STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - THE BOOMTOWN RATS - THE FINE ART OF SURFACING

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Good morning record enthusiasts and welcome back ti the Thursday edition of Stuck In The Vinyl Again. Today we celebrate the 66th Birthday of Irish bassist Pete Briquette, best known for his work in Bob Geldof's new wave band, The Boomtown Rats. Happy Birthday Pete ! With him in mind, we spotlight their third studio recording, The Fine Art Of Surfacing. The LP was released in October of 1979 on the Columbia label. It was produced by   "Mutt" Lange, known for producing Def Leppard and divorcing Shania Twain, and Phil Wainman. It peaked at #103 on the Billboard 200 and #7 in the UK. The album's singles are : "Someone's Looking At You" (#2 Ireland, #4 UK),  "Diamond Smiles" (#13 UK), and "I Don't Like Mondays"  (#73 Hot 100, #1 UK, South Africa, Ireland, Australia) .  "I Don't Like Mondays" was inspired by a 1979 school shooting in San Diego, California , where the killer,  a 16 year old girl claimed said she went on the rampage because she didn't like Mondays ...

"Someone's Looking at You" – 4:22

"Diamond Smiles" – 3:49

"Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)" – 4:35

"Having My Picture Taken" (Geldof, Pete Briquette) – 3:18

"Sleep (Fingers' Lullaby)" (Johnnie Fingers) – 5:30

Side B

"I Don't Like Mondays" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers)– 4:16

"Nothing Happened Today" – 3:18

"Keep It Up" (Geldof, Gerry Cott) – 3:39

"Nice N Neat" – 2:50

"When the Night Comes" – 5:00

Bob Geldof – vocals, saxophone
Pete Briquette – bass, vocals
Gerry Cott – guitar
Johnnie Fingers – keyboards, vocals
Simon Crowe – drums, vocals
Garry Roberts – guitar, vocals