It was the ultimate Christmas gift for the MTV generation — British superstars we had become accustomed to seeing in heavy rotation on the young network — now gathered in one place, at one time, singing one song.
"Do They Know it's Christmas?" became the number one song of Christmas 1984 and featured the likes of stars George Michael, Sting, Boy George, Bono and many more.
The song was the brainchild of Boomtown Rats' lead singer Bob Geldolf, who wanted to bring his friends together to record a song to raise money to fight the famine in Ethiopia. Geldof was inspired after seeing a BBC documentary on the subject earlier in the year.
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The song was recorded in an all-night session at a London studio and released to the public just four days later. The superstars called their group Band Aid. It was a huge hit in the UK, shooting to number one on the charts almost immediately and staying there for more than a month. To this day, it is second only to Elton John's 1997 tribute song to Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind", a remake from his 1973 song first dedicated to Marilyn Monroe.
It was also a hit in the U.S., peaking in January of 1985. But the impact of the song extends to more than just its time on the charts. Band Aid inspired American superstars to record "We Are The World" that same month under the name USA for Africa.
Geldof followed up his efforts with Live Aid concerts, which most recently has been in the public eye because of the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", which showed the ailing Freddie Mercury performing with his band Queen, in what some people have called one of the best live performances in history.
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Over the past 35 years, it hasn't been all jolly with the UK's best selling Christmas song. It gets under a lot of people's skin for being patronizing, insulting and self-righteous about Africa. Consider some of the lyrics:
- "There's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dread and fear"
- "And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime. The greatest gift they'll get this year is life, where nothing ever grows. No rain nor rivers flow. Do they know it's Christmastime at all?" (Some Africans say 'yes' as many parts of their continent are Christian).
- “Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you." (Bono, who sang that line, reportedly 'hated' it and had to be persuaded to do it).
However, the well-intentioned song ended up raising 24 million dollars for famine relief and was remade three additional times: 1989, 2004 and 2014.
In addition to inspiring USA for Africa and Live Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" eventually inspired other charitable endeavors, including 1987's Comic Relief spearheaded by Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams to help raise money for America's homeless population.
"Do They Know It's Christmas" also inspired 80's hits "Sun City", an anti-apartheid anthem, and "That's What Friends are For", the Dionne Warwick and Friend's hit to raise money for AIDS research.
