Album · Boomtown Rats
In the Long Grass by Boomtown Rats
In the Long Grass is an album by Boomtown Rats, released in 1984. 1 song from it has charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Dave”, on 3 lists with a best position of #94.
In the Long Grass, the Boomtown Rats' sixth studio album, came out on Mercury in 1984 in Britain and the following year in America, with James Guthrie producing. It turned out to be a full stop: the band's last studio material until Citizens of Boomtown in 2020, the last with keyboard player Johnnie Fingers, and the last they made as a five-piece. It has the bright, brisk polish of mid-'80s rock, with Bob Geldof still barking out his songs like a man with a grievance.
It was also their least successful record. It missed the UK Albums Chart entirely and crawled to number 188 on the Billboard 200. In a 2025 interview Geldof recalled that he was already on edge over the album's quality and its commercial flop on the day he saw the BBC's report on the Ethiopian famine, the report that set Band Aid in motion.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from In the Long Grass on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave | 3 | #94 | – | 1985–1988 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.