amazing: Sir Bob Geldof is releasing a brand-new, reimagined version of the classic Christmas song to commemorate the occasion.
‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ by Band Aid was first released forty years ago this year.
Sir Bob Geldof is releasing a brand-new, reimagined version of the classic Christmas song to commemorate the occasion.
Audio from three prior iterations of the song will be included in Band Aid 40, which will include performances by artists including Ed Sheeran, Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, Harry Styles, and George Michael, Sting, and Bono.
Bob was interviewed by James Bassam of Gold on the tune, which is fully viewable above.
Because we have the three official Band Aids—84, 04, and 2014—that represent those three generations of performers, I believe that this album represents a little portion of British rock and roll history and traces the genre’s evolution over the past 40 years.
“They did create the ambient conditions for the culture of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. And to hear a young Rita Ora sing with Sinead O’Connor, a young Sting sing with, say, a young Harry Styles, Bananarama and the Suganabes, Underworld and Kool and the Gang, Guy Garvey and Boy George sing together, or George Michael at his most beautiful and powerful singing with Paul Weller or Tony Hadley. It’s remarkable.
Sir Bob also mentioned his desire for David Bowie to be featured on the record.
“And David Bowie added it at the start to bring everything together. It was against the regulations and so would not be played by Top of the Pops. You must have been in the top 40. So I phoned Michael Grade, the head of the BBC. ‘No, you can’t go on Top of the Pops, but I’ll give you a program beforehand and have someone explain it,’ he replied.
“So, as you do, I contacted David Bowie. Complete brilliance. And in a musical sense, everyone on the first one was Bowie’s offspring. When David finally arrived, he was a fantastic man who looked stunning and cool.
‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ he said. “Wear my fucking T-shirt,” I said. Bowie is wearing my fucking Feed the World T-shirt and still looks awesome and cool.
He tops and tails it, too. And by incorporating these aspects of the past, Trevor Horn has perfectly complemented it with a guy who is timeless.
“Bowie will always be listened to and will have a significant impact on British music. Definitely. He tips it off and tails it. And in between you have the best musicians, without a doubt the best in British pop history. At the conclusion, when the three choirs are arranged in a single line, David returns.
“He adds, ‘Rock and roll will alter the world,’ someone once claimed. “Happy Christmas.”
