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I have been wondering lately what people think are the finest moments for each member of the Rats?
Do you think Fingers finest came in Mondays, Simon's on Fall Down, what was Garry's best. Have to amit when i listen to his short solo piece on Bitter End it makes me think how underated a guitar player he was.
Difficult to pick best moments for Pete, maybe Banana Republic? And how about Bob, Rat Trap, Joey perhaps?
Will be interesting to hear what you all think the moments they shone were.
Off the top of my head I'd say my immediate recollections of individuals would be:-
Bob - fist in the air in middle of Mondays at Live Aid, candleabra on TOTP, ripping Grease poster on TOTP, or performance in Rat Trap generally (with emphasis on performance as he almost acted out the words).
Gerry - break in the middle of Me and Howard Hughes
Simon - Opening to Looking After Number One
Pete - There's a bass bit about halfway through Dave that I can't easily describe but that always gets me, but overall and more memorable to most I'd say the image of him getting up close to one of the others (usually Bob) on stage and almost nestling underneath them whilst both playing and looking upwards at them. Always seemed to be open mouthed and looking a bit vacant as he did so.
Fingers - Anytime he managed to get a word in when on things like Swap Shop with Bob (did any of the others ever make an appearance on TV interviews??), or musically either for Mondays or Eva Braun (personal fave)
Garry - For his exchanges with Bob at start of Dun Laoghaire, or musically for Close As You'll Ever Be.
There are too many good songs including relatively obscure b sides to pick out individual playing moments.
In terms of images that stick or seem iconic most are group images like the end of the Diamond Smiles video when they are sitting on the stairs with the confetti raining down- a top of the world ma type moment- and always sticks with me.
Obvioulsy the Rat Trap performance on TOTP when they tore up the picture of John Travolta and ONJ. I always imagine them in that kitchen in Sandycove deciding to form a band and all that that entails- making a fool of yourself, giving up college or normal jobs, setting yourself up for a lot of criticism- and then ending up at number one in Britain, proving everyone in Ireland wrong. All this happened to neatly coincide with me becoming a music fan- so the Rats were the template against which I judged all other bands- and still do to a large degree!
Live Aid must have been good- but I just get the impression that the band may have felt a bit out of place, except Bob. Despite the great songs they had not had a hit for a number of years and were suddenly mixing with hardly kindred spirits like Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran and Wham. In fairness most people would not begrudge the Rats turning up.
Suss - I think the Geldof Briquette thing was partly inspired by Dr Feelgood when Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson did similar onstage antics- Briquette taking the part of Johnson.
Always find the video for Banana Republic very iconic as well. May need to think about individual playing on tracks a bit more because there is so much to choose from.
-- Edited by noelindublin on Wednesday 27th of April 2011 02:07:58 PM
Off the top of my head I'd say my immediate recollections of individuals would be:-
Bob - fist in the air in middle of Mondays at Live Aid, candleabra on TOTP, ripping Grease poster on TOTP, or performance in Rat Trap generally (with emphasis on performance as he almost acted out the words).
Gerry - break in the middle of Me and Howard Hughes
Simon - Opening to Looking After Number One
Pete - There's a bass bit about halfway through Dave that I can't easily describe but that always gets me, but overall and more memorable to most I'd say the image of him getting up close to one of the others (usually Bob) on stage and almost nestling underneath them whilst both playing and looking upwards at them. Always seemed to be open mouthed and looking a bit vacant as he did so.
Fingers - Anytime he managed to get a word in when on things like Swap Shop with Bob (did any of the others ever make an appearance on TV interviews??), or musically either for Mondays or Eva Braun (personal fave)
Garry - For his exchanges with Bob at start of Dun Laoghaire, or musically for Close As You'll Ever Be.
Having listened to a programme on Saturday morning on Radio 4 about the importance of guitar riffs and guitar playing in general I got to thinking about how the Rats lined up guitar wise. Wasn't Gary on lead guitar and Gerry Cott on rhythm guitar?
Watching Gary play on the Wytheleaf DVD was a real eye opener- but there are so many good parts its hard to just pick out one. Not sure if Gary would consider asking Bob how to spell Dun laoghaire in a spoof Dublin working class accent ranks as a career highlight but it always makes me laugh. Irish class humour!
I'm no musician but I always though Garry was the rhythm one whilst Gerry got the stage front lead stuff. Happy to be corrected though.
Either way, don't think there's any dispute Garry proved himself more than capable once on his own. The current Rats seem,as far as I can recall, to share the prominent guitar bits (says someone on very shaky ground when it comes to commenting on anything musical).
I'm going to have to study DVDs old and new now. Just realised (only taken 30 odd years) that I've never taken too much notice of which guitarist got/gets which bits, so could never swear that was def Gerry or that was def Garry or that was def Darren.
I'm no musician but I always though Garry was the rhythm one whilst Gerry got the stage front lead stuff. Happy to be corrected though.
Either way, don't think there's any dispute Garry proved himself more than capable once on his own. The current Rats seem,as far as I can recall, to share the prominent guitar bits (says someone on very shaky ground when it comes to commenting on anything musical).
I'm going to have to study DVDs old and new now. Just realised (only taken 30 odd years) that I've never taken too much notice of which guitarist got/gets which bits, so could never swear that was def Gerry or that was def Garry or that was def Darren.
Suss you may be correct about Gerry Cott being the lead guitarist. I'm like you- just taking a non musicians overview of the whole thing. I only started noticing on the Whyteleaf DVD, watching which familiar bits of songs Gary was playing and which parts were being played by Darren. Wonder who plays the riff/break on Hurt Hurts?
