Bob Geldof defends Band Aid's impact as fundraising single turns 40

The archetypal Band Aid line-up stitchery to grounds foundation azygous successful November 1984 (Image: PA)

They whitethorn person been dubbed cynics astatine the time, but the naysayers who pointed retired immoderate of the lyrical weaknesses to Do They Know It’s Christmas? successful retrospect, astir apt did marque a fewer salient points.

“There won’t beryllium snowfall successful Africa this Christmas time,” sang Bono and a slew of different popular stars. The information this mightiness beryllium a astonishment to Tanzanians and Kenyans surviving anyplace adjacent Mount Kilimanjaro was considered, astatine the time, a sarcastic gag for satirists and the precise mean-spirited.

Four decades connected from the merchandise of 1 of the biggest foundation singles of each time, a 2024 Ultimate Mix of the song, which archetypal came into being aft Bob Geldof was traumatised by the images of starving Ethiopians reported by Michael Buerk for the BBC that autumn, volition beryllium released connected Monday. Whether radical bargain it oregon not, the Christmas perennial volition nary uncertainty beryllium playing successful stores, supermarkets and buying centres nationwide.

But 1 prima who won’t beryllium enjoying the caller Ultimate Mix is Ed Sheeran who, earlier this week, stated connected Instagram that helium hadn’t been consulted astir his dependable (taken from the 2014 version) being utilized again.

“My support wasn’t sought connected this caller Band Aid 40 release,” Sheeran wrote. “Had I had the prime I would person respectfully declined the usage of my vocals.” The Galway Girl prima went connected to accidental that helium had been educated successful the ways that antagonistic stereotyping of Africa tin beryllium sustained by foundation singles, a volte look Sheeran attributes to the power of British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG, who has complained that, “while they [charity singles specified arsenic Band Aid] whitethorn make sympathy and donations, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economical growth, tourism, and investment, yet costing the continent trillions and destroying its dignity, pridefulness and identity”.

But whether existent oregon not, amid the clamour, it’s important to authorities that Geldof wasn’t the archetypal to travel up with the thought of popular stars getting unneurotic to rise wealth for charity. George Harrison rounded up Bob Dylan, chap ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton among others for a performance astatine Madison Square Garden successful assistance of the humanitarian situation unfolding successful the past newly-independent authorities of Bangladesh 13 years earlier Band Aid.

The iconic azygous has sold astir 4 cardinal copies since 1984 (Image: Band Aid)

Geldof himself deed backmost yesterday, saying: “ ‘It’s a popular opus FFS... This small popular opus has kept hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of radical alive.

“In information conscionable contiguous Band Aid has fixed hundreds of thousands of pounds to assistance those moving from the wide slaughter successful Sudan and capable currency to provender a further 8,000 children successful the aforesaid affected areas of Ethiopia arsenic 1984.”

Music writer Patrick Humphries believes Do They Know It’s Christmas?, and consequent performance jamborees successful London and Philadelphia, don’t rather chime with modern sensibilities astir personage fundraising.

“The bequest is achromatic men patronising achromatic Africans, thing Comic Relief had to woody with later,” helium contends. “But for maine the statement was, ‘By buying this record, I americium doing thing to help’.

“At a clip erstwhile popular euphony was each astir Thatcherite self-involvement, emphasised by groups similar Wham, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet who seemed to sum up the full Yuppie ‘greed is good’ ethos, astatine slightest present were stone stars being liable and doing thing for different people.”

The opus was a deed successful the UK, having sold astir 4 cardinal copies to date.

By refusing to woody with managers and agents and speaking lone to the stars themselves, Geldof’s confrontational attack meant that helium was capable to corral Sting, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, Boy George, George Michael, Bono, and Phil Collins into Sarm West Studios successful Notting Hill connected November 25, 1984.

Their task was to sing a opus that helium had already partially written, with the intent that it could perchance beryllium utilized arsenic a conveyance for his band, by present hideously past their champion post-punk act, the Boomtown Rats.

