B. Geldof-B. Rats ROCK STARS UK Top 40 Singles:

"Lookin' After No. 1" (1977) #11
"Mary of the 4th Form" (1977) #15
"She's So Modern" (1978) #12
"Like Clockwork" (1978) #6
"Rat Trap" (1978) #1
"I Don't Like Mondays" (1979) #1
"Diamond Smiles" (1979) #13
"Someone's Looking at You" (1980) #4
"Banana Republic" (1980) #3
"The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)" (1981) #26
"House on Fire" (1982) #24
"I Don't Like Mondays" <CD-single re-issue> (1994) #38

See also
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart

Hey we've all had a few hits - not a huge amount of royalties when you have to split it 5 ways... Bob's doing very well thank you and not thanks to his hits (some of which were terrific - She's So Modern was always my favourite).

Rat Trap I'd vote for. The Boomtown Rats were in fact very good. Geldof should never have gone down the Live Aid route. It's been a curse. Rock stars are meant to chuck TV's out of hotel bedroom windows and be outrageous...not be concerned about world affairs. When Sting started caring about fooking trees he lost it. Ditto John Lennon etc'.... Just do what we want you to do. Keith Moon had it sussed...died terribly young...but what a life!! A proper rock star. Nowadays we have Chris 'interesting' Martin...

Funnily enough I used to quite like a few of their singles but these days I genuinely can't stand Bob's voice. Same recordings, completely different reaction. Strange how one's tastes - or hearing - changes! I also saw an old clip recently of him singing in a Secret Policeman's Ball concert and he was dire live.

Loved the story in his autobiog of his sexual conquests of schoolgirls.

in 1978 The Boomtown Rats were one of the very best live rock acts in the country. Anyone who doubts that should watch their Hammesmith Odeon DVD and see what a charistmatic performer Geldof was in his prime - he owned the stage.

There is no doubt Bob Geldof's current fame has come mainly from his fund raising efforts but he was a genuine rock star for a couple of years at the end of the 70's. He is a very intelligent person who in common with a lot of other bright people gets bored easily and likes the challenge of doing different things. Before being in a band he was a music journalist and after Live Aid he made a lot of money from his autobiography.

I know a lot of people on this board seem to dislike Geldof and the work he has done for charity but without him a lot less money would have been raised. In an ideal world, people (or governments) would give directly to charities but we don't live in a perfect world and so celebrity endorsements are needed. Although telethons stated over 50 years ago in the US the motivation for Children in Need, Sports Relief etc in the UK came from Live Aid. To get media profile charities have to buy advertising but by combining appeals with entertainment this extra expense is avoided and more money can go to the charity, it is a true "win - win" situation.

Although Bob Geldof is the face of Live Aid the efforts of John Kennedy, Harvey Goldsmith and lots of other volunteers shouldn't be ignored. Some jealous people seem to suggest Bob Geldof is guilty of taking money from Live Aid as if it was some king of fund he has access to, the realty is very different. The fame Geldof earned helped him with other ventures but I can't see how it can be avoided unless he decided to become a charity worker for 100% of his time which he doesn't want to do and I can see no good reason why he should do so.

he's still a c*nt.

He may well be a c**t but he is someone whose life on this planet (through his charity work) has benefited millions of people. Band Aid may have made mistakes but without the efforts of Bob Geldof and a lots more individuals in the music, comedy and sports fields there would have been a lot more suffering and death in the last 25 years. Doing nothing was not an option in 1984 and still remains a bad choice today.

A lot of rock stars can appear as c**ts when met for the first time and in the wrong circumstances. Keith Moon certainly gave a good impression of a c**t when he was on a bender. In my experience a lot of rock stars exhibit boorish behaviour, unfortunately the excitement of the performance is never matched by the rest of the day.

After Band Aid and Live 8 Geldof is still raising money to help ease the impact of famine in Africa, &pound;200million of private equity funding in the last year is not too shabby.

www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/29/geldo...dUSL5E8DT9KX20120229

This private equity venture is designed to make a profit for the investors as well as helping with making positive structural changes in Africa. These efforts don't get as much publicity as the events which raise money directly from the public but they are just as important.

Wayne Jancik's book The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (Billboard Books, 1998) defines a one-hit wonder rather strictly, as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once."

He therefore includes such performers as Janis Joplin (for "Me and Bobby McGee") or Jimi Hendrix (for "All Along the Watchtower"), solely on the basis of their Top 40 performance.

I am sure he has done good works and I congratulate him on that.

I think other events give a truer insight into his character such as his meaness to Michael Hutchence just because he was with his ex-wife and then the way he banned Tiger Lily's grandparents from visiting her...it was sheer utter meaness to 2 people who were just ordinary people who had ten years of life left and were distraught at losing their son.

bizarre.

as for keith Moon..never met him except vicariously through Kit Lambert who was Moon on steroids !! (I'm sure JK would agree)