Important Information

Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring mainly American, British, and Irish musicians and recording artists.
It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year.
On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK four days later.
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.Chronology (1984)The original 1984 Feed the world logo was designed by Phil Smee of Waldo's Design, who designed all the Ads prior to the event being announced.
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, from Heaven 17.
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.
In 1986 the original music video from "Do They Know It's Christmas?" received Band Aid a Grammy Award nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form.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.ParticipantsThe original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):Adam Clayton (U2)Andy Summers (The Police)Ringo Starr (The Beatles)Slash (Guns N' Roses)Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)Jon Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi)Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)Joe Perry (Aerosmith)Brian Johnson (AC/DC)Gene Simmons (Kiss)Phil Collins (Genesis, solo)Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)Geddy Lee (Rush)Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)Roger Daltrey (The Who)Glenn Frey (Eagles)Paul Stanley (Kiss)Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)Chris Cross (Ultravox)John Taylor (Duran Duran)Paul YoungTony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)Jermaine Jackson (Jackson 5)Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)MarilynKeren (Bananarama)Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)Jody Watley (Shalamar)Bono (U2)Paul Weller (The Style Council)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)Sara (Bananarama)Siobhan (Bananarama)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)Sting (The Police)Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)Also including:Boy George (Culture Club)Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)Holly (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)David BowieStuart 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.Effectiveness & SuccessThe hit single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, was incredibly successful worldwide.
It sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than twenty-four million USD.
The supergroups success was seen as an large increase in Celebrity Diplomacy.
There was then similar actions of support from countries such as Canada, France, Spain and the United States.
The success influenced two organizations of live Benefit Concerts run by Celebrity Charity.
The concerts were USA for Africa and Live Aid and were broadcast in over 165 countries across the globe.
Band Aid and Live Aid combined raised about 150 million USD for the famine relief effort in Ethiopia.
This is the most money raised than all previous celebrity charity combined.The first hit was so popular that several of the artists got together again to do a cover version of the original song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” These artists include Dido, Robbie Williams and Chris Martin.
The group has now come together a total of three occasions comprised of popular British and Irish musicians.Musicians and instrumentationMost of the people involved in the original Band Aid single appeared on the 1984 Christmas edition of Top of the Pops to mime to the record.
However Bono could not attend, which led to the spectacle of Paul Weller miming to Bono's line.
According to the film made by The Tube on the days of the recording 24–25 November 1984, Bob Geldof says The Edge from U2 was to have played guitar on the track but was unable to as he was in hospital at the time with a kidney infection.1984 musiciansJohn Taylor (Duran Duran) - bassPhil Collins (Genesis) - drumsMidge Ure (Ultravox) - keyboardsPaul Weller (The Style Council/The Jam) - guitarGary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) - guitarJon Moss (Culture Club) - Percussion/BellsTears for Fears - Drum Samples from the track 'The Hurting'1989 musiciansMike Stock - keyboardsMatt Aitken - keyboards & guitarChris Rea - guitarLuke Goss (Bros) - drums2004 musiciansPaul McCartney - bassDanny Goffey (Supergrass) - drumsThom Yorke (Radiohead) - pianoFran Healy (Travis) - rhythm guitarJustin Hawkins (The Darkness) - lead guitarDan Hawkins (The Darkness) - lead guitarCharlie Simpson (Busted) - rhythm guitarClaims of self-righteousnessIn 1986, the anarchist band Chumbawamba released the album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, as well as an EP entitled "We Are the World", jointly recorded with US band A State of Mind, both of which were intended as anti-capitalist critiques of the Band Aid/Live Aid phenomenon.
They argued that the record was primarily a cosmetic spectacle, designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger.In a 1985 Time Out interview, Morrissey gave his views about the song:'I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical.
Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character.
Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to.
In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless.
One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of Great Britain.
It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved.
And it wasn't done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.' View of AfricaThe song presents a very bleak view of Africa, which the lyrics appear to refer to as a whole.
Some of these, such as the suggestions (if read literally) that the continent has no rainfall or successful crops, have been seen as absurd by critics.
It also insinuates that there are no rivers in Africa.
There are many, such as the Nile, the Niger, and the Congo.
At the time of the 2004 release, the World Development Movement spoke out on this issue, describing the lyrics as "patronising, false and out of date", although there was no attempt to discourage purchase of the song.