Bob Geldof tells Andy Welch why he is more surprised than anyone to be enjoying getting older
IN A quick game of Bob Geldof word association, it’s likely “music” wouldn’t be the first word you’d think of.
Perhaps Live Aid would top the list? The 1985 concert he and Midge Ure organised to help the Ethiopian crisis. Next in line might be Africa, famine and Live8, or even the names of his two most famous daughters, Peaches and Pixie.
Geldof – given an honorary knighthood in 1986 but, as an Irishman, not able to use the title “Sir” officially – is all too aware of the public’s perception of him.
“Someone might walk past a poster in Bradford, or wherever, saying ‘Bob Geldof: Live tonight’ and they’d think, ‘Fair enough’. Five yards down the road, they’ll stop and think, ‘Doing what?’” he says, with a smile.
“If I was there to talk, fair enough, but to sing? They’d almost certainly raise an eyebrow.”
The title of his most recent solo album is a wry nod to this: How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell, the joke being his solo records don’t sell very well at all.
“I haven’t played in the UK for a long time,” he adds. “But I gig all the time. I’m off to Norway this week, I was in Sweden last week playing with Bob Dylan, all the European festival stuff. But, in the UK, there’s not a rush to the box office when I announce a tour.”
There is a flipside to this, of course. Under no pressure to play the big venues, Geldof can call the shots. During September and November, when he and his band perform around the UK (a tour split in two to accommodate performances in South America, South Africa, Australia and south-east Asia), they’ll play in some of the country’s most lovely halls, including Southport Theatre.
“It’s a matter of choice. If there’s a venue in a town I don’t want to do, we move to a town where there’s a nice one.
“I don’t think anyone who wants to see me wants to stand on a sticky floor. And I wouldn’t play arenas, even if I could.”
Continue the word association game and you might come up with “scruffy”.
The former Boomtown Rats frontman is known for his rather dishevelled appearance, and once spoke about how embarrassed he is meeting important people because of his look.
Today, however, clean-shaven with neatly cut light grey hair, wearing a smart blue pinstripe shirt and black trousers, he looks every bit the respectable company boss.
The suggestion he’s smartened himself up makes him smile warmly, almost as if he’s cheered someone has noticed.
While it’s hard to imagine the Geldof who’s known for yelling at world leaders being heartened because someone has complimented his clothing choice, the Geldof of 2011 is very different to the one fans have encountered before.
While his 2001 album Sex, Age And Death, aimed in parts at his late ex-wife Paula Yates and her lover Michael Hutchence, was a largely angry, dark and despairing album, How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell, released in February, finds Geldof in love with life, and, dare it be suggested, happy.
“There’s absolutely no sense of contentment in me,” he says, getting things straight. “But I accept the point, that it’s a happy record.
