Boomtown Rats -- "I Don't Like Mondays" (1979)

And daddy doesn’t understand it

He always said she was good as gold

And he can see no reasons

'Cause there are no reasons

Before Bob Geldof organized "Band Aid" and "Live Aid" and raised 150 million pounds for famine relief in Ethiopia . . . before he was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II . . . before he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . . . Geldof was the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, an Irish punk band.

Geldof in 2009

Geldof was inspired to write "I Don't like Mondays" after reading a wire service report about a shooting spree at an elementary school while he was hanging out at an Atlanta radio station, waiting to be interviewed.

On January 29, 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer got out a .22 rifle her father had given her the previous Christmas, positioned herself in front of a window at her home in San Diego, and started shooting at the elementary school across the street.  She killed the school's principal and a school custodian, and wounded eight children and a police officer.

Ms. Spencer surrendered to police seven hours later.  When asked why she opened fire on the elementary school, she said, "I just did it for the fun of it.  I don't like Mondays."  She also observed that "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond" and that "[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings."

Spencer in 1979

The 16-year-old, who was tried as an adult, pled guilty to two counts of murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.  She is currently incarcerated at the women's prison in Chino, California. 

Brenda Ann Spencer's four previous applications for parole have been denied.  She will next be eligible for parole in 2019. 

"I Don't Like Mondays" was a #1 hit in the UK and other countries, but reached only #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States -- partly because many American radio stations chose not to play it.

Here's "I Don't like Mondays":

Here's a link you can use to buy the song from Amazon: