Recently I digitized an old cassette radio interview from 1984 . BP Fallon talks to Bob and Johnnie about 'new' Rats single Dave and what the band has been doing . It's a great insight into how Geldof was trying to hold the whole thing together just before In The Long Grass was released. Really passionate stuff that hasn't appeared online since the original interview. Interview is about 24 minutes edit of a full hour that went on to talk about the Band Aid single and Ethiopian Famine.
Anyone interested I can email the interview ,just let me know by pm if possible or I can give you my email. Interview originally aired on RtE Radio 2 when Beep used to interview all the stars!
Hello Noel....really appreciate you taking time to digitise these old interviews and sharing them with us....love it if you'd keep offering any other interviews you have.
I've said it before.....that i love Dave. I'd love to hear the band play it live at one of their gigs 👍👍
Hi, Noel! I'm answering your question here since I'm typing on my low~end Nokia while I wait for the new charger to arrive for my high~end Nokia & for some reason my low~end one won't let me reply other than to the main post! So, about "Dave"...WZBC played the full~fledged "Dave", as did the main radio station I listened to (no longer exists) the Phoenix, which belonged to the alternative newspaper, the Boston Phoenix. I, in fact, never even heard "Rain" (which I love, too!) until the Boomtown Rats racing ahead of even the Rolling Stones for me with the release of "Citizens Of Boomtown". I love "Rain" but I wish they hadn't had to release it because the song is at its greatest power when you hear it being addressed to the person it was written for. "Dave" is truly one of those amazing songs that can save a life with its encouraging repeating of "Keep going, keep going!" It's so inspirational despite the deeply sad topic & from the very first early morning I heard it, I immediately got swept up in its dramatic sound! Thank you so much for sending this to me, Noel ~ hearing Bob talk about it was deeply inspirational, too.
Hi, Noel! I would love to listen to this! I LOVE "Dave"! I used to hear "Dave" on the Boston College radio station (where I'm from originally), WZBC, very early in the morning when I was getting ready for high school. There was something about hearing it early in the morning when the world was so dark & still that made it especially dramatic ~ it's dramatic however & wherever you hear it, though, and I would love to hear everything that Bob & Johnnie have to say! You can email it to me at:
JenniferDanielleLondon@outlook.com
Thank you so much, Noel! I hope you'll have a nice afternoon!
I have just listened to this and it’s excellent in content and quality. Particularly interesting when you consider what then happened next, which pretty much goes against what Bob says in the interview. But it was also a time when perhaps everyone needed to step away for a while…………shame it was for 27 years!! Well worth a listen.
Thanks to Nick, Colin, Jules and Jennifer for your interest and Nick, Jules for your comments.