A Tonic for the Troops
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''A Tonic for the Troops'' is the second album by Irish rock band
The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...
, released in June 1978. ''A Tonic for the Troops'' peaked at No. 8 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
in 1978. The album included the singles " She's So Modern", " Like Clockwork" and "
Rat Trap A rat trap is a trap designed to catch rats. Designs are often larger variations on mousetraps. Types of traps Spring traps for large rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are character ...
". "She's So Modern" reached number 12 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The most commercially successful track on the album was "Rat Trap", which made it to Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart.


Background

The album featured dark themes in an often upbeat, pop-punk style. One of the album's tracks, "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun", was described by one critic as "the happiest, cheeriest, best upbeat song about
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
ever written." The lyrics of other songs discussed suicide ("Living in an Island") and euthanasia ("Can't Stop"). The album's title was taken from a line in "She's So Modern": "And Charlie ain't no
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
/ she likes to wear her leather boots/ 'cuz it's exciting for the
veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...
/ and it's a tonic for the troops." "Rat Trap" was the final cut on the UK version of the album but the opening track on the US version.


Reception

''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' critic Tom Carson described ''A Tonic for the Troops'' as "an inventive and melodically forceful piece of work, glossily ingratiating all the way", but also found the band "far too impressed by their own wit to be particularly incisive or convincing musically." Robert Christgau of ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' was more positive, remarking that while the album "does turn rather campy at times... it will certainly do." He concluded: "I'll take a good calculating song about Adolf Hitler over an ordinary calculating song about the perils of romance any day, and if you're heading your music toward the rock mainstream, wit and flash don't hurt."


Track listing

All songs written by Bob Geldof except where indicated.


LP British version

SIDE 1 # " Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe) # "Blind Date" # "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun" # "Living in an Island" # "Don't Believe What You Read" SIDE 2 # " She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers) # "Me and Howard Hughes" # "Can't Stop" # "(Watch Out For) The Normal People" # "
Rat Trap A rat trap is a trap designed to catch rats. Designs are often larger variations on mousetraps. Types of traps Spring traps for large rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are character ...
"


CD British version

# " Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe) # "Blind Date" # "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun" # " She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers) (Track 6 – 1 on Side 2 – on the European version) # "Don't Believe What You Read" # "Living in an Island" # "Me and Howard Hughes" # "Can't Stop" # "(Watch Out For) The Normal People" # "
Rat Trap A rat trap is a trap designed to catch rats. Designs are often larger variations on mousetraps. Types of traps Spring traps for large rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are character ...
" # "Lying Again" (CD bonus track) # "How Do You Do?" (CD bonus track) # "So Strange" (CD bonus track)


American LP version

SIDE 1 # "Rat Trap" # "Me and Howard Hughes" # "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun" # "Living in an Island" # "Like Clockwork" (Geldof, Briquette, Crowe) SIDE 2 # "Blind Date" # "Mary of the 4th Form" (a re-recorded version of the original found on their first LP ''
The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...
'') # "Don't Believe What You Read" # "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Fingers) # "Joey's on the Street Again" (from ''The Boomtown Rats'')


Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes and AllMusic. The Boomtown Rats * Bob Geldof – vocals, saxophone * Pete Briquette – bass, vocals * Gerry Cott – guitar * Johnnie Fingers – keyboards, vocals * Simon Crowe – drums, vocals * Garry Roberts – guitar, vocals Additional musicians * Alan Holmes – saxophone Technical * The Boomtown Rats – production * Stuff Brown – engineering * Fin Costello – photography * Chalkie Davies – photography *
Tim Friese-Greene Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. He worked with the band Talk Talk from 1983 to their breakup in 1991. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland". He is the grandson of filmmaker Claude Friese-Gre ...
 – engineering * Hothouse – artwork, design * Chuck Loyola – painting *
Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...
 – production


Charts


Certifications


Footnotes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonic for the Troops, A 1978 albums The Boomtown Rats albums Albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange