"Banana Republic" was the first single from The Boomtown Rats' album ''

Mondo Bongo ''Mondo Bongo'' was the Boomtown Rats' fourth album. It peaked at No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1981, and No. 116 in the US ''Billboard'' 200. This is the band's last album to be recorded as six-piece band, as the guitarist Gerry C ...

''. It peaked at number three in 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 ...

. Breaking from the band's previous new wave sound, the song opens with a ska-

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

hook (that repeats at the close of the much longer album version). However, the song itself is a more mainstream piece musically. The ' banana republic' which the song describes is actually a deliberately scathing portrait of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, the band's country of origin, and was written in response to the band being banned from performing there. This in turn was reputedly because of

Geldof Geldof is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bob Geldof (born 1951), Irish singer, songwriter, author, and political activist * Peaches Geldof (1989-2014), British model and presenter and journalist, daughter of Bob Geldof * Pi ...

's "denunciation of nationalism,

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

-minded clerics and corrupt politicians" in a memorably controversial 1977 interview/performance on Ireland's ''

The Late Late Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' with

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of ''The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Late ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control The Boomtown Rats songs 1980 singles Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Songs about Ireland 1980 songs Ensign Records singles Columbia Records singles Songs written by Pete Briquette The Late Late Show (Irish talk show)