A Tonic for the Troops

A Tonic for the Troops is the second album by Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, released in June 1978.[2]

A Tonic for the Troops
Studio album by
The Boomtown Rats
ReleasedJune 1978 (1978-06)
Recorded1978
StudioRelight (Netherlands)
GenreNew wave, art punk, pop punk[1]
Label
Producer
The Boomtown Rats chronology
The Boomtown Rats
(1977)		 A Tonic for the Troops
(1978)		 The Fine Art of Surfacing
(1979)

A Tonic for the Troops peaked at No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart in 1978.[3] The album included the singles "She's So Modern", "Like Clockwork" and "Rat Trap".[2] "She's So Modern" reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] The most commercially successful track on the album was "Rat Trap", which made it to Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart.[3]

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 ever written." The lyrics of other songs discussed suicide ("Living in an Island") and euthanasia ("Can't Stop").[2]

The album's title was taken from a line in "She's So Modern": "And Charlie ain't no Nazi/ she likes to wear her leather boots/ 'cuz it's exciting for the veterans/ 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
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
The Irish Times[5]
Mojo[6]
Uncut[7]

Rolling Stone 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."[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was more positive, remarking that while the album "does turn rather campy at times... it will certainly do."[4] 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."[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Geldof except where indicated.

LP British version

SIDE 1

  1. "Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe)
  2. "Blind Date"
  3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"[lower-alpha 1]
  4. "Living in an Island"
  5. "Don't Believe What You Read"

SIDE 2

  1. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers)
  2. "Me and Howard Hughes"[lower-alpha 2]
  3. "Can't Stop"
  4. "(Watch Out For) The Normal People"
  5. "Rat Trap"[2]

CD British version
  1. "Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe)
  2. "Blind Date"
  3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"
  4. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers) (Track 6 – 1 on Side 2 – on the European version)
  5. "Don't Believe What You Read"
  6. "Living in an Island"
  7. "Me and Howard Hughes"
  8. "Can't Stop"
  9. "(Watch Out For) The Normal People"
  10. "Rat Trap"
  11. "Lying Again" (CD bonus track)
  12. "How Do You Do?" (CD bonus track)
  13. "So Strange" (CD bonus track)[2]

American LP version

SIDE 1

  1. "Rat Trap"
  2. "Me and Howard Hughes"
  3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"
  4. "Living in an Island"
  5. "Like Clockwork" (Geldof, Briquette, Crowe)

SIDE 2

  1. "Blind Date"
  2. "Mary of the 4th Form" (a re-recorded version of the original found on their first LP The Boomtown Rats)
  3. "Don't Believe What You Read"
  4. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Fingers)
  5. "Joey's on the Street Again" (from The Boomtown Rats)

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes[9] and AllMusic.[10]

The Boomtown Rats

Additional musicians

  • Alan Holmes – saxophone[11]

Technical

  • The Boomtown Rats – production
  • Stuff Brown – engineering
  • Fin Costello – photography
  • Chalkie Davies – photography
  • Tim Friese-Greene – engineering
  • Hothouse – artwork, design
  • Chuck Loyola – painting
  • Robert John "Mutt" Lange – production

Charts
Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[12] 95
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 25
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 8
US Billboard 200[15] 112

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Footnotes
  1. Eva Braun (1912–1945) was Adolf Hitler's longtime companion and, during the 40 hours before they committed suicide together, his wife.
  2. Howard Hughes (1905–1976) was an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, film director, and philanthropist, and in his later years a recluse.

References
  1. "A Tonic For The Troops (24/100 Greatest Irish Albums)". Hot Press. 17 November 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  2. Ruhlmann, William. "A Tonic for the Troops – The Boomtown Rats". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  3. Roberts, David, ed. (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 71. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 22 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Boyd, Brian (11 February 2005). "Reissues". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  6. "The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic for the Troops". Mojo. p. 114. Full of smart, acerbic, punky pop sounds...
  7. "The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic for the Troops". Uncut. p. 116. [B]oasting Geldof's most finely tuned lyrics and their best tunes.
  8. Carson, Tom (5 April 1979). "The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic For The Troops". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  9. A Tonic for the Troops (liner notes). The Boomtown Rats. Ensign Records. 1978. ENVY 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. "A Tonic for the Troops – The Boomtown Rats | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  11. "Mr Alan Holmes". musicteachers.co.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Australian Chart Book. p. 42. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. "Charts.nz – The Boomtown Rats – A Tonic for the Troops". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  14. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  15. "Billboard 200". Billboard. 20 April 1979. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  16. "British album certifications – The Boomtown Rats – A Tonic for the Troops". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
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