More Info on Band AidSimilar Pop & Rock MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring leading British and Irish musicians and recording artists. http://www.itv.com/daybreak/entertainment/music/bob-geldof/ Sir Bob Geldof on tour ITV.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011 http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1643506/looking-back-at-live-aid-25-years-later.jhtml Looking Back At Live Aid, 25 Years Later MTV. Retrieved 15 December 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/bob-geldof Bob Geldof The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2011 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. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/bandaid/ The 20th anniversary of Band Aid BBC. Retrieved 15 December 2011 http://books.google.com/books? id=zSQEAAAAMBAJ& pg=RA1-PA73& dq=do+they+know+its+christmas+-+sarm+west+studios+-+25+november& hl=en& ei=nlvpTon7O8SJhQeZ1PTsCg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=3& ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage& q=do%20they%20know%20its%20christmas%20-%20sarm%20west%20studios%20-%2025%20november& f=false Billboard 8 Dec 1984 Billboard. Retrieved 15 December 2011 The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the List of Christmas number one singles|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 .
Background
The name 'Band Aid' was chosen as a pun on the name of a Band-Aid|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 The Concert for Bangladesh|Concert for Bangladesh raising money for refugees in that country. http://www.thebeatles.com/#/news/George_Harrisons_Concert_For
Original Band-Aid
Chronology (1984)
unreferenced|section|date=November 2011The 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 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia|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 (broadcaster)|Richard Skinner , but instead of promoting the new The Boomtown Rats|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 (band)|Status Quo was deemed unusable, and replaced with section comprising Paul Weller (singer)|Paul Weller , Sting (musician)|Sting , and Heaven 17|Glenn Gregory . Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran sang between contributions from George Michael and Sting. Paul Young (singer and guitarist)|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 City|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 Value added tax|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 (song)|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.
Participants
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
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 (band)|Wings ) (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
The sleeve artist, Peter Blake (artist)|Peter Blake , was also credited on the sleeve.
Band-Aid II
This version, released in 1989 was produced by British songwriting and production team formed of Mike Stock (musician)|Mike Stock , Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman . The only artists from the original Band Aid to be featured again on this version were Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of Bananarama . This version topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, but ultimately achieved far less historical significance and status than its predecessor.
Production
On Friday 1 December 1989, Bob Geldof called Pete Waterman to ask if he would consider producing a new version of the song featuring the big stars from that time. Waterman immediately cancelled his weddingCitation needed|date=December 2009 (planned for that very day) and began calling up the artists. With just two days' notice, on Sunday 3 December, recording took place at PWL Studios in South London. Present in the studio was Bob Geldof, wife Paula Yates and six-year-old daughter, Fifi Trixiebelle, who was eager to meet Jason Donovan.
Production continued through the Monday, and by Tuesday 5 December the song was aired for the first time on London's Capital Radio . Advance sales of the record reached 500,000 and a number-one was inevitable. The song was released the following week on 11 December and spent three weeks at number one, becoming the 9th biggest selling song of the year, outselling Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna 's " Like a Prayer (song)|Like a Prayer ".
Participants
The line up for the Band Aid II project consisted of (in alphabetical order):
Most 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 (singer)|Paul Weller miming to Bono's line.
1984 musicians
John Taylor (bass guitarist)|John Taylor ( Duran Duran ) - bass
Will Young & Jamelia Or Ms Dynamite & Beverley Knight
'Where nothing ever grows'
Paul Young
Lisa Stansfield
Ms Dynamite & Beverley Knight
'No rain nor rivers flow'
Paul Weller
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? '
Not featured on this 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'
Not featured on this 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 X4)
All
All
Tom Chaplin
'Feed the World, Let them know it's Christmas time again' (repeat)
All
All
All
Related projects
The Band Aid project inspired other charity records around the world, including We Are the World by USA for Africa (in the United States ), Cantaré, cantarás|Cantaré Cantarás by Project Hermanos (in Latin America ), Nackt im Wind by Band für Afrika (in Germany ), Ethiopie by Chanteurs Sans Frontiere '(in France ), Tears Are Not Enough by Northern Lights (Canadian band)|Northern Lights (in Canada ), Show some Concern by The Concerned in Ireland , Sammen for Livet by Forente Artister (in Norway ), Maksamme Velkaa by Apua-Orkesteri (in Finland ), Chega de Mágoa by Nordeste Já (in Brazil ), Za milion godina by YU Rock Misija (in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia ), Stars (metal song)|Stars by Hear 'n Aid (international heavy metal music|heavy metal artists), Afrika written by Nanna Lüders Jensen|Nanna with various Denmark|Danish artists, and many others.
A compilation of video game s for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum was published under the name Soft Aid . It also featured a recording of the ''Do They Know It's Christmas? single. http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi? id=0011356
Parodies
A 1991 sketch on Saturday Night Live entitled "Musicians For Free Range Chickens" is similar to " Do They Know It's Christmas? " and USA for Africa 's " We Are the World ". The sketch featured Chris Farley as Carnie Wilson from Wilson Phillips, Tim Meadows as Lenny Kravitz, and Mike Myers as Mick Jagger.
A 2002 song by Pulp (band)|Pulp , "Bad Cover Version", featured a video parodying Band Aid, utilizing musician impersonators, in the Sarm studios. Impersonators included ' Mick Jagger ', ' Robbie Williams ', ' Liam Gallagher ', ' Noel Gallagher ', ' Cher ', ' Björk ', ' George Michael ', ' Phil Collins ', 'Sir Paul McCartney ', ' Bono ', ' David Bowie ', ' Rod Stewart ', ' Craig David ', ' Beyoncé Knowles ', ' Kylie Minogue ', ' Missy Elliott ', ' Kurt Cobain ', ' Jamiroquai ', ' Meat Loaf ', ' Elton John ', and ' Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones ', plus Jarvis Cocker himself appearing and impersonating Brian May ; all the lines of the song in the video were performed by impersonators themselves, singing in the voices of their stars.
