“All generations fail, but my one more appallingly than all the others” – Sir Bob Geldof

For the opening of a new series of Needle Time, Sir Bob Geldof is on particularly fiery form. The obscenity bleeper is called into repeated action as the former punk provocateur and global charity statesman discusses the career and comeback of The Boomtown Rats with Neil McCormick.

Contemplating the reasons the Rats chart reign and punk in general ran out of steam in the early 80s, he suggests Margaret Thatcher became a greater agent of change than music ever could. “The political situation resolved itself here in unexpected ways,” says Geldof. “What those bands were calling for was radical change. It came, but no one expected it to come of the right. Or to be a woman. Or for that woman tof have a handbag and slap at every institution she saw. You could argue that Margaret Thatcher is simply Johnny Rotten in drag.”

He has previously rather blithely asserted that The Boomtown Rats recent reunion was inspired by “age, curiosity and cash” but playing songs written in a time of economic meltdown, high unemployment, corporate greed and political paranoia, he says he has been struck by their power and continued relevance.

“Far from nostalgia, (it) was the contemporary nature of the songs that shocked me,” reveals Geldof. “Nothing changed! All generations fail, but my one appallingly more than all the others.  How could I not spit Looking After Number One in the face of those f***ers who manipulated the interbank exchange rate on a global scale? Misspelling of products to the vulnerable - that’s called ****ing fraud! Go to jail! How could I not sing about it?

“Leave London and go to Hull or Newcastle and see what’s going on. It’s awful, go and look. So how could I not sing Rat Trap and not mean it?

“How could I not sing Someones Looking At You and not mean it? When we’ve just seen Obama spy on the entire American nation, the entire Europeans? Google and f***ing facebook, cool? They’re not cool, they’re giant multinational corporations mining your head, selling your soul for money, to perpetuate the even greater wealth of a couple of individuals who own the f***ing things. Who are we codding? Walk through London, your photograph is taken on average three thousand times in one day. ‘Someone’s looking at you / They’re always looking at you.’ 1979. What’s the difference?

“(A few) weeks ago some **** in Santa Monica shot his parents and his mates. ‘I Don’t Like Mondays.’ What’s changed?

“Banana Republic, they’ve done it again in Ireland, the f***ers! They’ve destroyed a country. I was in Perth six weeks ago, one thousand young Irish kids arrive a week, cause that country can give them a future. How treacherous, the ultimate treason, where a country cannot provide a future for its own children? Get out, that’s your job, if you can’t do it, get the f*** out!

“I’ll play and sing those songs with The Boomtown Rats any f***ing day of the week!”

Here's a preview of the interview: