Band Aid (band)
| Band Aid | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Christmas |
| Years active | 1984 |
| Associated acts | |
Band Aid is a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine 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. In November 2014, a new version of the song was recorded by artists under the name of Band Aid 30.
The supergroup was formed by Bob Geldof, who was then lead singer of Irish Band The Boomtown Rats. The BBC played a major role in capturing the poverty affecting Ethiopian citizens and thereby influenced Geldof to take action. Paula Yates, Bob Geldof’s partner, is considered to have been the brains behind the original Band Aid. It was she who became the driving force that inspired (and helped) Geldof to rally the most famous pop stars of the Eighties to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
The group was composed of forty artists to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983-1985 . The group's name stemmed from the idea that the musicians were providing aid to the less fortunate and suggested that their project was likened to putting a band-aid on a wound. Geldof was looking for support from all nations for Africa beginning in the United Kingdom. To do so, the artists recorded a hit single titled "Do They Know It’s Christmas?" depicting the poverty stricken African scenery of the time. Lyrics of the song included description of the country saying, “where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow, do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” Ethiopia follows the Orthodox calendar where Christmas is celebrated on the seventh of January, however, when the song was recorded (during the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia), the country had a Communist government and as such religious festivals were not celebrated.
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