The Boomtown Rats discography

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Studio albums7
EPs1
Live albums4
Compilation albums7
The Boomtown Rats discography
The band at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1981
Studio albums7
EPs1
Live albums4
Compilation albums7
Singles23
Video albums3

The discography of Irish new wave group The Boomtown Rats consists of seven studio albums, seven compilation albums, 23 singles and three video albums. The Boomtown Rats' debut release was the 1977 single "Lookin' After No. 1" which was originally written by frontman Bob Geldof in 1975 while waiting for his local unemployment office to open in his native Dun Laoghaire then a major port an hour south of central Dublin. The group's next single "Mary of the 4th Form" was released in the same year, along with their self-titled debut album.

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
AUS
[1]
AUT
[2]
CAN
[3]
GER
[4]
NED
[5]
NZ
[6]
NOR
[7]
SWE
[8]
UK
[9]
US
[10]
The Boomtown Rats
  • Released: September 1977
  • Label: Ensign
18
A Tonic for the Troops
  • Released: June 1978
  • Label: Ensign
95 25 8 112
The Fine Art of Surfacing
  • Released: October 1979
  • Label: Ensign
11 6 35 33 10 7 10 7 73
Mondo Bongo
  • Released: January 1981
  • Label: Mercury
24 19 22 16 50 17 5 6 116
V Deep
  • Released: March 1982
  • Label: Mercury
37 27 64 103
In the Long Grass
  • Released: May 1984
  • Label: Mercury
80 188
Citizens of Boomtown
  • Released: March 2020
  • Label: BMG
73 41 48
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Live albums

Title Album details
Live in the UK 2013, Dublin
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Concert Live
Live in the UK 2013, London
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Concert Live
Rewind Festival - Aug 17 2014
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: Concert Live
Live Germany 78
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Let Them Eat Vinyl

Compilation albums

Title Album details Peak chart
positions
Certifications
IRE
[13]
SCO
[14]
UK
[9]
Ratrospective
The Boomtown Rats' Greatest Hits
  • Released: 1987
  • Label: Columbia
Loudmouth
  • Released: 27 June 1994
  • Label: Vertigo
33 10
The Best of
The Boomtown Rats
75 41 43
20th Century Masters:
The Best of The Boomtown Rats -
Millennium Collection
  • Released: 2005
  • Label: Mercury
Back to Boomtown:
Classic Rats Hits
35
So Modern –
The Boomtown Rats Collection
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: Spectrum Audio
Dawn of the Rats: B-Sides, Demos and Live 1975-1979
  • Released: 12 April 2025
  • Label: Universal
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

EPs

Title Album details
Ratlife
  • 1. "The Boomtown Rats" (5:14)
  • 2. "Back to Boomtown (The Remix)" (4:05)
  • 3. "Ratlife" (4:49)
  • 4. "Ratified" (4:12)
  • Released: 21 October 2013 [15]
  • Label: Mercury

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
IRE
[16]
AUS
[17]
CAN
[18]
GER
[19]
NED
[20]
NZ
[21]
NOR
[22]
SWE
[23]
UK
[9]
US
[24]
1977 "Lookin' After No. 1" 2 11 The Boomtown Rats
"Mary of the 4th Form" 12 15
1978 "She's So Modern" 10 12 A Tonic for the Troops
"Like Clockwork" 5 6
"Rat Trap" 2 94 1
1979 "I Don't Like Mondays" 1 1 4 6 2 3 3 2 1 73 The Fine Art of Surfacing
"Diamond Smiles" 3 42 42 13
1980 "Someone's Looking at You" 2 86 48 6 4
"Banana Republic" 3 18 47 3 35 3 7 3 Mondo Bongo
1981 "The Elephants Graveyard (Guilty)" 7 26
"Go Man Go"
"Up All Night" 38 V Deep
"Never in a Million Years" 62
1982 "House on Fire" 19 67 24
"Charmed Lives"
1984 "Tonight" 73 In the Long Grass
"Drag Me Down" 50
"Dave" 81
1985 "A Hold of Me" 78
1994 "I Don't Like Mondays" (re-issue) 38 Loudmouth
2020 "Trash Glam Baby"[25] Citizens of Boomtown
"There's No Tomorrow Like Today"[26]
"Here's a Postcard (Hot Mix)"[27]
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Videography

References

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