Like Clockwork

For the Queens of the Stone Age album, see ...Like Clockwork.
"Like Clockwork"
Single by The Boomtown Rats
from the album A Tonic for the Troops
B-side"How Do You Do?"
Released9 June 1978[1]
GenreNew wave, post-punk
Length3:45
LabelEnsign Records (UK)
Columbia Records (US)
Songwriter(s)Bob Geldof - lyrics
Pete Briquette and Simon Crowe - music
Producer(s)Robert John "Mutt" Lange
The Boomtown Rats singles chronology
"She's So Modern"
(1978) 		"Like Clockwork"
(1978) 		"Rat Trap"
(1978)

"Like Clockwork" is a single by The Boomtown Rats. It was the band's first to reach the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 6.[2][3]

Described as "simple, cool",[4] in concerts supporting A Tonic for the Troops, the song's agitated, staccato bassline made it a common show opener. The B-side, "How Do You Do?" was a fast-paced punk/new-wave song, in the mould of the band's earlier work. However, the Irish version of the single, released on Mulligan Records, substituted the B-side with "D.U.N L.A.O.G.H.A.I.R.E", a tongue in cheek samba, discussing the spelling of the band's home town, written Dún Laoghaire but pronounced Dunleary.[5] The latter was later released in the UK as a free flexi disc, distributed by Flexipop in January 1981.[6] "Like Clockwork" was the first song on air broadcast on RTÉ Radio 2, when the station began broadcasting on 31 May 1979, played by Larry Gogan.

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 55.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 71. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ William Ruhlmann. "The Boomtown Rats | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  4. ^ "A Tonic For The Troops Album Review". Boomtownrats.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  5. ^ "The Boomtown Rats Discography". Boomtownrats.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  6. ^ "The Boomtown Rats - Dun Laoghaire". YouTube. 2011-11-08. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2013-06-01.