"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. Described as "simple, cool", in concerts supporting ''

A Tonic for the Troops ''A Tonic for the Troops'' is the second album by Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, released in June 1978. ''A Tonic for the Troops'' peaked at No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart in 1978. The album included the singles " She's So Modern", "Like Clock ...

'', the song's agitated, staccato bassline made it a common show opener. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, "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. The latter was later released in the UK as a free flexi disc, distributed by '' Flexipop'' in January 1981. "Like Clockwork" was the first song on air broadcast on

RTÉ Radio 2 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

, when the station began broadcasting on 31 May 1979, played by Larry Gogan.

Personnel

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

– vocals, saxophone * Pete Briquette – bass, vocals *

Gerry Cott Gerry Cott (born 15 October 1954, in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish guitarist and songwriter, who was a co-founder of the Irish new wave band The Boomtown Rats. He started playing flamenco guitar when he was 11 years old. In 1966 he saw Bob Dyla ...

– guitar * Johnnie Fingers – keyboards, vocals *