Boomtown Rats - "Looking After Number One"

[4444seagull]

Hi there

Thanks for this.

I was there at TOTP when they played this. Do you have the rest of the show on video as I would love to see it again? - 35 years on!

Thanks, Tim

[LowErnie]

verdammt wo ham die ihren stoff her...SAG SCHON

[Hollandia777]

1 of the "punkiest" bands ever!

[65queenst]

and things have come full circle... the message valid again today... how depressing!

[bohsgerry]

in 77 and 78 the boomtown rats were a great punk band,then a plank called bob,sorry SIR bob geldof let his inflated self indulgent ego run wild slagging the music that got them famous in the first place.strange apart fro gary cott none of the others ever had a bad word to say about punk rock-which is what they were when they started.

[waltdv]

The new national anthem

[CatapultYourMom]

You know that when Eddie & The Hot Rods saw this, they said, "Hey! Those guys are stealing our act!"

[TheIraRock]

Geldof is a phoney stuck up wanker, thats why he agreed to be called "Sir"

[TeeneNY]

lmao Bob Geldof is a boss, and the Rats are really good, but you cant avoid cracking up at 0:12 when he smacks himself with the mic.

[8000cheese]

love it

[davythehibee]

he actually described the sound as 1977 pop in an interview in the early days...that simply meaning it was popular music of the time. Others said it was part of the new wave sound, which was perhaps seen as a little lighter than punk

[jack63kids]

@davythehibee Good comment: New Wave was heavily influenced by Punk. I wasn't a hard Punk fan myself, but much of the music that I loved in the 70s wouldn't have been possible without it.

This defintely isn't one of the better BTR's tracks, but shows the influence better than most.

[nemotheband]

NEatneATNEat,,,,,,,,xxxx

[tedcantu1]

Jerry Seinfeld never sounded better !!

[desamator11]

JUST BADASS! THE PUNKER SIDE OF BOB G.

[toemeraldcity]

I could kiss those lips a thousand times in my dreams!

[SkinheadBootboy]

This is the bollox! Oooo OOOO Aaaaaa! lol

[chaschuck1]

First seen the Rats on the Mark Bolan show he had on tv in the 70's thought they were great and still like to listen to them takes me back to my youth and time when i had no worries.

[chaschuck1]

First seen the Rats on the Mark Bolan show he had on tv in the 70's thought they were great and still like to listen to them takes me back to my youth and time when i had no worries

[KevKevTubes]

Definitely the Irish Mick Jagger.

[rubinoos1]

The vocals are terrible.

[GrigoriZhukov]

@rubinoos1 that's live on TV without auto tune to hold your hand...sheesh. You can't sound good all the time. Hell I've seen ZZTOP have a crap night, flatter than a 10 year olds bra. Anyway it's punk how can you tell?

[stevejones666]

@GrigoriZhukov

Hahahaha, good call my friend lmao

[8000cheese]

@rubinoos1 i dont think they care

[vealshanker]

dreadful. pass on this.

[exproggo]

They are just copying Razorlight. The singer is even copying Johnny Borrell's moves. Fucking rip-off.

[Toohigia]

@exproggo You do realize this video was filmed in 1977, three years before Johnny Borrell's was born, and 25 years before Razorlight even was formed?

[exproggo]

@Toohigia yeah..lol...I was just being mischievous. Johnny Borrell ain't fit to clean Bob's boots ;-)

[RebelSpiritof77]

Punk to Nobel Peace prize -Nice rebels don't finish last...

[someoneelse101]

That's him

[someoneelse101]

That's him/

[pirateXsatellite]

and Geldoff said the Clash were shit!? What a nerve! Thinking of himself as a punk ........... tss. if he thinks punk is about being shit then sure he beats the Clash by miles.

[Bigstrat2]

its cool...fak off...!

[helenkrump]

Tried to jump on the Punk bandwagon...ugh...

[SilentHillHeather]

<3 <3

[Toejack61]

I wonder when I first time saw BOOMTOWN RATS,who the hell had pyjamas and play piano in a punk-band?

