Formation of The Rats

In 2008, Garry Roberts and Simon Crowe, who had continued playing together in The Fab Four, with Alan Perman (ex Herman’s Hermits ) and Bob Doyle (who once auditioned unsuccessfully for E.L.O. ), and The Velcro Flies, with Steve (Dusty) Hill and Gavin Petrie, got together as “The Rats”, playing their favourite Boomtown Rats songs, with two guitars, bass and drums. The band was initially fronted by Peter Barton, who since the early 1980s has played with several resurrected acts, including The Animals , The Hollies and Lieutenant Pigeon . Barton was replaced on lead vocals and bass by Bob Bradbury, who was the founder and main songwriter in Hello . Darren Beale, formerly of The Caves, played lead guitar. Saxophone player Andy Hamilton , who toured and recorded with The Boomtown Rats, including at Live Aid, played as a guest at some gigs.