If you are a die hard fan of the Boomtown Rats, you may have known that JOHNNIE FINGERS has been living in Japan more than 10 years.  

One of my dreams was to meet with him for an interview in Tokyo.  

Although I’m not good at to speak English, my friend Ms. Iku Kaneko who is an interpreter kindly agreed to support my interview.  She is also a big fan of BTR and went to their live concerts in Japan both in 1980 and 1981.

In February 2002, I sent an e-mail for a proposal of interview to Johnnie via his friend.  In March, mega surprise was that an email from him arrived at my e-mail box!!  Although it seems difficult to meet with him actually at this time, JOHNNIE had kindly agreed to do an e-mail interview.  So I prepared 19 questions regarding his whole career i.e. The Boomtown Rats, Gung-Ho, Greengate, Ruffy Tuffy and etc..  

Iku checked my English language of the questions and added one more question of her own.  I gave Johnnie the total 20 questions and we were afraid of that it would have been a burden for him.  

In April, we were very impressed that JOHNNIE answered to all the questions in details!!  Now I’m extremely happy to introduce his answers here on my website as follows;

GARRY'S KITCHEN

Q1: Regarding liner notes in "Greatest Hits" (US release), there is a comment that "Formed in 1975 in guitarist Garry Robert's kitchen in Dublin". I understand "Garry's Kitchen" is name of the band. Did you really play in the kitchen?

Johnnie: Garry's had a big kitchen in his house. If there was nowhere else to go after the pubs closed we used to go back there for coffee. Generally there was four of us, Garry who was my friend, Bob who my brother's friend.

BOOMTOWN RATS

Q2: I think The Boomtown Rats was one of the greatest new wave rock bands in very unique position of rock' n roll history. Released six great albums and there were always remarkable evolution and musical revolution on every album. six great and original personalities in the band and good teamwork especially in live performance. No heroic attitude and very positive to have communications with fans cordially. Kept fighting against prejudice by conservative journalists. I sometimes think if The Boomtown Rats came from UK or USA, the band has been evaluated higher and there would have had more chances to become popular. Do you agree with above my comments or do you have any opinions to be added?

Johnnie: We all came from the same social background. I went to primary school (5 to 10 yo) with Gerry. Pete is my first cousin and was Gerry's friend. Simon went to school with Garry. Bob was my brother's friend. We formed a band for something to do on the weekends. Music was important to my generation. When we went to a friend's house we played records and talked about it all the time. It was the #1 entertainment at the time.

Q3: We cannot talk about No. 1 hit "I don't like Mondays" without your beautiful piano. I heard that you brought the idea of "piano version" to the song. Besides "I don't like Mondays", could you please let me know if you have the other Rats songs which were taken your ideas and your initiatives?

Johnnie: I suppose being a keyboard player and somewhat more trained, I had a greater sense of composition and melody. Nearly all the songs developed from a guitar riff or jam seasons. I was more concerned with overall construction and chord progression. I also have a good sense for melody.

Q4: I think you had extreme hard schedule as the member of Boomtown Rats for live tour, recording, TV performance, promotion and so on. Regarding your song "Sleep (Fingers' Lullaby)", your lyrics said "tired sick, and I'm sick and tired, why can't I close my eyes and go to sleep". Is there any relation to your personal experience at that time?

Johnnie: That song was about talking "speed". I spent 2 days awake and couldn't go to sleep. It was terrible.

Q5: From schooldays to the time of the Boomtown Rats, you were famous to wear pajamas anywhere, anytime; even you were arrested in Germany (is it true?). According to that story, I feel like you might have had a punk spirits. And now, how do you think about that ?

Johnnie: I wore pajamas to get noticed. Later it became my image. It was fun most of the time. But one time in East Berlin, the police didn't think so and I was whisked away from an art gallery we were visiting and held by the police until they realised I was not a subversive. I was held for about half an hour or so. But at the time, it was a nightmare. Afterwards,they escorted me to "Check Point Charlie" (American border) and I was told not to come back.

Q6: You wrote great songs such as "Another Sad Story" and "Lucky" for the "In the long grass" album. I think "Another Sad Story" should have be enreleased as a single. I was very impressed with the song as well as "IDLM" or "Rat-trap". Is there any episode or comment on the songs?

Johnnie: "Another Sad Story" was about breaking up with my girlfriend. We had been going together for 5 years and she dumped me."Lucky" was about fame. Based on Andy Warhol's comment everyone gets 15 minutes of fame in their life.

Q7: One of the famous legends of the Boomtown Rats is live in Ireland on March 2nd in 1980. The Band finally realized the concert at Guinness house even though obstructions by the authorities. Is this episode still memorable in your life ?

Johnnie: At the time we were the number 1 in the UK. We wanted to play an outdoor show as a triumphant home coming. But the local authorities wouldn't grant us an outdoor license. The media got hold of the story, pointing out it was a shame that "the famous sons of Ireland" couldn't play their hometown. The Guinness family offered us a site on their family estate and the show went ahead. It was an embarrassment to the local authorities as the UK media also picked up on the story and later Reuters world news service. The whole episode made us noticed Internationally. It was a bit like, when a record gets banned, everybody wants to buy it.

Q8: In New Wave era, there were another great bands like Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Graham Parker & The Rumour, The Clash, The Jam, The Police, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Cars, Devo, Talking Heads and etc. Are there any particular bands/artists which you like, dislike, or have you had any communication with other bands that you could sympathy with their music ?

Johnnie: At the time, all these bands including BTR's were labeled "New Wave" by the UK press like it was a movement, a new begining as if we all planned it that way. But basically we had little in common with each other. I suppose it did gave a feeling that we were getting rid of the old guys. I liked all those bands. We used to go to each others gigs and as a result hung out together. Fun times! Our first English tour was with Talking Heads and The Ramones so I have fond memories of that time. We were all promoting our first albums and so there was a kinship.