[tallpaddy]

gosh l was 13 when this came out--ah happy days--launched the rats into stardom--loved them

[SpeedTriple59]

Geldof what a fuckin twat,sounds shit after all these years..Irish wanker.

[ILOVExGREENDAY]

@SpeedTriple59 geldof is a clever irish wanker, made his millions from the Brits, good man Bob

[barmpots]

Thanks Talajenta. i even met the band and was that pissed i forgot to ask them.

[jasonbigelow]

rubbish.

[barmpots]

"I don't owe nobody nothin" -- does anyone know the next line as it's the only line i don't know

[TalaJenta]

@barmpots Yes it's..."i owe nobody nothing, and it's me they must come to, why don't you stop, think, look, baby, i always get what i want and i want to get you...."

[musoshi]

This is proof that drugs from at least 15 years and earlier were better than what we've got today...

Either that or people were better and more creative back then...

Either way it's hard to find good music like this these days.

Not saying its not there... Just hard to find.

[jcracker]

@musoshi what are you talking about? this sucks. not everything you listened to as a teenager automatically qualifies as great

[shonuffido]

Bolan had his finger on the pulse with the bands he had on his show. Great clip haven't seen since it was originally shown in 77. Thanks for sharing.

[mrbdel]

Was this their first hit?

[paddytheloaf]

It was their first hit.....Released on 10 inch vinyl.

[mekosilvar]

sounds like meatloaf.

[yallop9]

The Boomtown Rats were a New Wave group, which at the time was seen as the more respectable & mature wing of Punk. Basically it was slightly older more capable musicians playing pop oriented punk. The Rats were one of the best at this and ultimately made punk more accessible to the masses in 1978 when that generation were just getting used to the shift in youth culture.

[Vambo1958]

Frauds!

[tubedommo]

How old are all ye langers?

[aaronsmiff89]

thank fuck they stopped this trying to be punk n came into their own eventually ha

[StairwayToHeaven666]

He is the guy that play Pink in the movie The Wall by Pink Floyd .. right ?

[StonedEpiphone]

I think so robin ;P

[ZLUGGO]

@StairwayToHeaven666

True.

[GirlOfJRock]

@StairwayToHeaven666

yes, it's him :)

[XXXPaulJXXX]

@StairwayToHeaven666 Yeah. That's him.

[TheTilly65]

@StairwayToHeaven666 Yep right. Bob geldof who played Pink:)

[927Paddy]

@StairwayToHeaven666

Yes - That would be him - Sir Bob Geldof of Live aid and Charity gig fame...

[Awesomeman37]

@StairwayToHeaven666 Yes he is.

[MartinaBC1963]

Great band!!

[Mrsanandreas1234]

boomtown rats jadore vs etes tro fort j sai jouer toutes vos chanson sur piano

[InternetUser1999]

From 1977 the year that rocked the world! There has never been a year like 1977 in pop music history and there never will be.

[jarileigh]

Were the Boomtown Rats making videos before there were videos?(It seem so) Can you tell me what the singer is on? (like what drugs were popular in the '70s that he was probably on?) He certainly looks high on something, Love the music, before my time just curious, thanks :)

[twangzombie]

@jarileigh

This video is form some (probably British) tv show from the time, not a video that they made themselves. If hes on anything its probably amphetamines, they were pretty popular in the ealy days of punk rock.

[missmarypickford]

@twangzombie It's taken from the Marc Bolan show...

[psykosel]

great punk band,

[judgedredd304]

my first i heard was i don't like mondays and i love it remeebered forever...especially monday! !o!

[xxNenekoChanXX]

First Boomtown Rats song I ever heard, always gonna be my favourite.

LOVE YOU BOB

[InternetUser1999]

"Punk rock is the craziest pop cult of them all" - The Sun December 1976.

[peecogs]

second band that i ever Burt tickits for long time ago

[LORDHATE76]

I like the Romantics myself, atleast there early stuff.

[newall7]

cracking song

nice one bob

[IsaiasWimara]

if Punk or no Punk, this was mid 70's and 4 that time Mr. Bob Geldof was a rebel ! [2]

long live to Geldof n BR. Great voice n great dad!