Selling astir 4 cardinal copies successful the UK and 12 cardinal worldwide, Do They Know It’s Christmas? spent 5 weeks astatine the apical of the singles illustration and has gone connected to rise much than £140million successful the past 4 decades done the opus itself, 3 consequent versions (released successful 1989, 2004 and 2014) the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts and innumerable different philanthropic ventures that person been rolled retired by the Band Aid Charitable Trust.

Ed Sheeran, present arriving to grounds the Band Aid 30 azygous successful 2014, has present disowned the task (Image: Alamy)

Yet contention dogged Geldof’s task from the outset. As aboriginal arsenic 1986, the American euphony mag Spin published a damning nonfiction connected the project, claiming that proceeds from the song, arsenic good arsenic Live Aid, whitethorn person unintentionally helped Ethiopia’s ruling dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam to acquisition weapons from the Soviet Union. Geldof has ne'er commented connected the exposure but helium has issued stern rebukes to critics of Band Aid implicit the intervening years. “They [critics of the project] tin f*** off,” helium erstwhile said with his trademark bluntness.

Yet critics of Band Aid person refused to heed Geldof’s advice. Former Medecins sans Frontieres president Rony Brauman said, “aid could beryllium turned against those toward whom it was directed and those delivering the assistance integrated into a strategy of oppression”.

He went connected to adhd that alleviation agencies and their funders could beryllium “part of the problem, not portion of the solution”.

Geldof erstwhile said that helium was “happy to shingle hands with the devil connected my near and the devil connected my close to get to the radical who request help”. Yet this attitude, laudable arsenic it whitethorn look connected the surface, isn’t without complications.

David Rieff, writer of A Bed For The Night: Humanitarianism successful Crisis, wrote: “Geldof takes a morally superior quality with respectable arguments connected some sides… and turns it into a p***ing lucifer successful an alley down a pub.”

Zambian-born economist Dambisa Moyo’s publication Dead Aid is dismissive of the personage assistance conception successful its entirety. She claims galore assistance organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are much funny successful perpetuating poorness successful bid to warrant their ain existence, portion besides contending that lone 10% of Africans were surviving successful poorness successful the 1970s, compared to 70% 40 years later. Yet if you boil Band Aid’s mandate down to axenic money-making, it’s hard to reason with Geldof’s determination to marque a azygous utilizing lone the astir successful, and predominantly white, British talent.

An effort by Jerry Dammers of The Specials to merchandise a foundation grounds utilizing achromatic musicians, entitled Starvation, enjoyed lone minimal success. The opus which featured the biggest stars connected the 2Tone grounds statement hobbled location to a highest illustration presumption of 33 successful the UK singles charts successful 1985.

“My representation is that the disapproval was aimed astatine Geldof reviving his vocation – the Rats had agelong gone disconnected the charts,” recalls Humphries. “But the opus took connected its ain momentum and by buying it radical felt they were helping. I retrieve Geldof saying radical would property currency connected him truthful helium had to support it successful a abstracted pocket.

George Michael, Bob Geldof, Sting and Simon Le Bon during making of Do They Know It's Christmas? (Image: Brian Aris/Band Aid Trust)

“He was a cleanable spokesman, articulate, passionate, a unit of nature, I can’t ideate anyone other making it work.

“But I don’t deliberation it would person the aforesaid interaction if it happened now. I deliberation determination would beryllium truthful galore barriers and the BAME quotient would person to beryllium paramount. The 1984 archetypal was aimed astatine the Smash Hits popular fan, which I conjecture accounted for truthful galore achromatic contributors.”

Today 1 small, somewhat depressing, justification for the awkwardness of the archetypal lyrics comes, ironically, successful the signifier of clime change.

The rapidly receding snowfall caps connected Mount Kilimanjaro person resulted successful determination being 90% little crystal connected and astir its acme contiguous than determination was erstwhile humans archetypal made technological studies successful the precocious 19th century. Bono and co’s refrain of their not being immoderate snowfall successful Africa may, this Christmas, marque sense.

Patrick Humphries caller book, With The Beatles, is published by Great Northern Book priced £25