HUNGRY FOR A HIT RECORD--A BOOMTOWN RAT TRIES IT SOLO

Can you imagine Albert Schweitzer or Mother Teresa cutting a record? Humanitarians simply don’t write songs and then go into the studio and lay down vocal tracks. These saintly, noble people wouldn’t get mixed up in the tawdry commercialism of the record business either.

But that’s the way it is for all those other humanitarians. Bob Geldof is different.

He has a new album, “Deep in the Heart of Nowhere”--his first solo effort--and he’s on the road promoting it, just like any other hungry singer-songwriter. This is the same man who initiated the pop-music charity binge by assembling British rock stars for the Band Aid single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” at the end of 1984 to raise funds to fight the famine in Ethiopia. Among other noteworthy charitable projects, he organized the Live Aid concerts. For his efforts, he’s been nominated twice for a Nobel Peace Prize and granted honorary knighthood by the Queen.

Isn’t it degrading, many are wondering, for this esteemed humanitarian to be recording pop music and hawking his album--which has nothing to do with Africa or starvation, by the way? In other words, isn’t being a pop-rocker beneath him now?

“People should remember that it was pop music that generated all the attention for these projects and brought them to the top of the political agenda,” he replied. “There’s no shame in being in pop music.”

The 33-year-old Irishman is a hip humanitarian, the guy who proves that you can help save millions of lives and still be--by his own admission--obnoxious, abrasive, ill-tempered and impatient. He’s a brilliant organizer who’s also part hustler and part slick salesman. His purpose has always been to get the job done, not be well-liked. Though many don’t like him personally (“I’m not an easy person to like,” he told me in an interview four years ago), everyone respects him.

Considering his monumental humanitarian efforts in the last two years, it’s easy to forget that Geldof has been a singer-songwriter with the Boomtown Rats since 1975. The band, specializing in booming, new-wavish rock, was popular in many countries but never clicked with American fans.

“I can’t understand why we couldn’t make it in this country,” said Geldof, still a passionate defender of the Rats’ music.

The problem was that the band’s Columbia albums were always too offbeat and out of touch with the musical climate of the moment. Geldof made commercial concessions but never the right ones. The label dropped the Rats last year.

Other labels wanted to sign Geldof but not the Rats. “They said the Rats were old hat,” Geldof recalled. “But I fought furiously against that. I said you can’t sign me until you sign the Rats.”

Atlantic Records was one of two labels that also wanted the band. The deal called for him to do a solo album first and then one with the band. But it turned out that all Geldof’s efforts to salvage the Rats were wasted. “When we were in the lawyer’s office to sign the Rats contract, they told me they had songs they felt the Rats couldn’t do. They wanted to go off and do the songs by themselves.”

Will he ever do that band album with the Rats?

“The Rats are dead,” he replied, showing no emotion.

Just because Geldof has returned to recording that doesn’t mean an end to his humanitarian work. “There came a time in July when what I like to do, which is play music, and what I had to do, which is to be part of Band Aid, could coexist. Things at Band Aid eased up a bit. It’s running smoothly. The director handles the day to day running of the operation. I’m chairman of the board of trustees of Band Aid. I go to the board meetings about once a week.

“Before July, it wasn’t possible to get away to do something else. For instance, I couldn’t have done music last October. There was too much work.”

Geldof said he didn’t really miss music during the hiatus. He didn’t have time. “I was involved in this vast, endless project,” he said. “I was working 18 and 19 hours a day. What I was working on was far more important than music.”

Though he was too busy for music, Geldof always knew he’d get back to it one day. “Writing and playing music again was necessary for the good of my soul,” he said. “I derive a sense of satisfaction and achievement from writing a good song.”

There’s also a practical reason for the resumption of his musical career. “My debts were mounting,” he explained. “I had worked for two years and received no income. Music is my job. I had to go back to it to earn money. How else can I pay my bills?”

Once he was working on the album, he was in ecstasy. Working as a solo artist, he discovered, was fun: “None of the Rats play on this album. I had more latitude. All my ideas were used. With the Rats, the band contributed ideas to the songs. That meant a lot of band politics, which I didn’t have to deal with this time. Working solo is less tiring. You have to be less diplomatic and I’m not known for being diplomatic.”

Singing backing vocals on Daryl Hall’s solo album helped rekindle Geldof’s interest in his music career. But Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, who co-produced two of the album’s songs, played the most significant role in getting Geldof back into music.

“One evening I was with Dave in Paris and we were getting a bit drunk,” Geldof recalled. “I had been thinking about music again but I was worried that I had nothing to say--no ideas. Somehow with Dave the floodgates opened up and out came all this stuff. I was playing him these endless songs. That was the start. Dave restored my confidence.”

Eventually Geldof recorded 14 songs. Only 11 are on the album, however. The tape and CD versions of “Deep in the Heart of Nowhere” include three bonus tracks.

Incidentally, none of the proceeds from the tape, album and CD sales go to charity. “Music is my job,” Geldof insisted. “I get the royalties. I need the money.”

Critics, so far, have handled this album--which has strengths but also a number of weaknesses--with kid gloves. In deference to Geldof’s stature, they’re not likely to viciously slam it, even if they don’t like it. It’s not easy to rip somebody who’s done what Geldof has done.

Strangely, Geldof admitted that he doesn’t get any sense of achievement or gratification from his humanitarian efforts. Apparently that’s because he doesn’t consider his job finished. “No matter how many times I address the United Nations or mix with people in the White House or Downing Street, I can’t feel that I’m great or that I’ve accomplished so much,” he said. “The problem we’ve been fighting continues. How can I feel self-satisfied when there’s still work to do?”

Geldof’s career is a bit tenuous now. If the album is a hit, he’ll go on tour. If it isn’t, he may be back in the same marginal position the Boomtown Rats languished in for years.

But, he cautioned, other forces could easily bring his comeback to a screeching halt:

“If I saw some situation on TV that moved me and I couldn’t stand to sit there and do nothing about it, or if something happened with Band Aid that needed my presence, I’d take the first plane out and forget the album. I’ll never lose sight of what’s really important.”