[clctah]

Wow.... Michael Hutchence is gone and this is what is left?

We all got screwed on that deal!

[mephisto1970]

love the couple seconds that start at 1:50

[LukaArsenalSerbia]

What is this? Is this some kind of joke? Is this a hidden camera? He must be joking. This is the worst singing in the history of music.

[croby]

wooow -77punk really rule, look at that frickin radical eyemove at 22secs!

[thankGodforDavidG]

ok, Mr's. Know It All, who gives a - - - - if Punk or no Punk, this was mid 70's and 4 that time Mr. Bob Geldof  was a rebel !

[thankGodforDavidG]

70's PUNK, U Go BOB !!!

[macker33]

Well i've news for everyone,,the boomtown rats werent punk at all,,the boomtown rats were boop boys...

Are punks such fanboys that they have to retro-fit old pop bands to be punk..pretty soon you'll be calling blondie and boney M punk.

[camillahol]

Blondie were considered a punk bank when they started. There first 2 albums are sort of punk. Boomtowm Rats also were part of the punk/newave movement when they start. Unlike now in 76-79 lots of different sounding bands were considered punk. one for example was Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

[birdy47]

macker, are you dumb? blondie is punk? she's new wave/punk, and the boomtown rats were in the punk scene, so you cant say they went punk at all, read some more, and grow a open mind.

[macker33]

Were you there?do you remember?i guess not,,what i say is true,you probably dont even know who the boop boys were.

[birdy47]

no no, you say bllondie is not punk, but she was well punk, you are a moron, the boomtown rats where punk but arnt fully punk, your so dumb

[macker33]

Well i might be wrong about blondie but i say it again that the boomyown rats were boop boys(like half the country)

[antwanswan1]

i call hthem trinity punk

same with the clash blondie and talking heads

[crapple009]

Boomtown Rats were definitely new wave,as was Blondie,as was The Stranglers.Period. I was there,btw.

[birdy47]

Blondie was Punk/New Wave :P but Boomtown Rats Idfk :P

[crapple009]

B R's debut on Mercury did have the hard driving songs,however by their 2nd lp and beyond they were all over the musical board: reggae/ska,powerpop,Springstee­nish melodrama (Joey's On The Street Again),faux-classical,Bowie-es­que (Up All Night),African/Caribbean (Mondo Bongo),Latin guitar (When The Night Comes),etc.

B.R.s were such an inventive and sophisticated punky late 70's new-wave RnR group. A much better Irish group than U2.

[sharksruledude]

love the band, love the sound, but this performance is terrible.

[sharksruledude]

song*

[bloggerjoe]

Load of shit, two-chord song just the same as so many others before it.

Fucking horrible, like most of their stuff. They only had one big song and we all know what it is.

Another bunch of posers jumping on the punk bandwagon...

[lexo30]

At least seven chords, fuckwit, plus a key change.

Funny you should complain about people "jumping on the punk bandwagon" and also complain that their song only has two chords. You're a typical Brit punk - only interested in fashion, not in music.

[bloggerjoe]

Oooh a key change... now THAT'S original. Maybe they got hat from Manilow.

Well I will grant you that seem to have mastered D, A, and E for this pop gem (yawn).

But like I said, horrible. And this band also has the honor of writing one of the worst songs ever put on record, the one about "Wind Chill Factor Minus Zero." God that's bad.

"...Mondays" was the only tune even hinting at a future. But their inability to sustain that just underscores their lack of writing talent.

[lexo30]

"Maybe they got [t]hat from Manilow." Worse. Springsteen.

Actually I almost agree with you, I was just yanking your chain. But inconsistent as the Rats were, they still had better songs than Chelsea, the Cockney Rejects, Generation X, The Slits, Angelic Upstarts and The Knack; they were a lot more fun than Joy Division, Wire and The Jam and they rocked much harder than U2, The Radiators, The Blades or pretty much any of the many, many crappy Irish post-punk bands that have come along since.

[bloggerjoe]

Haha... yes I think we are agreed on a lot of stuff.

