“I Don’t Like Mondays” by “The Boomtown Rats” hit number 1 in the UK this week in 1979 for the first of four weeks. At a basic level, this song is often heard as lamenting the beginning of the working week. Some radio stations even play it every Monday at a certain time. However, the actual subject matter of the song is a real-life school shooting.
According to lead singer Bob Geldof, he wrote the song after reading about the shooting spree by 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children in a school playground at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, on 29 January 1979, killing two adults and injuring eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime; her explanation for her actions was “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”
Spencer’s family tried to prevent the single from being released in the United States, but were unsuccessful. Geldof had originally intended the song as a B-side, but changed his mind after the song was well received by audiences on the Boomtown Rats’ US tour.
“I Don’t Like Mondays” was a number 1 in 32 Countries!