Obviously Gerry Cott played the Spanish guitar type intro to When The Night Comes. Should really get a list of prominent guitar breaks/ motifs and query who plays on them? Some of the more technically/musically minded might be able to help. Its probably a good idea to study/watch the old DVD's - the bits where Geldof is not hogging the limelight, which admittedly are not too many.
-- Edited by noelindublin on Monday 16th of May 2011 01:47:34 PM
Well Garry clearly can play it, as song was used on ITLG tour as a means to introduce band members just before that break (one of my favourite bits of Rats guitar incidentally), but if I had to guess for original recording I'd always plump for Gerry, if only because my memory tells me he always seemed to get the more 'sexy' bits when he was around. Again, could be way out with this supposition.
Likewise the bit in middle of She's So Modern (which was very possibly the 20 seconds or so that completely sold the Rats to me) I've always assumed was Gerry. Really must check the videos/DVDs.
Talking of that She's So Modern 'epiphany', I'd watched and listened with interest for first two singles but not shelled out, but decided I really was a fan at that moment.
So, in a twist on this thread, what was 'the' moment for others? Can't believe everyone got Looking After No 1 and everything chronologically thereafter. I recall buying She's So Modern, then Tonic for the Troops, then first album about a week later, then Rat Trap, then all new stuff thereafter whilst filling in missing first two singles and Clockwork somewhere along the way. Also vividly recall parting with £10 (about 3 weeks paper round wages!) for a 12" Looking After No 1 from the guy who ran Cloake's records in Croydon (his own copy). Saw me coming....
One of my moments of epiphany is seeing the Rats on a tv performance after having only heard some of the songs, namely the Tonic For The Troops album and a few singles. The music did appeal to me, but it was seeing how electrifying the band was in live performance that really made me take notice.
It was in Geldof's stripey shirt era around 1977/78 best exemplified by the performance of Do The Rat at the Musikladen extra on Youtube. I'm nearly certain a full concert was shown on Irish tv of a indoor performance with Geldof in his black and white striped shirt but subsequently I've never come across a full concert of this vintage and have always wondered if I was dreaming or not! By the way does anybody know if the Rats recorded other songs at the Musikladen in 1977. I can only find Do The Rat but it seems very likely that they did one or two other numbers, but no information is readily available.
Yeah I got the early records in jumbled order too. One thing was for certain, I wanted to hear everything they recorded pretty soon- and they were the only band I fully collected- out of sheer devotion. Bits of my Jam and XTC collections might be missing but never the Rats!
For me it was the first time I heard/saw Rat Trap on TOTP - that was the first time music of any type really meant anything to me. Prior to that moment every break at junior school I'd be kicking a football around, but all that stopped for a couple of days when breaktime became filled by demented air-saxophone solos humming Rat Trap, not just by me but by what seemed like half the footie team. Thankfully things returned to normal after those couple of days and my school shoes became scuffed once more from playing the beautiful game. But that musical seed had been planted and I've been along for the ride ever since on the long and winding road that is the Rats and Geldof.
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salutiamo gli amici, il vecchio Bob e le ragazze, sollevando il bicchiere dell' addio
So, in a twist on this thread, what was 'the' moment for others?
That is difficult to pin down as I don't remember the first time I heard them. Like Clockwork was the single that brought them to my attention, and I remember buying it in the green Ensign cover. I bought Rat Trap in a picture cover and also A Tonic for the Troops, but by then I was obviously hooked. I suspect I got the single first but cannot be 100% sure. I remember trying to get tickets for their Rainbow gig, which were sold out.
Probably the moment would have been seeing them on Rock Goes To College, but I must have liked them a fair amount before that because I doubt I would have watched it otherwise. I also remember seing them on Revolver as well.
Never saw them on TOTP as I always went out on Thursday nights. I say never but oddly I did catch them when they got to number one and ripped up the Travolta picture.
It's funny with the TOTP repeats showing on BBC 4 at the moment from 1976, as my wife tells me she remembers them, whereas for me it is a total blank. I don't think I watched TOTP from 1974 onwards. It wasn't that I was too cool for it, it was just I was never in. Looking at the re-runs I think it was for the best!
Nov '78 for me and again the sheer popularity of the band amongst 12/13 year olds. Sax solo imitations (yes, lots at our school did that!) and then quite a few of us getting Rat Trap as a Christmas present. The slow crawl of the song to number one was amazingly exciting (the charts meant something then) and by Christmas me and most of my mates had learned all the lyrics off by heart. Why did I not do this with schoolwork?!
I then spent the next 6 months catching up on all the previous Rats work and that was that, the start of an obsession which by Aug '79 was beginning to worry my parents! My mother learnt all the words to Mondays involuntarily. My older brother in law took me to the Assembly Rooms in Derby in '81 on the Bongos over Britain tour and I amost passed out with excitement.
Nov '78 for me and again the sheer popularity of the band amongst 12/13 year olds. Sax solo imitations (yes, lots at our school did that!) and then quite a few of us getting Rat Trap as a Christmas present. The slow crawl of the song to number one was amazingly exciting (the charts meant something then) and by Christmas me and most of my mates had learned all the lyrics off by heart. Why did I not do this with schoolwork?!
I then spent the next 6 months catching up on all the previous Rats work and that was that, the start of an obsession which by Aug '79 was beginning to worry my parents! My mother learnt all the words to Mondays involuntarily. My older brother in law took me to the Assembly Rooms in Derby in '81 on the Bongos over Britain tour and I amost passed out with excitement.
I would not have changed it for the world.
So many parallel lives...
I discovered the Rats with Clockwork and saw them first on the surfacing tour, but substitute your mum learning the words involuntarily for my sister and it's more or less the same story.
