Bob Geldof is assembling another all-star line-up to record another charity single, 30 years on from the original Band Aid
hen Bob Geldof called Midge Ure in 1984 to suggest making a charity single for famine relief in Ethiopia, little could he have known that he was making one of the most famous phone calls in music history. The resulting single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, would go on to not only top the UK singles chart for five weeks, selling three million copies, but also go to No 1 in 14 countries, and inspire countless equivalent charity records worldwide – notably USA For Africa’s We Are The World – and ultimately the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley.Well, Bob’s at it again, with a 30th anniversary re-recording of Do They Know It’s Christmas? due to be released in time for, well, Christmas. Details are patchy so far: the only act officially confirmed for the project as yet are One Direction (bless ’em…) but rumour has it Adele, Ben Howard, Alt-J and Florence & The Machine are among the other artists in the frame for the new recording. It’s also understood that this time around, profits raised will go towards fighting Ebola in Africa.
Altogether now: “It’s One Direction, there’s no need to be afraid…”
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