THE BOOMTOWN RATS – “Rat Trap”
“Rat Trap” is billed – in the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles, no less – as the first punk No.1. I couldn’t recall it – my memories of the Rats themselves were vague; Geldof I knew for later good works. So I approached “Rat Trap” cold but with a frisson of definite expectation. Geldof tore up a picture of John’n'Liv on Top Of The Pops, didn’t he? So “Rat Trap” – great title, Sir B – was surely something tight and angry, a sliver of nimble menace in the shadows of 1978′s poptopian monsterhits.
Five minutes later my expectation had turned to shock and laughter. Whatever I’d anticipated it wasn’t this: five woeful minutes of scraggy street-rock pastiche, Born To Run with the melted-down Crystals records replaced by stolen chip fat. Far from the first punk No.1, this risible track sounded like an early warning of one of indie’s less palatable side-effects: a deadly combination of overreach and the feeling of virtuous entitlement that being (relatively) outside the mainstream would lend to mediocre bands.
But once I’d lived with “Rat Trap” a bit, my initial scorn softened – starting with that scouring horn riff, the truest bit of E Street channeling here. After all, I really like “Born To Run” and prime Boss, so why should I care about someone biting it? And honestly, there’s more going on than I thought: Springsteen’s possibilities of escape closed off – the rat trap doesn’t open up again, even when Billy meets Judy. And come to think of it Judy’s dreams aren’t of getting out of town, they revolve around independence via work in the local factory. Yes, “Rat Trap” is laying it on thick, when even the crossing signals are holding The Kids down, but ridicule is a reasonable trade-off for one of the song’s most exciting peaks, the “BILLY TAKE A WALK!” chant.
I still think “Rat Trap” is a mess, overlong and a victim of its own ambition, Geldof trying to cram in every pop trick he’s ever heard of. 4 in 5 times when it comes on I get frustrated with it before I’ve hit halfway: the fifth it catches me in the right mood, and I love its preposterous kitchen sink epic feel – “Hand in her pocket! SHE FINDS FIFTY PEE!!”. It’s still a mile away from my idea of punk, but it’s hard not to feel charitable towards such an eager record.
6
Tom in FT /Popular • featured content/Pop • 4,189 views
My only at-the-time memory of the Boomtown Rats wasn’t this or their other really famous single but “Banana Republic”, and that mostly because I had to ask what on earth one was.
I think a big factor in their non-reappraisal is that they were fairly short on memorable tunes.
At the time, though, I can attest that at school level they were equivalent to the Stranglers in that they were the “punk” band that people in my class liked because they were “melodic.”
their bandname is very nearly the worst of all time
Really? I’d say it’s pretty darn good, and that every day my inbox is full of promo text for indie bands with much worse names: e.g., just yesterday’s haul includes these examples of self-involved witlessness:
Shitdisco, Yuppie Pricks, Made In China, Mock Orange, Eagles Of Death Metal, The Mint Chicks, The Silent Years, The Graduate, Plushgun!, The Break And Repair Method, Tittsworth!, Five Finger Death Punch
Ok, just come back from bowls practice (don’t laugh, there are plenty of teenagers playing in the league and they’re depressingly good too.) So I’m commenting before reading other comments and hope that others will bear with me.
I, too, have heard this described as the first ‘punk’ number one and I’ve never been able to work out why. Certainly it’s informed by ‘punk’, whatever that might be, and the Rats certainly had previous bandwagon-jumping experience if ‘punk’ means belting out the words like a bunch of lads ejected from the pub at closing time. But just as Tom notes, there’s a lot of Springsteen about it. Not classic Springsteen for sure, and it’s Springsteen with an accent dredged out of the Liffey, but it’s clearly there.
If I can’t see it as punk, and I had no interest in its being punk, then there’s no reason for me to be outraged at some kind of betrayal. That leaves me clear to treat it as a good old-fashioned pop song, one that grabbed the ear at the time. The first Rats track that I liked, and I’ll go as far as to say that it’s a rather classy piece of pop that began to break new ground in the tradition of 1978. A seven from me.
Oh yeah, and regarding the tearing up of JTrav’s pic was purely about how Rat Trap had been at number two for some weeks, along with the band performances on TOTP along with the general feeling that this was not going to happen for them.
Then, it did.
all those are better
ok worst of all time out of bands anyone has ever heard of (except you)
bands named after someone else’s song, LP, film or book aRE very nearly invariably very bad bands (but the name can be quite good, it’s just that someone else thought of it first)
As a band name “We Work At Tesco’s But We’re Well Gangsta Innit?” is either very good or very bad, can’t decide which.
Quite like the tribute band “And You Will Find Us In The Bargain Bins”, assuming they exist.
That Rock Family Trees episode about the second Merseybeat era showed the likes of Pete Wylie and Iain McCulloch forming bands with great names that never got beyond a rehearsal.
