Over here at Christmas FM we’re not really supposed to play favourites with the music…but it’s safe to say that Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is up there with some of the best.
Not only did it feature 36 of the biggest artists of all time (Bananarama, Bono, Boy George, Duran Duran, George Michael, Spandau Ballet, Sting…come on!), it also raised more than £8 million (approximately $14 million at the time) for famine relief efforts in Ethiopia.
Not to mention that it’s a certified Christmas banger, sure to get even your shyest work colleague up for a sing song at the Christmas party.
Background
On November 25 1984, an all-star lineup of British and Irish musicians gathered to record the hit single in aid of the Ethiopian famine appeal, brought together by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.
The single quickly topped the UK Singles Chart and became the Christmas number one in 1984. It remained at number one for five weeks and sold over three million copies in the UK alone, making it the fastest-selling single at the time.
The song was recorded in one day at SARM Studios, Notting Hill, filmed by director Nigel Dick. While some of the footage was used for the song’s music video, much of what Nigel recorded has remained unseen for 40 years – until now.
Documentary
This new documentary, The Making Of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, unearths 75 minutes of original footage, shot on 16mm film, showing how the song was recorded over the course of one day at a studio in London.
In the footage, stars including Bananarama, Bono, Boy George, Duran Duran, George Michael, Spandau Ballet and Sting rehearse and record their parts and interact with each other during the 24 hours which would make musical history.
73-year-old Geldof said: “That Sunday morning when a bunch of young spotty English pop stars who were (more or less) just out of school and had taken over the pop culture of the world, ambled up a Ladbroke Grove street in London to make a song their friends had written for the starving people of Ethiopia, they could never have understood the enormous consequences of that day.”
He continued: “These rock stars piling into the control room, babies under arm – it was a Sunday, family day, chipping in, laughing, shouting suggestions, taking the piss, funny, having fun making history, on top of the world. And boy can they sing. Compare and contrast with the American follow up and it’s hyper-sophisticated, hyper super-talent, hyper-organised and professional and our lot, basically a bunch of bouffanted oiks giving it large and being quite brilliant.”
“What wonderful people they were. And largely still are. Great film.”
When & Where
The Making of Do They Know It’s Christmas will air on BBC Four in late November, though the exact date is yet to be confirmed.
We’ll keep you posted when we find out more!
