr. Feelgood were absolutely central to the Boomtown Rats. When I heard Down by the Jetty, it just fcuking blew me away. The Feelgoods were in it for me. Our early live set used to be their entire first album. When I heard the line 'Stand and watch the towers burning at the break of day', which was about the Canvey Island burn-offs, I realised that it wasn't enough for music to sound good. It had to mean something, to reflect where you came from. -Bob Geldof

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Laibach- If you get the chance the best Captain Beefheart album and their most famous if Trout Mask Replicafrom 1969. It is completely brilliant and most unlike anything you have ever heard- but it is, to my mind possibly the best album I've ever heard in terms of trying, and succeeding at being utterly original.

I was listening to Test Match Special on radio 4 last year and the Duckworth Lewis Method played during "tea " or whatever half time in cricket is called. I'm a fairly recent convert to cricket but love the idea of games that go on for five days and the ritual of the play.

There is lots of good footage of Dr Feelgood on Youtube and Captain Beefheart as well, but I prefer to sit down and listen to the albums properly rather than jump from clip to clip as I tend to do on Youtube.

Geldof once covered the Van Morrison song I'm Tired Joey Boy on Irish TV in the early nineties around the Happy Club album time. I recorded it on Vhs but god knows where the tape is now- wouldn't mind only it was a decent version, and I love the lyrics of that particular song.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
There is lots of good footage of Dr Feelgood on Youtube and Captain Beefheart as well, but I prefer to sit down and listen to the albums properly rather than jump from clip to clip as I tend to do on Youtube.

If you have lovefilm or alternatively have a tenner to spare, buy Oil City Confidential. Great film, even my wife enjoyed it.

Sadly I was too young to go to the pub to see them back in the day. Not that I had even heard of them when I was 11. I have seen all my favourite acts down the years in one form or another bar Dr. Feelgood and T. Rex.

http://theboomtownrats.blogspot.com/2010/04/oil-city-confidential-bbc-4-drfeelgood.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Feelgood-Oil-City-Confidential/dp/B003RU0XCK

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Haven't seen Oil City Confidential and I would like to, so I'll check around for a second hand copy.

Which reminds me I haven't seen the film documentary 30 Century Man about Scott Walker either, but I'm not sure what a few dozen talking heads can enlighten me with that I couldn't get from listening to Walker's music. Don't want to see that Bono telling us he loves SW as well as he seems to love everyone else in the music biz.

Walker is interesting in being a very shy guy that shuns publicityand has virtually no ego. The line from his last album- I'll punch a donkey/ in the streets of Galway- from the song Jolson and Jones, caused lots of discussion in Ireland with fans coming out of the woodwork trying to explain it. The Galway Tourist Board was a bit nonplussed but I'm sure some Walker fans might have holidayed in Galway just for those lines.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Wednesday 16th of March 2011 04:14:04 PM

Derek The Dane · In the Long Grass

That song about the Canvey Island burn outs,does anybody know what it is called?.I was sent to Canvey Island when I was a kid when my mum was dieing/died of cancer.I use to sit there and watch that ugly oil refinery(Canvey Island was a ok place though) and damn that line brings back lots of memorys.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Derek The Dane wrote:
That song about the Canvey Island burn outs,does anybody know what it is called?

All Through The City - Simon Crowe sang it at 100 Club a couple of years ago, though I think it has dropped out of the set list in preference to err Diamond Smiles disbelief

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Nothing at all wrong with Diamond Smiles as the overwhelming majority of Rats fans will confer. With some odd exceptions.

Naturally the band would choose their hits over a cover version of another bands songs seeing that the audience presumably come to see the Rats play. I know the Rats owe a huge debt of gratitude to the spirit of Dr Feelgoods music but for live appearances the set list must be limited somewhat.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Sunday 20th of March 2011 01:18:20 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Nothing at all wrong with Diamond Smiles as the overwhelming majority of Rats fans will confer. With some odd exceptions.

I think the song is all wrong. Does that make me oddly exceptional? smile

The new version I heard live is not a patch on the original, Pete Barton can't even get the words in the right order and it sounds a bit of a mess.

They have a few choice cuts off A Tonic For The Troops they could do. Not sure if they could pull off Banana Republic, but that is a far bigger hit.

