Tom Dunne: 'Bob Geldof walking onstage was a watershed moment'

The Boomtown Rats had an incredible impact on the emerging new Ireland of the 1970s

Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats. 

The Boomtown Rats formed in the same year that Éamon de Valera died, 1975. I don’t want to over-egg this, but it is fair to say that one vision of Ireland died just as another sprung into foul-mouthed existence. And not a moment too soon.

That changing of the guard is celebrated this week with an anniversary Best Of album, The First 50 Years: Songs of Boomtown Glory. It is a joyous affair. The Rats wrote great songs. The importance of Rat Trap and Don’t Like Mondays topping the UK charts cannot be overstated.