The Boomtown Rats (1975-1985) were a punk rock/ New Wave group led by Bob Geldof. All five members were originally from Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. The name Boomtown Rats comes from a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, Bound for Glory. They became known as a notable band whose record is overshadowed by the charity work of their lead singer.
Their biggest hit was " I Don't Like Mondays" which stayed at No. 1 in the UK charts for 4 weeks. It was based on the January 1979 school shooting by 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who claimed she did it because she "[didn't] like Mondays." It followed their history of describing disaffected youth, "Joey's on the street again"" and "Rat Trap" being the best songs from their first two albums. 'Joey' was the story of a young man who had all the world at his feet who lost it, and Rat Trap described Billy and Judy's lost lives. Other fine songs included Banana Republic, a remake of a reggae hit which they used to express disgust at the Irish nation of the time.
