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Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas

Band Aid (band)
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Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market. 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 Trevor Horn.

Background
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.

The group has reformed 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. Co-writer Midge Ure once commented: 'Every generation should have its own version'.

[edit] Original Band Aid

[edit] Chronology (1984)
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, was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try and raise money using his contacts in pop music. The news report itself has become famous, being voted among the greatest television moments of the century, and it remains Buerk's definitive work, even though most of his career was spent as an anchorman.

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 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, including the memorable opening 'African Drum' beat. But in reality, 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. 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.

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 3 December, 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. 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, modeled 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, with the following statement made shortly after the video's mixing scrolling upwards in the credits:

"Dear Bob and Midge,
It's 8:00am on the 28th November 1984 just 48 short hours after you'd finished mixing the record. The video is complete and ready for TV sets all over the world.

Over twenty people were responsible for making this video: they gave us their time and their expertise. For this we shall be eternally grateful.

Our thanks too to the following for giving us the tools to do this job:

Tattoist International
Cinefocus
Visions
Rob Wright
Agfa Gavaert Ltd
Film Lighting Services
Phonogram Records
Polygram Music Video
Polygram Video
Sarm Studios
Vanderquest
AKA
Kays Labs
Maurice Placquet
and...
anyone we've forgotten!

It's time we went home too. Thanks for giving us the chance to do this for you.

Merry Christmas
FEED THE WORLD

Nigel, Dave and Rob."

[edit] Participants
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):

Phil Collins (Genesis)
Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
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)
Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)
Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Jody Watley (Shalamar)
Bono (U2)
Adam Clayton (U2)
Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam)
James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang)
George Michael (Wham!)
Midge Ure (Ultravox)
Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
Sarah Dallin (Bananarama)
Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)
Sting (The Police)
Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & The Gang)
Dennis Thomas (Kool & The Gang)
Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
Jon Moss (Culture Club, former member of Adam and the Ants)
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)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)
Paul McCartney (Wings and The Beatles, 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.

[edit] Band Aid II

[edit] Participants
This version, released in 1989, was produced by British songwriting and production team Stock Aitken Waterman. It stayed at number one for three weeks in the UK Singles Chart. Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of Bananarama were the only artists from the original Band Aid that were featured again on this version. This version also topped the British singles charts, but is less memorable than the original version and not as highly regarded.

The line up for the Band Aid II project consisted of (in alphabetical order):

Mary, Audrey & Roger Taylor
Bananarama
Big Fun
Bros
Cathy Dennis
D Mob
Jason Donovan
Kevin Godley
Glen Goldsmith
Kylie Minogue
The Pasadenas
Chris Rea
Cliff Richard
Jimmy Somerville
Sonia
Lisa Stansfield
Technotronic
Wet Wet Wet

[edit] Band Aid 20
The Band Aid 20 single was first played simultaneously on the The Chris Moyles Show (on BBC Radio One) and the breakfast shows on Virgin and Capital radio, at 8am on 16 November 2004. The video was first broadcast in the UK simultaneously over multiple channels, including the five UK terrestrial channels, at 5.55pm on 18 November 2004, with an introduction by Madonna.

British artist Damien Hirst designed an intimidating cover for the Band Aid 20 single, featuring the grim reaper and a starving African child. However, this was later dropped after fears that it might scare children. The single was released on 29 November 2004, with all money raised going toward famine relief in the Darfur region of Sudan.

One of the new ways to buy the song, by downloading it from the Internet, hit a problem when Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store initially refused to supply it, due to their fixed-pricing policy. A partial solution was reached after a few days, enabling UK users to download the song at the standard iTunes price, with Apple donating an extra amount (equivalent to the price difference) to the Band Aid Trust.

The CD version sold over 200,000 copies in the first week, and became the fastest-selling single of the year.

