| The Boomtown Rats discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 7 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Live albums | 4 |
| Compilation albums | 7 |
| Singles | 23 |
| Video albums | 3 |
The discography of Irish new wave group The Boomtown Rats consists of seven studio albums, seven compilation albums, 23 singles and three video albums. The Boomtown Rats' debut release was the 1977 single "Lookin' After No. 1" which was originally written by frontman Bob Geldof in 1975 while waiting for his local unemployment office to open in his native Dun Laoghaire then a major port an hour south of central Dublin. The group's next single "Mary of the 4th Form" was released in the same year, along with their self-titled debut album.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [1] | AUT [2] | CAN [3] | GER [4] | NED [5] | NZ [6] | NOR [7] | SWE [8] | UK [9] | US [10] | |||||
| The Boomtown Rats |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | |||
| A Tonic for the Troops |
| 95 | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | 8 | 112 |
| ||
| The Fine Art of Surfacing |
| 11 | — | 6 | 35 | 33 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 73 | |||
| Mondo Bongo |
| 24 | 19 | 22 | 16 | — | 50 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 116 |
| ||
| V Deep |
| — | — | 37 | — | — | — | 27 | — | 64 | 103 | |||
| In the Long Grass |
| — | — | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 188 | |||
| Citizens of Boomtown |
| — | 73 | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | 48 | — | |||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Live in the UK 2013, Dublin |
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| Live in the UK 2013, London |
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| Rewind Festival - Aug 17 2014 |
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| Live Germany 78 |
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| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRE [13] | SCO [14] | UK [9] | ||||||||||||
| Ratrospective |
| — | — | — | ||||||||||
| The Boomtown Rats' Greatest Hits |
| — | — | — | ||||||||||
| Loudmouth |
| — | 33 | 10 | ||||||||||
| The Best of The Boomtown Rats |
| 75 | 41 | 43 |
| |||||||||
| 20th Century Masters: The Best of The Boomtown Rats - Millennium Collection |
| — | — | — | ||||||||||
| Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits |
| 35 | — | — | ||||||||||
| So Modern – The Boomtown Rats Collection |
| — | — | — | ||||||||||
| Dawn of the Rats: B-Sides, Demos and Live 1975-1979 |
| — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
Ratlife
|
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRE [16] | AUS [17] | CAN [18] | GER [19] | NED [20] | NZ [21] | NOR [22] | SWE [23] | UK [9] | US [24] | |||||
| 1977 | "Lookin' After No. 1" | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | The Boomtown Rats | ||
| "Mary of the 4th Form" | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | — | ||||
| 1978 | "She's So Modern" | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | A Tonic for the Troops | ||
| "Like Clockwork" | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — |
| |||
| "Rat Trap" | 2 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| |||
| 1979 | "I Don't Like Mondays" | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 73 | The Fine Art of Surfacing | ||
| "Diamond Smiles" | 3 | 42 | — | — | 42 | — | — | — | 13 | — | ||||
| 1980 | "Someone's Looking at You" | 2 | — | 86 | — | 48 | — | 6 | — | 4 | — | |||
| "Banana Republic" | 3 | 18 | 47 | 3 | 35 | — | 3 | 7 | 3 | — |
| Mondo Bongo | ||
| 1981 | "The Elephants Graveyard (Guilty)" | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | — | |||
| "Go Man Go" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Up All Night" | — | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | V Deep | |||
| "Never in a Million Years" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 62 | — | ||||
| 1982 | "House on Fire" | 19 | — | — | 67 | — | — | — | — | 24 | — | |||
| "Charmed Lives" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | "Tonight" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 73 | — | In the Long Grass | ||
| "Drag Me Down" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 50 | — | ||||
| "Dave" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 81 | — | ||||
| 1985 | "A Hold of Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 78 | — | |||
| 1994 | "I Don't Like Mondays" (re-issue) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | — | Loudmouth | ||
| 2020 | "Trash Glam Baby" [25] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Citizens of Boomtown | ||
| "There's No Tomorrow Like Today" [26] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Here's a Postcard (Hot Mix)" [27] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Boomtown Rats on Film 1976–1986: Someone's Looking At You |
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| Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1978 |
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| On a Night Like This |
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| Live in Germany '78 (DVD/CD) |
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| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Rat Trap" | 1978 | David Mallet [28] [29] |
| "I Don't Like Mondays" | 1979 | |
| "Diamond Smiles" | ||
| "Up All Night" [30] | 1981 | Unknown |
| "Never in a Million Years" | 1982 | David Mallet |
| "Drag Me Down" | 1984 | Nigel Dick [31] |
| "Dave" | ||
| "Tonight" | Mike Brady |