Looking back now, most of those bands were shit. The Knack pulled off a major pop scam with "My Sharona", but in today's world you've almost got to applaud them for that. Great riff too.

You can celebrate your fellow countryman (Lydon) for kicking the whole thing off.

Unfortunately, rock and roll has suffered in quality over the years... a result of the punk credo (kill the old guard/anyone can play guitar).

And U2 are vastly overrated.

[lexo30]

Lydon is London Irish and therefore, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't count, although I know he likes to think of himself as Irish. In any case, Glen Matlock was the musical genius in that band.

I agree entirely about the wrongness of the "anyone can play guitar" thing. The trouble is that there are some great records made by people who could hardly play, and too many people have taken this to mean that therefore they didn't need to learn how to play in order to make a great record.

[lexo30]

"My Sharona" has an okay riff but it's spoiled by stupid lyrics, a stiff rhythm and endless guitar wankery - they weren't good enough players to get away with that.

My actual favourite punk band ever is Black Flag, who were amazing players whether you like them or not.

[sugarkaneandchloe]

Thumbs up from me :-)

[sugarkaneandchloe]

I agree 100% .

[AutoCalculator]

musically horrible....great that geldof changed his ideas about looking after no 1...go bob ...go

[meta412]

yea... thats real punk... but i think the boomtown rats ended up turning into a pop/opera group or somethin...

[paulineshep]

The vid not up to much but the song is fxxcking ace the only way was to see um live like i did back in 70s Forde Green Pub Leeds uk

[Livestr0ng1990]

Not up to much? It's the band playing the song, to me these kind of videos are the best

[paulineshep]

The video's back then were crude and when i watch them they make me laugh but the music side is still good glad they only get to gether now n then cos i dont think they would survive today. Thanks for taking the time to comment on what i said Cheers

[TexRipley]

of course P is spot on. it doesn't help matters when you've got live vocals over a dubbed track of the band 'playing', which is why the vocals come over so strong on this vid. But one of the phases TV went through back then. If only we could re-visit them playing it all live.

[IrishBloodinveins]

The Rats..gr8 band, doubters should watch this vid and gete educated!

[SugerBlues]

the drums in this song are brilliant

[pzycotic]

horrible song with cheap text...shut up boomtown

[bobtheradish]

dotherat77 how can you call yourself do the rat when you only have two Rats songs???? they did so many!

[boybandmassacre]

good guitar solo!

[Morahman7vnNo2]

Punks.

[basvegasscience]

Good group, didn't have to rely on video to sell them. In those days, yes I am nearly 50 you bought the 45 for the sound not the shite tarty videos as sometimes nowadays. Well done the Rats

[sinongginagagomo]

EMO... what??? this is the real PUNK!!!

[sghytrew]

40951 ur a twat an english twat in fact ibet

[Hirsute63]

how did you guess? and if you add up 40951 that'll be his IQ..

[BonofaSitch04]

i love how this song sounds.a good ol pounk sound. nice and raw! Great song!

[BonofaSitch04]

i love how this song sounds.a good ol pounk sound. nice and raw! Great song!

[scottlegod]

has anybody got a version of joey's on the street Again? one of my Rats favourites?

[40951]

spud pickers from bog trot land

[waffles2beans4rusks6]

eh well actually its called ireland and ur only jealous that ur not from there urself coz i am and bob is one of the people that makes me proud to be. it is a raw old-school punk sound and they're actually singers, not farmers [or "spud pickers"]! go on ireland!

[pahy]

jesus--at 42 wouldnt you think you would have grown up by now--fool

[40951]

i am not jesus

[sweetybaby01223]

im sorry but this is really bad it is one of there worse songs

[JasonBNYC]

This is their BEST song! It's just mixed badly - vocals too loud. BAD audio.

[NaviBlast]

I personally love this song but this version is really bad...the vocals sound terrible.

[pw3uk]

They kinda sound like early Skrewdriver.

[JANER64]

Raw and excellent, their best song.

[Hirsute63]

that's NINETEEN 79 btw....

