Band Aid
Do They Know
It’s Christmas?
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 The year was 1984
 Television News reports were showing
harrowing images of the starving children
in Ethiopia
 Bob Geldof was a Dublin-born musician
and lead singer of the band “The
Boomtown Rats” who were very popular at
the time
 Geldof was so moved and upset by the
News reports from Ethiopia, that he
decided to do something about it
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 Geldof wrote the lyrics for a charity single
 He contacted Midge Ure from the band
Ultravox who wrote the melody and
backing track for Geldof’s lyrics
 Geldof then contacted many of the most
popular British and Irish performers of the
time and persuaded them to give their
time free to record the single.
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 Geldof decided to call this group of
performers “Band Aid”. This had two
meanings.
 Band Aid was the name of a bandage, so
the group was helping to heal the
situation in Ethiopia
 The group was also a Band that was
providing Aid to starving people in
Ethiopia
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 Geldof had use of a recording studio for
free for just 24 hours
 On 25 November 1984, the song was
recorded and mixed
 44 performers sang on the single
 The single was released on November
29th, 1984
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 The song went straight to No. 1 in the UK
Singles Chart
 It sold a million copies in the first week
alone
 It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks and was
the Christmas No. 1 Single that year
 It became the highest selling single in the
UK at the time, eventually selling three
million copies
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 Geldof had promised that every penny
raised would go to the charity
 But the British government refused to
waive the tax on sales of the single
 Geldof publicly stood up to the Prime
Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher.
 Eventually, the government backed down
and donated the tax back to the charity
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 A new version of the song was recorded in
1989 under the name Band Aid II
 It again reached No. 1 for Christmas
raising more money for the charity
 It became the final No. 1 of the 1980’s
 It was the final song to be played on Top
of the Pops in the 1980s
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 Another version of the song was recorded
in 2004 for the 20th anniversary of the
original recording under the name Band
Aid 20
 Again the song went to No. 1 in the charts
 However, the original version of the song
still remains the most popular
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
 The original version of the Band Aid song can be viewed
on YouTube here:
 http://youtu.be/6EJWEXrykdQ
© Nollaig Shona 2012 www.nollaigshona.ie