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The Boomtown Rats

Rock music

Punk rock

New wave

Originally called Nightlife Thugs, the band changed their name to Boomtown Rats after a reference in Woody Guthrie's book 'Bound for Glory', and caused a stir with their abrasive punk and the caustic arrogance of singer Bob Geldof - a former NME rock writer. The Rats moved to London and hit it big in 1977 with their first single 'Looking After No. 1' - the first of nine straight top 40 UK singles - which also included 'Like Clockwork', 'She's So Modern', 'Someone's Looking at You', and 'Rat Trap' which was the first single by an Irish band to reach number one in the UK. It w...