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Drops some solo work for Million Years and Up all Night, but please note, Rain is not as advertised on the packaging etc. This plays as Dave, single version. Still, less than £6 from Discogs and got full refund off seller even though not his fault and was merely highlighting for future transactions/advertising.
For those who haven't heard Rain (Dave, absurdly rewritten for America) here's a You Tube offering:
And it was definitely a mistake to rewrite Dave as Rain.
If memory serves me, I remember buying Rain through Adrians record catalogue, based in Wickford, Essex. Funny thing is I didn't know at the time it was a version of Dave, with some of the lyrics changed. i just saw 'Rain', and thought Oh a new Rats track, I'll have that.
I still find it hard to make out some of the lyrics, but to be honest I don't listen to it that often. The lyric changes would not be 'needed' now, but back then it was different times. Strange that Geldof would change the lyrics for the record company when he was well known for telling the Columbia and other American labels to get stuffed if they didn't like the Rats songs or attitude. Might be interesting to hear Bob comment on this compromise with the benefit of hindsight.
I don't even know if the record got any airplay in America or Canada. I suspect it was minimal, if at all.
PS i have never heard the US version of Drag Me Down, which I understand has some lyric changes and a bit of 'messing around' with the music.
Another weird thing is that the record is labelled 'Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats'.ie the radio station demo that Mark has linked to. The single I bough was American, but came in a plain white cover, with those big spindle holes that American singles have.
Wonder was it released to the radio stations in the US after Live Aid in 1985? Not sure of the exact 'timeline' but I suspect that the highlighting of Geldof's name may have been meant for anyone in the American radio business who did not know who he was without Live Aid bringing him to greater public prominence.
Wow thats amazing noelindublin I also used to buy a lot of my vinyl from Adrians.In Europe the album has just a picture of Bob Geldof on the front cover and is called the best of Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats.The cd is still the same.
-- Edited by Derek The Dane on Friday 17th of April 2015 03:23:21 PM
Umpteen versions of Loudmouth/Great Songs of Indifference exist with billings of either Rats and Geldof or Geldof and Rats. I believe the original is Loudmouth by Rats and Geldof and is the only album that contains Crazy which is a candidate for the worst song ever. By anyone. The best of has pretty much superseded these, but it is still the only UK compilation with the non dub House on Fire. The U.S. Greatest Hits also has it.
That said, one of the Crazy singles is well worth getting as it contains three Rats songs from the first Peel Session as are the Mondays CDs and white vinyl singles released at the same time. Check eBay for these I'd you didn't nab them twenty years ago.
And it was definitely a mistake to rewrite Dave as Rain.
If memory serves me, I remember buying Rain through Adrians record catalogue, based in Wickford, Essex. Funny thing is I didn't know at the time it was a version of Dave, with some of the lyrics changed. i just saw 'Rain', and thought Oh a new Rats track, I'll have that.
I still find it hard to make out some of the lyrics, but to be honest I don't listen to it that often. The lyric changes would not be 'needed' now, but back then it was different times. Strange that Geldof would change the lyrics for the record company when he was well known for telling the Columbia and other American labels to get stuffed if they didn't like the Rats songs or attitude. Might be interesting to hear Bob comment on this compromise with the benefit of hindsight.
I don't even know if the record got any airplay in America or Canada. I suspect it was minimal, if at all.
PS i have never heard the US version of Drag Me Down, which I understand has some lyric changes and a bit of 'messing around' with the music.
love the US version of Drag me down. Rain no so much. Also liked the rework of Lucky for USA
love the US version of Drag me down. Rain no so much. Also liked the rework of Lucky for USA
I must admit I don't like any of the US versions that much. Drag Me Down and Lucky sound too much like Huey Lewis and the News for my liking. Rain isn't that unacceptable except for the fact that the new lyrics render the song meaningless. The only US version that is better is Up All Night. The Mondo US version is better than the V Deep non-US version.
Agree with you Rain is pointless, robbed of its true meaning.
Dont like the US version of Lucky, but prefer the US version of Drag me Down with excessive use of horns gone in the stateside product and a drummed ending which appeals.
Also far prefer UK 1982 V Deep version of Up All Night. Other versions dont seem filled out properly and the timing of the 'zoot zoots' seems all wrong after 'neat and sedate'. Delayed almost.
Also the UK 1982 V Deep version has 2 breakouts of 'Say it ain't so' which appeal and close properly with 'God, no, no, no, no....oh no!' Not heard it for as long as I've had no turntable, which is years, and can't find it on You Tube. There's much US-led acclaim of the You Tube offerings on this, particularly from those who remember it from a U.S. tv show aired at the time. Wonder what the yanks would make of the UK 1982 V Deep version?
Now if only we could get the lyrics to that American Drag me Down........
Wow thats amazing noelindublin I also used to buy a lot of my vinyl from Adrians.In Europe the album has just a picture of Bob Geldof on the front cover and is called the best of Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats.The cd is still the same.
-- Edited by Derek The Dane on Friday 17th of April 2015 03:23:21 PM
I also purchased the Dun laoghaire flexi single through Adrians catalogue. MY local record store was in Kilkenny and obviously was fairly limited to chart fodder, so I ended up having to send away to England for a lot of my records. Used to by Rats stuff in Sherwoods records in Kilkenny, as I grew up in a small country town near Kilkenny.
Adrians always had lot so good 'alternative' records and imports from around the world that you just could not get in a regular record store. They are still going strong as I just checked their website.
love the US version of Drag me down. Rain no so much. Also liked the rework of Lucky for USA
I must admit I don't like any of the US versions that much. Drag Me Down and Lucky sound too much like Huey Lewis and the News for my liking. Rain isn't that unacceptable except for the fact that the new lyrics render the song meaningless. The only US version that is better is Up All Night. The Mondo US version is better than the V Deep non-US version.
Is Geldof using rain as a metaphor for the horrible effects of drug addiction? I don't think the song is necessarily rendered meaningless. The new lyrics go 'The rain keeps falling/ in steady streams/of holy water/???????/ the flooded moment/ the sea of peace/that cools the pain/ and wipes you clean....'
It's still obviously a song about the dire effects of drug addiction, it just does not state the song is about Dave Mchale, which you could argue is irrelevant in the bigger picture of total drug casualties. Don't get me wrong I think the original song lyrics and factual basic of the song give it a meaning that Rain just dilutes and slightly confuses.
