The Boomtown Rats were an Irish new-wave band led by Bob Geldof, and their defining song grew from a dark headline. "I Don't Like Mondays", released in 1979, was inspired by a school shooting in California and the shooter's flat, horrifying explanation for it. Set to a stately piano melody, it became a number-one hit in the UK and a landmark of the era.
Geldof would go on to global fame as the organiser of Live Aid, and the band had other UK hits in their day, including "Rat Trap". But on streaming, one song has pulled far ahead of the rest.
"I Don't Like Mondays" sits near 115 million plays, while their next most-streamed track trails at around 11 million. That puts the ratio near 11, well past our 5.0 line.
By our measure The Boomtown Rats are a certified one-hit wonder, with the streaming-era caveat that always applies to older acts: a band who charted repeatedly in their time can look quieter now, because much of that history was never streamed. Even so, one haunting single carries the catalogue today.