BAND AID
It started as a germ of an idea in 1984. Bob Geldof (leader of The Boomtown Rats) had recently returned from a visit to plague and hunger strewn Ethiopia. Could something be done to help the starving masses? Calling on his friend Midge Ure of Ultravox, the two penned a song appropriate to the need, then called friends, and friends of friends to see if they would be interested in singing on a charity single for famine relief. The resulting song ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") was a smash on both sides of the ocean and spawned similar charity based singles across the planet. Geldof followed up with the Live Aid concert event which drew some of the greatest performers of rock and roll and took place simultaneously in London and Philadelphia. It had a worldwide television audience. Produced by The Buggles' Trevor Horn, the original single enlisted most of the well known alternative and pop singers in the UK at the time, including Paul Young, David Bowie, Marilyn, and members of Ultravox, The Boomtown Rats, U2, Duran Duran, The Police, Bananarama, Culture Club, Heaven 17, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Spandau Ballet, Eurythmics, Big Country and The Style Council. A newer pop oriented version was released under the name Band Aid II in 1989 with only Bananarama returning from the previous bunch along with help from Kevin Godley (Godley & Creme) and Jimmy Somerville along with the cream of UK pop at that moment. A third try at the song was made in 2004 on its 20th anniversary in an effort to direct badly needed relief to the Darfur region of Sudan. This time Geldof and Ure reunited to update the lyrics and Bono returned to sing his classic lines again along with help from newer alternative acts: Keane, Travis, Dido, Coldplay, Radiohead, Supergrass and Feeder. The song was once again a smash in the UK, albeit a short lived one. The disastrous Christmas tsunami of that year in the Indonesia region made African relief seem unimportant. Of the original cause, great amounts of grain were shipped to Ethiopia then sadly left to rot on the shipping docks as the corrupt government would not allow its distribution. 1984/1989/2004.
DISCOGRAPHY:
FULL RELEASES SINGLES
| 12" | Do They Know It's Christmas?/Feed The World |
| 7" (as Band Aid II) | Do They Know It's Christmas? |
| cd5 (as Band Aid 20) | Do They Know It's Christmas? |
OFFICIAL WEB PAGE: http://www.bandaid20.com/
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| Do They Know It's Christmas? (original version) |
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| Do They Know It's Christmas? (Band Aid 20 version) |
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