V Deep by Boomtown Rats

V Deep, the Boomtown Rats' fifth album, came out on Ensign in April 1982 with Tony Visconti producing, and the title is a pun you have to hear: it's "five deep", the Roman numeral standing for both the album count and the band's new size after guitarist Gerry Cott walked out. That left Bob Geldof singing, Garry Roberts on guitar, Johnnie Fingers on keyboards, Pete Briquette on bass and Simon Crowe on drums, the Dublin band behind "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic".

Without Cott the sound gets leaner and more nervous, all twitchy rhythms and Geldof's sneer up front. "House on Fire" was a minor hit, "Up All Night" is the wired, sleepless rocker the countdowns kept coming back to, and "Skin on Skin" had its turn too. Mondo Bongo came before it; In the Long Grass followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.