Forty years ago, a rag-tag band of pop stars checked their egos at the door and made us all help feed the world… and the record wasn’t bad, either! 

A biblical famine 

Michael Buerk’s 1984 BBC news reports of the catastrophic climate-induced famine in Ethiopia, which he described as “biblical”, are well remembered by those who saw them in real time. And if you did, I imagine that, like all of us, you were distraught and stricken with helpless frustration that people were dying of starvation in the 20th century. A starvation that seemed completely needless and cruel.

These feelings were shared by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who also watched Buerk’s reports. A Boomtown Rat and an Ultravoxer, respectively – two mere pop stars, and not particularly A-listers at that. But what they did next would elevate them both to something akin to Top of the Pops sainthood.

We have to do something and we have to do it now!  

Instead of shrugging his shoulders in helpless despair, Bob got on the phone to Midge and said: “We have to do something. Anything. But we have to do something and do it now!”

So, they did what songwriters do; given they were both adept at writing the words and music to big hit singles, they started playing around with a guitar and a notepad and pencil, with a view to making a charity record that would donate all its money from sales to hunger relief charities in Ethiopia. And while coming up with the bones of the song we’ve all come to know and love today, they started thinking about how best to get this record out in the open, so as many people as possible would hear it, buy it, and contribute to the aid programme.

We’re gonna need a bigger band… 

Well, a Bob and Midge record, no matter how good it might have been, was never going to reach the numbers needed for a project like this. Something the two were clearly aware of, fortunately. But Geldof was a well-connected schmoozer in the pop world, and Ure had been around the block more than a few times himself, so they opened up their little black books and started ringing around. Bowie…Sting…Bono…the Frankies, the Durannies and the Spandaus…Wham! and the Bananaramas…Quo and the Style Council…Paul Young…Culture Club…Kool and the Gang and Jody Watley (well, they were in town, so why not? And last but not least among some other fine British pop stars and one hit wonders, the drummer in Genesis. Erm, Phil Collins. Forty of ‘em in all. 

Missing in action 

There were some notable absences, though. David Bowie, for whom the opening lines were originally intended, but eventually recorded by Paul Young, couldn’t make the session. He did sing those opening lines the following year at the ensuing Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. Holly Johnson didn’t make his flight down to London, but Boy George did; he flew in from New York on Concorde, all at his own expense. As for Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Elvis Costello, and perhaps the biggest star absent from this galaxy, Paul McCartney, there was no sign. 

Bowie, Holly and Macca all recorded messages for the B-side, though, so they were there in spirit. Oh, and our very own Stephen Morrissey, once of this parish, but now living in some dark, narrow corridor of his now closed mind, hated the project… which he charmlessly restated ad nauseam to anyone who’d listen. 

Where egos dare 

Now that’s a lot of ego – not to mention hairspray and blusher, and that was just the Duran/Spandau axis of fabulousness – for anyone to contend with, but Geldof and Ure were well liked and respected in equal measure by all concerned. The recording, over the course of a bright November day at Trevor Horn’s SARM Studios in Notting Hill, was a resounding success. No tears, no tantrums and no artistic differences. Just every one of them wanting to make a positive difference. And, who knows, perhaps get some makeup tips from Boy George or highlights from the other George? Well, we can imagine, can’t we? 

Next stop…world domination with Live Aid and USA for Africa 

And the rest is, of course, history. It’s still the fastest-selling single in the UK and was only supplanted at the top of the all-time sales charts by Elton John’s Candle in the Wind tribute to Princess Diana. It inspired the Americans to do something similar (but nowhere near as brilliant as ours…of course). And it spawned what still remains an astonishing day of live music the following year, as countries all over the world hosted Live Aid concerts to help alleviate the famine in Ethiopia. Events that were watched on TV by 40% of the world’s population – 1.9 billion of us.  

It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid… 

And it just isn’t Christmas without it, so firmly has it ensconced itself into our pop and wider culture. So, Merry Christmas everybody, and let’s raise a glass and a cheer for that magical time when hope became a real possibility – even if for only a short time. And two fading pop stars shone more brightly than they could ever have dreamt possible.

By Mark Kureishy