If they have to do a cover, I reckon they should do Barefootin' live, it would go down a storm!

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

noelindublin wrote:
Nothing at all wrong with Diamond Smiles as the overwhelming majority of Rats fans will confer. With some odd exceptions.
I think the song is all wrong. Does that make me oddly exceptional?

The new version I heard live is not a patch on the original, Pete Barton can't even get the words in the right order and it sounds a bit of a mess.

They have a few choice cuts off A Tonic For The Troops they could do. Not sure if they could pull off Banana Republic, but that is a far bigger hit.

If they have to do a cover, I reckon they should do Barefootin' live, it would go down a storm!

Sorry ArrGee I thought you were casting aspertions on the original version of Diamond Smiles by The Boomtown Rats as being a song not worth playing live, or not being a very good song.

I haven't heard the Rats version with Pete Barton. I love the original recorded 1979 version. I haven't seen the new version of the Rats play yet. Some of the live versions have Pete Barton getting the words wrong but he's pretty new to the songs in his defence.

Thats why I prefer recorded version of the songs- the don't keep changing at the whim or temprement of the singer and don't become lazy, riding roughshod over the melody missing all the emotional peaks.

Diamond Smiles probably would have got to number one only for the strike at the BBC TOTP which was about lighting technicians if my research is correct. Surely after Mondays they were on a roll and getting another number one would have been like falling off a log. If that strike had not happened then they would have been on TOTP for a live appearance and certainly the song would have climed up from Number 13.

Love the brassy last forty seconds of Diamond Smiles which sounds great and full of tension- I know it was ruined somewhat by those unecessary na na na but the music part is great.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Monday 21st of March 2011 01:55:18 PM

-- Edited by noelindublin on Monday 21st of March 2011 02:02:07 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Sorry ArrGee I thought you were casting aspertions on the original version of Diamond Smiles by The Boomtown Rats as being a song not worth playing live, or not being a very good song.
....

Diamond Smiles probably would have got to number one only for the strike at the BBC TOTP which was about lighting technicians if my research is correct. Surely after Mondays they were on a roll and getting another number one would have been like falling off a log. If that strike had not happened then they would have been on TOTP for a live appearance and certainly the song would have climed up from Number 13.

Don't be sorry, I don't think too much of the original either. It's OK, but I find it a bit tiresome, with each verse sounding much the same and the never ending fade out.

It would never had made number one. It was played extensively on the radio and on numerous TV shows including Swap Shop. OK, the TOTP appearance may have nudged it up a place or two but there were other songs released at the same time that weren't affected like The Eton Rifles. In truth, the song was already stalling in the charts.

http://theboomtownrats.blogspot.com/2005/02/boomtown-rats-uk-singles-discography.html

Chart run - 35-23-{13}-15-16-27-27-43-53-72

noelindublin · Loudmouth

According to Everyhit retrochart for early December 1979 the competition included such diverse acts as The Police, Pink Floyd, The Gibson Brothers, ELO, Sugarhill Gang, Dr Hook, Blondie , The Tourists etc.

Those were the days when we cared about the charts or knew who was in them! Reminds me of listening to Radio Luxembourg when I heard all those songs at night - that mad mix of punk and disco and Herp Alpert with Rise. And the warning from Stiff Little Fingers -"Its exams that count/ not football teams".

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
According to Everyhit retrochart for early December 1979 the competition included such diverse acts as The Police, Pink Floyd, The Gibson Brothers, ELO, Sugarhill Gang, Dr Hook, Blondie , The Tourists etc.

If you look at charts from the sixties, it is interesting to see how dominated they were by the likes of Tom Jones, Val Doonican and Englebert Humperdinck! THe Beatles, Stones and Dylan were there, but just as part of the big mix.

I wouldn't have a clue what is in the charts now. Aside from Arcade Fire, it probably wouldn't be anything I would listen to.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Heres To You for me is Geldof going Chris De Burgh- one of the songs I definitely do not like. Nearest thing to a blatant sellout.

Funny you mention him, because he used to play with the Rats before Geldof ....

Mike Odlum, Chris De Burgh (aka Chris Davison), Garrick Roberts and Simon Crowe all played in a band pre-dating The Boomtown Rats.

Who knows, he may guest with them at Brean Sands...

http://irishrock.org/irodb/bands/roachband.html