A Tonic for the Troops

A Tonic for the Troops was The Boomtown Rats' second album and included the hit singles "She's So Modern", "Like Clockwork" and "Rat Trap".

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." Other tracks featured subject matter including suicide ("Living in an Island") and euthanasia ("Can't Stop").

"She's So Modern" reached number 12 on the British pop charts. The album's title was taken from a line in this song: "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."

The most commercially successful track on the album is "Rat Trap," which made it to Number 1 on the British pop charts. "Rat Trap" was the final cut on the UK version of the album and the opening cut on the US version.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Geldof except where indicated.

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, Johnny 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)

American version

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)
6. "Blind Date"
7. "Mary of the Fourth Form" (from the UK The Boomtown Rats)
8. "Don't Believe What You Read"
9. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Fingers)
10. "Joey's on the Street Again" (from the UK The Boomtown Rats)

Personnel

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