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Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Two subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts. The original was produced by Midge Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.
The name 'Band Aid' was chosen as a pun on the name of a well known brand of adhesive bandage, also referring to musicians working as a band to provide aid and alluding to the fact that any help stemming from their efforts is likened to a band-aid on a very serious wound.
The group has formed on three occasions, each time from the most successful British and Irish pop music performers of the time, to record the same song at the same time of year.
The group was inspired by the earlier supergroup-powered Concert for Bangladesh raising money for refugees in that country.
The original 1984 Feed The World logo was based on a pencil sketch by Bob Geldof after watching a BBC television news report by Michael Buerk from famine-stricken Ethiopia. Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try to raise money using his contacts in pop music. Geldof enlisted the help of Midge Ure, from the group Ultravox, to help produce a charity record. Ure took Geldof's lyrics, and created the melody and backing track for the record. Geldof called many of the most popular British and Irish performers of the time (Kool & The Gang and Jody Watley were the only Americans present at the original recording), persuading them to give their time free. His one criterion for selection was how famous they were, in order to maximise sales of the record. He then kept an appointment to appear on a show on BBC Radio 1, with Richard Skinner, but instead of promoting the new Boomtown Rats material as planned, he announced the plan for Band Aid. The recording studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on 25 November 1984. The recording took place at SARM Studios in Notting Hill between 11am and 7pm, and was filmed by director Nigel Dick to be released as the pop video though some basic tracks had been recorded the day before at Midge Ure's home studio. The first tracks to be recorded were the group / choir choruses which were filmed by the international press. The footage was rushed to newsrooms where it aired while the remainder of the recording process continued. Later, drums by Phil Collins were recorded. The introduction of the song features a slowed down sample from a Tears for Fears' track called "The Hurting", released in 1983. Tony Hadley, of Spandau Ballet, was the first to record his vocal, while a section sung by Status Quo was deemed unusable, and replaced with section comprising Paul Weller, Sting, and Glenn Gregory. Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran sang between contributions from George Michael and Sting. Paul Young has since admitted, in a documentary, that he knew his opening lines were written for David Bowie, who was not able to make the recording but made a contribution to the B-side (Bowie performed his lines at the Live Aid concert the following year). Boy George arrived last at 6pm, after Geldof woke him up by 'phone to have him flown over from New York on Concorde to record his solo part. (At the time, Culture Club was in the middle of a US tour.)
The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show with Mike Read, to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity.
The record was released on November 29, 1984, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, thus beating the seven-year record held by Mull of Kintyre. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
After Live Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modelled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, "One Year On" (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a b-side. "One Year On" can also be found in transcript form in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video.
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
Adam Clayton (U2)
Phil Collins (Genesis, solo)
Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats, subsequently USA for Africa)
Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)
Chris Cross (Ultravox)
John Taylor (Duran Duran)
Paul Young
Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)
Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)
Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)
Jim Kerr (Simple Minds)
Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)
Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Nik Kershaw
Charlie Burchill (Simple Minds)
Derek Forbes (Simple Minds)
Jody Watley (Shalamar)
Bono (U2)
Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam)
Pete Burns (Dead or Alive)
James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang)
Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
John Illsley (Dire Straits)
Terry Williams (Dire Straits)
George Michael (Wham!)
Midge Ure (Ultravox)
Gary Howard (The Pathfinders)
Paul Windsor (The Pathfinders)
Nick Haines (The Pathfinders)
Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, and previously Human League)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Curt Smith (Tears for Fears)
Roland Orzabal (Tears for Fears)
Sting (The Police)
Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)
Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
Jon Moss (Culture Club)
Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)
David Bowie (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Boy George (Culture Club)
Noddy Holder (Slade)
Dave Hill (Slade)
Jim Lea (Slade)
Don Powell (Slade)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Recorded over the phone
Paul Rutherford (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Recorded over the phone
Paul McCartney (The Beatles, and then Wings) (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
Bruce Watson (Big Country)
Tony Butler (Big Country)
Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
The sleeve artist, Peter Blake, was also credited on the sleeve.
Who sings what on each version
Lyrics
1984 version
1989 version
2004 version
'It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid'
Paul Young
Kylie Minogue
Chris Martin
'At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade'
Paul Young
Chris Rea
Chris Martin
'And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy'
Boy George
Jimmy Somerville
Dido
'Throw your arms around the world, at Christmas time'
Boy George
Matt Goss
Dido
'But say a prayer; Pray for the other ones'
George Michael
Cliff Richard
Robbie Williams
'At Christmas time it's hard, but when you're having fun'
George Michael/Simon Le Bon
Jimmy Somerville/Matt Goss
Robbie Williams
'There's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dread and fear'
Simon Le Bon/Sting
Marti Pellow/Jason Donovan
Sugababes
'Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears'
Tony Hadley/Sting
Jason/Kylie
Fran Healy & Sugababes
'And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom'
Sting/Bono
Cliff Richard/Marti Pellow
Fran Healy & Justin Hawkins
'Well, tonight, thank God it's them, instead of you'
Bono
Jason Donovan/Matt Goss
Bono
'And there won't be snow in Africa, this Christmas time'
Boy George/Paul Weller/Paul Young
Marti Pellow
Will Young & Jamelia
'The greatest gift they'll get this year is life'
Bono/George Michael/Boy George
Sonia
Will Young & Jamelia
'Where nothing ever grows'
Paul Young
Lisa Stansfield
Ms Dynamite & Beverley Knight
'No rain nor rivers flow'
Glenn Gregory
Lisa Stansfield
Ms Dynamite & Beverley Knight
'Do they know it's Christmas time at all?'
All
Sonia/Lisa Stansfield
All
'Here's to you'
Marilyn/Glenn Gregory/Rick Parfitt/Francis Rossi
Kylie
Tom Chaplin
'Raise a glass for everyone'
Paul Young
Kylie
Justin Hawkins
'Spare a thought this yuletide for the deprived'
'If the table was turned would you survive?'
2004 lines, not in the original version
Dizzee Rascal
'Here's to them'
Marilyn/Glenn/Rick/Francis
Matt Goss
Busted
'Underneath that burning sun'
Paul Young
Matt Goss
Justin Hawkins
'You ain't gotta feel guilt, just selfless'
'Give a little help, to the helpless YO!'
2004 lines, not in the original version
Dizzee Rascal
'Do they know it's Christmas time at all?'
Paul Young
Cliff Richard
Joss Stone and Justin Hawkins
'Feed the World' (repeat)
All
All
Tom Chaplin
'Feed the World, Let them know it's Christmas time again' (repeat)
All
All
All
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