Band Aid – Band Aid Special
The CD features the full 12″ Mix of “Do
They Kow It’s Christmas” as well as the “Single Version” and “Feed The
World” which were all featured on the original 12″ Single. This Special
Compilation include also songs from “The Boomtown Rats”, “Big Country”,
Genesis, Status Quo and Marilyn whom all participated in “The Band Aid
Project”.
History:
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 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 and
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 nine-year record held by Bohemian
Rhapsody. 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.
| EC0988 | VA – Band Aid-Band Aid Special |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Catalog#: | 32PD-27 |
| Format: | CD [Compilation] |
| Made in: | Japan |
| Released: | 1985 |
| Barcode: | – |
| Style: | New Wave, Pop Rock, Synth-pop |
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Band Aid – Band Aid Special
============================================================================
1. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? (12″ Mix)
Engineer – Trevor Horn
Producer – Midge Ure, Trevor Horn
Remix – Trevor Horn
Written-By – Geldof, Ure
2. Big Country – In A Big Country
Producer – Steve Lillywhite
Written-By – Big Country
3. Marilyn – Calling Your Name
Producer – Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley
Written-By – Marilyn, Caplin
4. Status Quo – Marguerita Time
Producer – Quo*
Written-By – Frost*, Rossi
5. The Boomtown Rats – Tonight
Producer – Boomtown Rats, The
Written-By – Bob Geldof
6. Genesis – That’s All
Producer – Genesis, Hugh Padgham
Written-By – Genesis
7. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Engineer – Steve Lipsom
Producer – Midge Ure, Trevor Horn
Written-By – Geldof, Ure
8. Bon Jovi – Runaway
Producer – Lance Quinn, Tony Bongiovi
Written-By – G. Karak, J. Bon Jovi
9. Elton John – Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Producer – Chris Thomas
Written-By – Elton John & Bernie Taupin
10. ABC – The Look Of Love
Producer – Trevor Horn
Written-By – ABC
11. Tears For Fears – Mothers Talk
Backing Vocals – Stevie Lange
Producer – Chris Hughes
Written-By – Ian Stanley
12. Band Aid – Feed The World
Engineer – Steve Lipsom
Producer – Midge Ure, Trevor Horn
Written-By – Geldof, Ure
Total Time: 00:50:26
* 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)
* Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)
* Marilyn
* Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
* Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
* Jody Watley (Shalamar)
* Bono (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, and previously Human League)
* John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
* Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
* Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
* Sara 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)
* 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) 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)
Notes▼
Among super hits of prominent names included on this special compilation album are songs by The Boomtown Rats, Big Country, Genesis, Status Quo, and Marilyn who participated in the Band Aid project.
℗ 1985 Phonogram International, B.V.
Manufactured and Distributed by Nippon Phonogram Co., Ltd.
Made in Japan
Other Identifiers▼
Rights Society: JASRAC
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