I Don't Like Mondays

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"I Don't Like Mondays"
I Don't Like Mondays single cover.jpg
Single by the Boomtown Rats
from the album The Fine Art of Surfacing
B-side "It's All the Rage"
Released13 July 1979 (UK) [1]
October 1979 (US) [2]
Recorded Trident Studios
Genre
Length4:19 (LP)
3:47 (single/video)
Label Ensign (UK)
Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s) Bob Geldof, Johnnie Fingers
Producer(s) Phil Wainman
The Boomtown Rats singles chronology
"Rat Trap"
(1978)		"I Don't Like Mondays"
(1979)		"Diamond Smiles"
(1979)
Music video
"I Don't Like Mondays" on YouTube

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [41] Gold75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [42] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Live performances

On 9 September 1981, Geldof was joined on stage by fellow Boomtown Rat Johnnie Fingers to perform the song for The Secret Policeman's Ball sponsored by Amnesty International. A recording of that performance appears on the 1982 album The Secret Policeman's Other Ball .

The Boomtown Rats performed the song for Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985. This was the band's final major appearance. On singing the line, "And the lesson today is how to die", Geldof paused for 20 seconds while the crowd applauded the significance to those starving in Africa that Live Aid was intended to help.

At a concert in London in 1995, almost ten years later to the day, Bon Jovi covered the song after being joined on stage by Geldof at Wembley Stadium. This recorded performance features on Bon Jovi's live album One Wild Night Live 1985–2001 , as well as on the bonus 2-CD edition of These Days . Bon Jovi was again joined by Geldof for a performance of the song at The O2 Arena on 23 June 2010, the 10th night of their 12-night residency.

Bob Geldof performed the song solo at Live 8 in 2005. Using much of the musical equipment used by rock band Travis, who had just left the stage, Geldof decided on the "spur of the moment" to perform the song. His performance included the mid-song "how to die" pause famously added during Live Aid.

Cover versions

"I Don't Like Mondays" was subsequently covered by Tori Amos on her 2001 album Strange Little Girls and later by G4 on their 2006 album Act Three .

Music video

A music video directed by David Mallet was used to promote the song. The video begins with the Boomtown Rats performing in a choir with children in the pews miming the chorus ("Tell Me Why?"). It then cuts to a family living room with the daughter just coming back from school but here the chorus is mimed by the other three band members to lead singer Bob Geldof. It then transitions to a soft piano fill with Geldof in front of a white background wearing sunglasses singing the final verse of the single version. After the line "And the lesson today is how to die" a series of jump cuts of Geldof quickly appear before he sings the last few lines. Afterwards the final chorus is presented this time mimed with the same children from the beginning. The clip ends with the Boomtown Rats looking at a chroma key image of the house in a grassy plain from the video's opening image.

See also

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References

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