Ireland In 50 Albums, No 37: A Tonic For the Troops by The Boomtown Rats (1978)

Bob Geldof talks about the Boomtown Rats record that spawned their breakthrough hit Rat Trap, and the incredible connection to a future pope 

Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats released A  Tonic For The Troops in 1978. 

“This is the second LP for the Boomtown Rats,” wrote Billboard magazine in its February 1979 review of A Tonic For the Troops. The review continued, “The first was released during the short-lived punk invasion, and never went anywhere. This one stands head and shoulders above the previous effort. The songs are well realized, drawing from such musical antecedents as The Who, Springsteen, Kinks and Thin Lizzy. But the final result is The Rats own, with the six-man band following its own musical directions.” 

The Billboard review mentions that the first Boomtown Rats album went nowhere in the US. This was despite (or maybe because of) a promotional idea cooked up by Michael Bone, the Mercury Records Promotions man in Chicago. Bob Geldof remembers what happened.