Tag Archives: famine

1984 ➤ Band Aid: The smash hit that earned 47 artists three platinum discs each

Band Aid , Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The Band Aid band, Nov 25, 1984: most of the pop stars who performed, plus artist Peter Blake who created the record sleeve for Do They Know It’s Christmas?

◼︎ SPANDAU BASSIST MARTIN KEMP REMINDS US via Twitter that on this day in 1984, he and about 40 other mainly British superstars went into the studio under the group name of Band Aid to record the fund-raising single, Do They Know It’s Christmas? This collabarative gesture in the name of charity held the record for 13 years as the UK’s biggest selling chart single of all time. It raised millions for the Ethiopian famine and led directly to Live Aid, the globally televised rock concerts in 1985. Kemp said today: “It still gives me a tingle when I hear it” and then proudly posted a picture of the three platinum discs he and every other participant received a year later after it had clocked more than 3 million sales in the UK.

➢ Band Aid ’84, when pop made its noblest gesture but the 80s ceased to swing
➢ Ure and Kemp on the shenanigans that led up to Band Aid

Martin Kemp, Band Aid,BPI, Do They Know It’s Christmas

Martin Kemp’s three platinum discs presented by the BPI for sales of Do They Know It’s Christmas?

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