Boomtown Rats – Sign o’ The Times.
Boomtown Rats in concert to start the week – recorded at Odissea 2001 in Milan on March 29, 1982.
Sadly, Boomtown Rats have been more or less relegated to one-hit-wonder category; owing to their anthem to Anti-Social Behavior; “I Don’t Like Mondays”. And it was the band Bob Geldof (now Sir Bob Geldof) was in before he hatched the idea for Live Aid.
Even though one may be true, the other certainly isn’t. Yes, he was the guiding force behind Live Aid, but Boomtown Rats had a lot of hits in their repertoire and were far from being classified as “one-hit wonders”.
That said, Boomtown Rats were part of that massive cluster of bands assigned to the New Wave/Post-Punk category – and let’s face it, a lot bands got lost in the shuffle or worse, proven hit makers just not in the U.S. (which became the baffling bellweather of what was and what was not a hit) – that was glowingly proven by the presence of The Jam, who were huge everywhere else but the U.S. – if mainstream radio was any indicator. By the 80s, AM radio was become less and less relevant and FM was taking its place as the preferred listening platform. But even then, FM was in the process of being eaten-up by Corporate interests and playlists became more and more restricted. Hence, even Boomtown Rats fell from grace in that regard.
But that’s not to say they weren’t wildly popular everywhere else, as this gig in Milan will attest. They were several cuts above the “three-chord wonders” that permeated the scene from the late 70s until Techno and New Wave came flying in. It also signaled a return to musicianship and songwriting – something Boomtown Rats were very good at.
In case you missed it (44 years ago and all . . .) check out what Boomtown Rats were all about and how they were making a difference in March of ’82