Mark G #30 – its chart career was 22-9-7-3-2-1. Unusual in that it accelerated having gone up only two places – the theory was that the record shops were understocked.
Even limiting it to the heard-of, surely bad band names are more common than good ones?
#33, that would kind of tie in with my memory, 3 and 2 certainly.
I was trying to find the TOTP performances, but the database seems to have gone off the BBC site.
Even knowing that it was a ‘Jungleland’ rip-off (‘Born To Run’ was one of the first albums I bought with the wages from my WH Smith saturday job) I loved this then and I still do, the line “deep down in her pocket she finds 50p” gets me every time. But I’m a sucker for “kitchen sink epic”
And it’s the first New Wave number one, there was a very clear distinction between that and Punk at the time – New Wave bands wore skinny ties.
I think that ‘Does This Offend You Yeah?’ is extraordinarily rubbish.
The most uninspired band name of all time is ‘The Mods’. No generic confusion there.
I’m somewhat mystified at the criticism of this, especially from those contributors who seem to regard it with an element of amusement. I don’t agree with this interpretation at all.
I personally thought “Rat Trap” was a monumental piece of work. A tale of bleakness and despair. Outlining far much more than regulation teenaged angst, this is a parable from the gutter and Geldof offers zero hope to neither Billy nor Judy as he growls, pleads and spits his way through the narration. I remember being amazed when this got to number one, as the landscape it depicted was so desperate and unlike “Seasons in the Sun”, for example, there was not a grain of irony or humour to be derived from it, in my opinion. I was also amazed it got to number one simply because it was the Rats, New Wave pioneers and thus not chart topping naturals. I would say that “Rat Trap” was very much a fish out of water and it’s not often that a record leaves you cold. Truly brilliant. And that SAX!
vinylscot # 19 – “I have to admit, I found it difficult to take them seriously too, what with their candelabra saxophones, pianists in pyjamas, and writing songs as Hitler!”
I have to say that I find this observation curious, since surely the whole point of punk/new wave was to present a challenging look. And it didn’t begin with punk, of course. Just because the Rats did not perform RT dressed in sombre suits and all looking as if they wanted to jump in front of a train does not detract from the power of the message.
Having now dealt with this particular track, I am happy to add my voice in bashing Geldof for other crimes. DJP’s “The trouble with Geldof is that in the end he believed his own piss” cannot be bested as a tribute or epitath. But then again, there are plenty of blokes to whom this could cosily apply, the obvious case being the icon I cannot mention lest Bunnykins guns sweet Waldo down outside the Dakota building
There were two TOTP performances; October 5th 1978 and the 16th of November 1978 (so presumably as a new entry at 22 and the number one)
Also in the studio for the first performance were; Mick Jackson, Elaine Paige, Marshal Hain and Sham 69, plus Legs & Co’s interpretation of ‘Now That We’ve Found Love’. The host was David Jensen.
Also in the studio for the second performance were; The Buzzcocks, Elton John, Heatwave, Dean Friedman and Child. David Jensen was again the host
Waldo – are you suggesting that wearing pyjamas and playing candelabra saxophones represents a “challenging look”?
Not in my book – it’s just silliness like Steve Priest’s German helmet, Alvin Stardust’s glove, or Ron Mael’s moustache. It’s what you’ll be remembered for, no matter the quality of your musical output.
That’s a long gap between performances when you think about it, #39…
They did repeat the first one several times before The Boomtown Rats returned to the studio again.
I think this is the earliest of the three most recent #1 singles I cannot hear in my head at all. Damning indeed.
vinylscot # 40 – The short answer to your question is yes. The Rats’ look was clearly challenging and indeed clearly challenged you or you would not have mentioned it and you and I would not now be debating it. Furthermore, I’m sure you’ll agree that what may appear “silly” in your own book may, indeed would, not appear in those of others.
Will have to join you with regards Alvin’s glove, though. What the fuck was that all about?
OK, truce Waldo! Not sure I entirely agree with you, but don’t think it’s worth quarreling over minor semantics.
Indeed. Peace, brother.
Oh, Waldo! You so nearly passed Level 1 of the Stuart Maconie Test with post #44…if only you’d remembered to add the words “Eh? Eh?” at the end!
The Bachelors, Dana, and the Boomtown Rats: any other Irish Number Ones thus far?
Was it punk? Or new wave? Or Tesco Value Springsteen? Personally speaking, I didn’t give a toss then and still don’t give a toss now. What I do remember is that they were the first group to get to Number One in bloody ages that I could relate to, ie – they were a bit scruffy and looked like an older version of the sort of numpty I was aged 9.
To these young ears, Geldof and co just sounded like nothing more than a good pop band. I’ve never understood the antipathy that’s been directed towards them either.
I don’t have much to say about this song other than it’s the fourth best UK chart hit with the word ‘rat’ in the title.