[edit] Participants
Organisers and producers:

Midge Ure – organizer
Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Paul McCartney) and Bob Geldof – producers.
Instruments:

Danny Goffey (Supergrass) – drums
Thom Yorke (Radiohead) – piano
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) – guitar
Sir Paul McCartney – bass guitar
Fran Healy (Travis) – guitar
Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) – guitar
Dan Hawkins (The Darkness) – guitar
Vocals:

Bono (U2)
Fran Healy (Travis)
Daniel Bedingfield
Natasha Bedingfield
Sugababes
Vishal Das
Busted
Chris Martin (Coldplay)
Dido – performed separately from a studio in Melbourne
Dizzee Rascal – the only artist to add lyrics to the song
Ms Dynamite
Skye Edwards (Morcheeba)
Estelle
Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy)
James Melia
Justin Hawkins
Tom Chaplin (Keane)
Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)
Beverley Knight
Lemar
Shaznay Lewis (All Saints)
Katie Melua
RÃ³isÃn Murphy (Moloko)
Feeder
Snow Patrol
Rachel Stevens
Joss Stone
The Thrills
Turin Brakes
Robbie Williams – performed separately from a studio in Los Angeles
Will Young
Bono, Paul McCartney and George Michael were the only artists from the original Band Aid who had been asked back to lend their voices to Band Aid 20. There was a reported dispute over the line 'Tonight thank God it's them, instead of you', which Bono sang on the original version. Justin Hawkins, of The Darkness, laid down a version of the line, but Bono insisted on re-recording his version, which was eventually used on the record.

Although he wasn't invited, Blur's frontman and songwriter Damon Albarn, wanted to assist. Bono advised him to make tea. 'I asked him to make the tea,' the U2 frontman explained to Xfm, 'I saw him on Thursday night. He said "I don't know what to do." I said, "Make tea." He said "You really think so?" I said, "Yeah, make tea!"' Albarn quite happily responded, and thus served biscuits and tea for the participants, as well as appearing briefly in the video, at which Bono 'fatherly' commented: 'Good on him. I always knew that boy would turn out good in the end.'

The single sold 72,000 copies in the first 24 hours when it was released on 29 November 2004, and went straight in at No. 1 in the UK charts on 5 December 2004. It stayed at No. 1 for Christmas and the week after, all in all holding onto the top spot for four weeks, one week shorter than the original had done in 1984.

While this version also sold many records, and raised a lot of money for famine relief, most still considered the original version of the song superior.

1984 musicians
John Taylor (Duran Duran) - bass
Phil Collins - drums
Midge Ure - keyboards
Jens Langhorn - additional drums
Adam Clayton (U2) - bass

[edit] 1989 musicians
Mike Stock - Keyboards
Matt Aitken - Keyboards & Guitar
Chris Rea - Guitar
Luke Goss (Bros) - drums

[edit] 2004 musicians
Paul McCartney - bass
Danny Goffey (Supergrass) - drums
Thom Yorke (Radiohead) - piano
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) - guitar
Fran Healy (Travis) - guitar
Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) - guitar
Dan Hawkins (The Darkness) - guitar

[edit] Related projects
The Band Aid project inspired other charity records around the world, including "We Are the World" by USA for Africa (in the U.S.), "CantarÃ© CantarÃ¡s" by Hermanos in Latin America, "Nackt im Wind" by Band für Afrika (in Germany), "Ethiopie" by Chanteurs Sans Frontiere (composed by Renaud SÃ©chan) in France, "Tears Are Not Enough" by Northern Lights in Canada), "Sammen for Livet" by Forente Artister in Norway, Za Milion Godina by YU Rock Misija in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "Stars" by Hear 'n Aid (international heavy metal artists), and many others. Danish single 'Afrika' written by Nanna with various Danish artists, and released in 1985.

A compilation of video games for the ZX Spectrum was published under the name Soft Aid. It also featured a recording of the Do They Know It's Christmas? single.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_Aid_(band)

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