Q9: As my understanding, very, very rough pictures of images of each Rats member among Japanese fans are as follows;
Bob - intelligent!
Garry - wild!
Gerry - cool!
Simon - handsome!
Pete - pretty!
Johnnie - cute!
Can you agree with the above ?

Johnnie: That is fairly accurate, but then at the time we were aware of that and so in interviews we played on those images.

GUNG-HO

Q10 Although the album "10" was not released in the US/UK, there are a lot of pop songs which should have been ranked higher on the charts. If some artists propose that they would like to cover Gung-Ho songs in the future, can you give them permissions ?

Johnnie: I always like hearing somebody else cover a song I wrote. Really interesting to hear.

GREENGATE

Q11: I heard that you made Greengate music just for your joy and alleviate your headache. Do you have any plan to release new CD or to hold gig as Greengate in the near future ?

Johnnie: We played some gigs. They were fun. But they take a lot of time to organise and rehearse for. I prefer making new songs. It is hard also to find a record company to release our stuff.

Q12: How's your mate, Toshiaki Shibata (Greengate) who is also a talented art designer. Did you have activities with him in recent days ?

Johnnie: We want to change the way we make music and so have up dated the equipment we have. This means a lot of reading manuals.

RUFFY TUFFY

Q13: In "Uncertain Melody" movie of Ruffy Tuffy, you looked happy to play with the band. If Kiyoshiro Imawano asks you to join the band again, would you like to play with them ?

Johnnie: I like Kiyoshiro a lot. I met him in a restaurant with friends. He asked me to play some piano on a track he was recording. I ended up playing on most of the album and then touring with him for over a year. I respect him a lot as he has his own style and doesn't care about the Jpop world.

RELATED WORKS

Q14: from 90's, you have been working with many Japanese artists, Junji Yayoshi, UA, Yosu-ko, Lindberg and etc. Are there any differences between Japanese and European/American musicians in playing abilities, creativity, process of music production, etc.?

Johnnie: This may seem funny, but true. Japanese musicans play better after they have something to eat. Western musicians feel sleepy after eating. From a creative point of view, westerm musicans naturally play randomly style but find it hard to play repeditive sequences. So they have a different sense of feel. They are not as disaplinned as Japanese musicians. Which can be an advantage or disadvantage. It's really a case by case, song by song thing.

Q15: It may have been a lot of your related works which I have not yet introduced on my website. It seems that you also did a lot of projects not only in Japan but also in the UK. Can you tell me the artists' name or album titles that you joined in ?

Johnnie: I haven't really. I have been asked many times. Distance is a problem When I was a member of the BTR's. We were always busy doing something.

OTHERS

Q16: What kind of work are you doing at SMASH? Are you in a position to negotiate with overseas artists for their live concerts in Japan ?

Johnnie: I do a bit of everything, it's that kind of company.

Q17: I think you are very familiar with all kinds of music including Rock artists who are young generation. What are your favorite bands/artists at this moment ?

Johnnie: I am tired of UK rock bands. There is little new music in that area. So I am not into any particular band, as few bands can sustain a CD worth of songs. Generally, it's more a song by song thing. But then I really like dance music for the past while as it's more adventurous and exciting.

Q18: It seems that you are living in Japan more than 10 years. Is life in Japan comfortable for you? What are your favorites and dislikes in Japanese culture, customs and etc.?

Johnnie: I like Japan, I like Japanese people, but I don't want to die here. It's a cultural thing, I suppose. I can't think of anything in particular I dislike about Japan at the moment which says a lot.

Q19: This is the last question from me. Are your wife and children well ? Is there any plan for Yoko to sing again? Are your children also interested in music like your childhood ?

Johnnie: They are all well and happy. My kids have no interest in music as far as I can see but then they are too young. They are into game soft.

Thank you very much for your precious time, Johnnie!! But please don't forget to reply one more question from Ms. Iku Kaneko.

My best regards,

Yushi

LIVE IN JAPAN

Q20: I went to see the Boomtown Rats' gigs in Tokyo in 1980 and 1981. What the biggest impact for me at that time was, not only inexpressible enjoyment that the Boomtown Rats brought about the Japanese audience but also you were let audience stand up and dance as they like. Prior to the gig of the Boomtown Rats, promoters prohibited audience to get so excited such as standing and jumping up. Even though more than two decades elapsed and I have seen so many thousands bands so far, I still remember vividly how fabulous the Boomtown Rats were, and I assure that the band is one of the greatest bands in Rock history.

Johnnie: Wow ..thank you.

It was quite a long time ago however, as long as you could remember I would like to hear your very first impressions on your first tour in Japan in 1980, in particular what did you think about Japanese audience and their attitude toward music, were there any differences comparing to Irish/British, such as audience, music press and music journalists? What did you expect to Japan before coming here? After the Japan tour, were you satisfied (even though to some extent?) Please let me know frankly by looking back to that time.

Johnnie: We came after a US tour. I had never been to an Asian country before and it was so very different from anywhere I had been before.. I think the first thing was the crowds, the noise, piped music all the time..... everywhere. There was no freedom from it. Also the moment we arrived at the Hotel we had a meeting to discuss the band schedule. Every moment was scheduled.....this seemed very bizzare and it all seems so precise. We were not used to that type of organised time scheduling. Everything seemed so organised. I checked into my room and when I lay down on the bed it was too small. I went to Yotobashi camera and bought a super 8 camera and filmed the whole time I was here. I wanted to record the feeling, to have a memory of the trip as I thought I would never return.

Thank you for taking your time for us in your busy schedule.