[Hirsute63]

this song has always reminded me of my grandad's advice to look after mesel b4 joinin the Navy in 79. I left 5 months later but kept the thought. Think I mightve taken it too far tho cos I'm still single 28 yrs later! and a selfish bastard to boot...

[youcanhandlethetruth]

raw, i like it. Shame the guitar's are turned up enough. Great song probably their best - the original is great

[Twilighticious]

OMG

[Vickyokiss]

so the punk was almost destroyed for those stupid void groups, but guess what! the punk's not dead, by the way I don't like this shit, hell god!

[3vilElvis]

bob singin like a gay

[wilson479]

best song that this great band did!

[domcarj]

punk de butique

[castlerocklobster]

punk1256 is right...Best band ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Punk1256]

best band ever !!!!!!!!!!!

[orkneyfellow]

in them days i thought it was a band. seeing this, it was all about one man. which i was sick of in them days.

[paoloporcodio]

gay

[halifaxtown1961]

1 word SHIT glad thay got better.

[r0bw00d]

God damn that fucking sucked! Thankfully they don't sound like that in all of their music!

[lolimontheinternet]

I like their New Wave-esque stuff better.

:D

Still amazing, though.

[iamthepig]

Their best ever

[ajmq1]

one word AWESOME

[righteous33]

thats awesome that is...

[sheeda66]

Bob, Pete, Jhonny, Gerry, Simon and Gary ... fuckin Dublin Punk legends

[sheeda66]

Dublin punks

[transfobby]

haha he is doing his best rendition of Mick Jagger

[brickbat44]

sir bobs been doing the greatest rock & roll swindle for the last 20 years better than malcom maclaren

[transfobby]

yes, when he was a sort of a music critic for an obscure paper in an obscure city in an obscure country he was dared to start his own band and that's what he did

[7885133]

Why the fuck have you posted 4 comments you retard. Could you not think of all your shit comments all at once?

[brickbat44]

oi fucking halfwit nonce is the number a tattoo

or were you born with the fucking thing! i´ll post as many comments as i like, when i like.

so if you do´nt like it have a nice cup of shut the fuck up!piece of anal discharge

[brickbat44]

thieving pikey twat, left wing suckers

[brickbat44]

think how him,sir bono,sir sting have earnt bit ironic innit they wants to preach!

[brickbat44]

band wagon jumper

[nikjagger]

good song from the b rats !!

[zluvu4ever]

Isn't Bob Geldorf a billionaire now?

[myvidspwnn00b]

yeah but all his money gos towords make poverty history

[swanseaboy]

That's what he makes you believe.

[puppylover4ever]

It's a great thing that he did that, hopefully still does.

[chabibleus]

fake? then don't watch. this is great. bye bye

[tbone5665]

I am sorry Rats fans, Bob Geldoff is not legit. He's a fake showman. Too much show and not enough substance.  Especially these days.

[pw3uk]

Couldn't agree with you more.

[frankie5584]

A totally underated band even when at their peak. Now criminally ignored. Thanks for posting this.

[swanseaboy]

They are shit and he cannot sing!

[glittersnifferdude]

Fuck that! He can sing... there just seems to be something off about this vid.

[lithiumed27]

this is fucking punk rock he doesnt have to sing well

[Di4mondsmiles]

I was a huge Bolan fan - from the age of 5 to 8! Then I saw Bob on this show and was hooked from the age of eight. I have never met him but i really wish I could!

[DaveKemp]

Didn't meet Marc on that show but I met him twice (Top Of The Pops -Teenage Dream) and outside Capital Radio 1976. He was great. Small but great.

[DaveKemp]

This was definately from the MARC (Marc Bolan) TV - I was there.

[KIERSZTEN]

davekemp did you see my idol bolan what was he like was he small iwatch all marc shows "rats remind me of razorlight"

[andreaprodan]

Trying out the Punk stance... then preferred being sexy...

[sham64]

This was from the Marc (Bolan) show I think not TOTP's

[Rossman1972]

I love Bob in this. Brilliant. Thanx for the post.

[randomtoxy]

Cool to watch. I cannot say much for the audio mix, though.