In October 2005, Vice Records released a song entitled " Do They Know It's Hallowe'en? " by a collective consisting of many well-known musicians from the Indie (music)|independent music scene, going under the label of the North American Halloween Prevention Initiative (NAHPI); proceeds from the single were donated to United Nations Children's Fund|Unicef .
In Christmas 2004, local Bristol , England radio station "GWR FM" did a parody of the song, for local charities, entitled "Feed The Wurzels : Bristolian Band Aid.", it was, and still is available for download from the Bristol GWR FM website, and featured the GWR Radio presenters, along with celebrities such as Tony Robinson and Jack Nicholson .
The 2004 comedy film Shaun of the Dead featured Chris Martin on a British TV talk show wearing a shirt promoting "Zomb-Aid".
On the radio station VCPR in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City , which takes place in the 1980s, it is announced that the musical community had written a song for charity to be played for the people of Alaska, entitled "Do They Know It's the Fourth of July? "
The first season of the sketch comedy " Upright Citizen's Brigade " featured a parody of Band Aid in an episode entitled "The Little Donny Foundation" to raise money for a boy with a very unusual medical condition.
In episode 8F11 of The Simpsons , " Radio Bart ", when Bart pretends to be stuck down a well, Krusty, along with the help of Sting (musician)|Sting and other celebrities, organises a charity single , "We're Sending Our Love Down The Well", with distinct similarities to " Do They Know It's Christmas? " and USA for Africa 's " We Are the World "
Band Aid's exploits were parodied in an episode of Futurama , where famous celebrities gather together for 'Bend Aid', a Live Aid-style event designed to help broken robots, and South Park for 'Chef Aid'.
Gepetto News, a danish tv puppet show, made a danish parody of the song.
The Venture Bros. released a cover of the song as well.
In the episode "Tip of the day" in the animated series Phineas and Ferb , the brothers host a concert promoting the awareness of the Aglet called Aglet Aid.
In November 2009, the internet radio comedy program Comedy Death-Ray Radio put out a video parody of "Do They Know It's Christmas" featuring Paul F. Tompkins , R.O. Manse , Tig Notaro , Rob Huebel , Patton Oswalt , Mike Phirman , Jimmy Pardo , Brian Posehn & Scott Aukerman , Garfunkel & Oates , Aimee Mann , Chris Hardwick , Paul Scheer & June Diane Raphael , Doug Benson , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Nick Thune , "Weird Al" Yankovic , Cracked Out , Dragon Boy Suede , Natasha Leggero , Thomas Lennon (actor)|Thomas Lennon & Ed Helms (the latter two appearing by phone as David Bowie and Mick Jagger). The song was also available on the Comedy Death-Ray Christmas album.
Criticism
Claims of self-righteousness
In 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 (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 Situationist International|spectacle , designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger.
In a 1985 Time Out (company)|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.' Cite journal | last = Garfield | first = Simon | title = This Charming Man: No SEX No DRUGS No ROCK 'N' ROLL and Definitely No ROYALTY& #33; | journal = Time out | date = 7-13 Mar. | year = 1985 | url = http://foreverill.com/interviews/1985/charming.htm
View of Africa
The 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. http://za.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/thirdeye/t260053.htmcite news| url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/robert_crampton/article4296313.ece | work=The Times | location=London | title=America home of the brave who also obey all the rules | first=Robert | last=Crampton | date=9 July 2008 | accessdate=27 March 2010 It also insinuates that there are no rivers in Africa. There are many, such as the Nile River|Nile , the Niger River|Niger , and the Congo River|Zaire . 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.cite news| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4015231.stm | work=BBC News | title=World premiere of Band Aid song | date=16 November 2004 | accessdate=27 March 2010
See also
Hear 'n Aid
Live Aid
YU Rock Misija
USA For Africa
References
External links
UK charity|292199|Band Aid Charitable Trust
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=0L3OP4MkWW8 Documentary: Making of Band Aid Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=EbWz2Z6TAJQ Documentary: Making of Band Aid Part II
MusicBrainz artist|id=0ecaa896-58fa-4dca-b53d-8da7bc5f59c5|name=Band Aid
http://www.worldmusicdatabase.org/profile.php? id=Band%20Aid& tag= Band Aid at WorldMusicDatabase
s-starts-bef | before= Flying Pickets — Only You s-ttl | title= Christmas number-one singles in the UK|UK Christmas Number One single | years=1984 s-aft | after= Shakin' Stevens — Merry Christmas Everyone s-bef | before= Cliff Richard — Mistletoe and Wine s-ttl | title= Christmas number-one singles in the UK|UK Christmas Number One single | years=1989 s-aft | after= Cliff Richard — Saviour's Day s-bef | before= Michael Andrews (musician)|Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules — Mad World s-ttl | title= Christmas number-one singles in the UK|UK Christmas Number One single | years=2004 s-aft | after= Shayne Ward — That's My Goal endUK best-selling singles (by year) 1970–1989UK best-selling singles (by year) 1990–2009UK best-selling singles (by decade) Category:Musical advocacy groups Category:Charities based in the United Kingdom Category:Development charities Category:British pop music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1984 Category:1984 establishments in the United Kingdom
da:Band Aid de:Band Aid es:Band Aid fr:Band Aid id:Band Aid (grup musik) it:Band Aid nl:Band Aid ja:???·??? no:Band Aid pl:Band Aid pt:Band Aid simple:Band Aid (band) fi:Band Aid sv:Band Aid
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Band Aid
