Geldof, Bob

Geldof, Bob, songwriter, lead vocalist, and performing focal point for the Boomtown Rats; b. Dun Langhaire, Ireland, Oct. 5, 1954. Spearheading interest in young Irish rock and subsumed under the label punk, the Boomtown Rats won substantial success in Britain and Europe in the late 1970s, but they were virtually ignored in the United States. Bob Geldof later endeavored to raise money for African famine relief, first with the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (purportedly the best- selling single ever in England), and later with the massive Live Aid concert staged in London and Philadelphia. Geldof’s efforts reawakened the music scene to social concerns and served as an inspiration for other musical benefits such as Farm Aid. Bob Geldof launched a solo career in the late 1980s that fared little better than that of the Boomtown Rats.

Bob Geldof formed the Nightlife Thugs in 1975 after a stint as music reporter and editor with the Georgia Straight in Vancouver, British Columbia. The group soon evolved into the Boomtown Rats, with Geldof, Gerry Cott, Garry Roberts, Johnnie Fingers, Pete Briquette, and Simon Crowe. Establishing themselves in Ireland, the Boomtown Rats moved to London in 1976 and signed with Ensign Records. Conducting their first full-scale tour of England in 1977, the band recorded their debut album in Germany. “Looking After No. 1” became the first of a series of major British hits that included “She’s So Modern” and “Rat Trap,” from their second album, and the controversial “I Don’t Like Mondays,” their first and only (minor) American hit. With Geldof as songwriter and lead vocalist, the group garnered a reputation in Britain and Europe for their brash and cynical songs and arrogant stage presence. However, the group’s albums after A Tonic for the Troops were less well received, and their American record company, Columbia, dropped the band in late 1985, leading to their dissolution in 1986.

After viewing a BBC television documentary on the famine in Ethiopia in 1984, Bob Geldof contacted Midge Ure of Ultravox and began booking an array of British rock stars to record a single to raise money to remedy the situation. Recruiting Sting, Boy George, Phil Collins, and members of U2, Ultravox, and Duran Duran, among others, the assemblage recorded “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” written by Geldof and Ure, in November 1984. Released under the name Band Aid, the song became a major American hit and top British hit, selling more than seven million copies worldwide. The project inspired the adhoc group USA (United Support of Artists) for Africa in the United States, with superstars such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, Lionel Richie, and Tina Turner recording the top hit “We Are the World,” written by Jackson and Richie.

In 1985 Bob Geldof visited Africa and soon began organizing a huge simultaneous benefit concert linking London and Philadelphia. Staged on July 13, 1985, Live Aid was broadcast worldwide to an audience estimated to approach one billion viewers. Performers included Bob Dylan, Madonna, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, U2, The Who, Elvis Costello, and David Bowie. The concert ultimately raised more than $100 million for famine relief, a project overseen by Geldof for the next two years. He became an international celebrity, met with leaders of many nations, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1986 and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and 1987.

Never exploiting his fame for personal gain, Bob Geldof wrote his autobiography, Is That All?, published in 1986, and returned to music with his solo debut album, Deep in the Heart of Nowhere, and its minor American hit “This Is the World Calling.” He recorded a follow-up album two years later and then lay low for a while, returning to tour America for the first time in 12 years in support of 1993’s The Happy Club.

Discography

BOB GELDOF: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere (1986); The Happy Club (1993). THE BOOMTOW N RATS: The Boomtown Rats (1977); A Tonic for the Troops (1979); The Fine Art of Surfacing (1979); Mondo Bongo (1981); V Deep (1982); In the Long Grass (1984); Best (1977–1982) (1987).

—Brock Helander