'Do They Know It's Christmas?' by Band Aid: The making of the original Feed The World hit

2 December 2024, 13:09

The megamix is great, but you can't beat the original Band Aid.

Charity singles have long been a fixture in the charts. George Harrison's 'Bangla Desh' is said to be the first high profile example back in 1971, but it was 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' by Band Aid that really set the blueprint.

An unprecedented all-star extravaganza, it was the first charity single to top the charts and – as well as really starting a trend of collaborative efforts for good causes – also spawned a number of its own sequels.

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In 2024, the song celebrated its 40th anniversary with Band Aid 40, a megamix smooshing up all the "official" versions of the song.

But it's that original 1984 version that has really stood the test of time and still earns pride of place on those lists of the best ever Christmas singles.

Read on for the story behind the groundbreaking record.

Who wrote 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and how did it come about?

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Official Video) [4K]

Between 1983 and 1985, a terrible famine hit Ethiopia, directly affecting 7,75 million people and leaving anything from 300,000 to 1.2 million people dead.

In a globalised media age, pictures of the horrific conditions were beamed around the world, with the BBC letting us here in the UK know about the awful things that were happening.

One couple watching in horror at home was Bob Geldof, then frontman of The Boomtown Rats, and his partner Paula Yates, who was then a presenter on hit youth TV show The Tube.

They decided that they had to do something. Well, what else was a popstar going to do? The idea came together for a charity single.

But with the best will in the world, The Boomtown Rats weren't exactly the biggest band in the world. So Bob and Paula decided to rally the troops. Around 40 of the biggest popstars on the planet ought to do it.

Everything happened VERY quickly.

November 2: Yates chats to Midge Ure backstage on The Tube, where Ultravox were performing. Geldof rings Paula and has a natter with Midge, who had already worked with on The Secret Policeman's Ball in 1981

November 5: Bob and Midge have lunch, and decide to make a charity record.

Later that month: Midge starts working on the music with a keyboard melody. Bob swings by to help out on his acoustic guitar. Bob later writes the lyrics.

November 25: 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' is recorded in a single day at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London.

Who actually sings on 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

Aside from a few uncredited musical performances (Phil Collins on drums, John Taylor on bass, Midge Ure on keys and programming), the famous faces appearing on the record were handily listed on the back cover.

Here they all are in alphabetical order, with their parent band listed to help jog the memory 40 years on.

• Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)
• Bono (U2)
• Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
• Adam Clayton (U2)
• Phil Collins (Genesis)
• Chris Cross (Ultravox)
• Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)
• Sara Dallin (Bananarama)
• Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)
• Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)
• Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
• Boy George (Culture Club)
• Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)
• Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)
• John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
• Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
• Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
• Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)
• Marilyn
• George Michael (Wham!)
• Jon Moss (Culture Club)
• Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)
• Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
• Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
• Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
• Sting (The Police)
• Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
• James 'J.T.' Taylor (Kool & the Gang)
• John Taylor (Duran Duran)
• Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
• Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang)
• Midge Ure (Ultravox)
• Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
• Jody Watley
• Paul Weller (The Style Council)
• Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
• Paul Young

There were a few big name artists who would have contributed but weren't able to make the trip to the studio, who instead sent on some spoken word messages that were on the B-side 'Feed The World'.

They were David Bowie, Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler and Bruce Watson of Big Country, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Paul McCartney.

Queen weren't on the song, as they were stuck on the other side of the world, but they certainly more than made up for it the following summer at Live Aid.

What do the lyrics of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' mean and why are they controversial?

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Live Aid 1985)

Working to a tough deadline, Bob Geldof apparently took the framework of a song he had been working on for The Boomtown Rats that had provisionally been titled 'It's My World' and bashed them into shape.

Leonard Cohen claimed to have taken over four years to write 'Hallelujah'. Bob had less than four weeks, so we should cut him more than a bit of slack, really.

The song builds up to a big crescendo/refrain that outlines the purpose of the song "feed the world... let them know it's Christmas time", which is fine.

The quasi-religious opening isn't too bad, either, all the stuff about banishing shade, letting the light in, spreading smiles and joy and the like.

Elsewhere there's the odd turn of phrase that has come in for a bit of criticism over the years.

Band Aid - The Making Of The Original 'Do They Know It's Christmas?’ (New Documentary, 2024) [4K]

There's literal othering of those affected by the famine ("say a prayer for the other ones"), the broad brush doomsaying ("dread and fear"),

That it talks about "Africa" rather than Ethiopia specifically is one bugbear, but to be fair to Bob, that was actually a tweak from Midge from his own "there won't be snow in Ethiopia this Christmas", which didn't quite scan.

Most hmmmmmm of all is Bono's powerfully sung but slightly icky exhortation that we "thank God it's them / instead of you". If we had a direct line to god we'd surely be asking Her to make sure that no-one was dealing with such horrible circumstances?

There's also the fact that there's frequently plenty of snow in the very big continent of Africa at Christmas, and with its rugged, mountainous terrain, Ethiopia is no stranger to the white stuff.

Over the years a few voices have piped up with these sorts of complaints. Most recently, Ed Sheeran, who actually appeared on Band Aid 30's reworking in 2014, said his "understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed", suggesting that the song had was "dehumanising" for African people.

"The past is a foreign country," said L.P. Hartley. "They do things differently there."

It feels harsh to judge lyrics written in 1984 by the standards of 2024, though that's not to say that there weren't fair criticisms being made even back then.

Bob Geldof / Midge Ure - One Year On (Feed The World)

"I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical," moaned Morrissey to Time Out as early as 1985.

"Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to.

"In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of Great Britain.

"It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly. It was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."

Miaow!

But it's also true that a song written in a matter of days raised an awful lot of money for people who needed it when too much of the world was happy to sit back and do nothing.

With that in mind, we'll more than excuse Bob a few clunkers.

When was 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' released and where did it get in the charts?

Man of the moment Trevor Horn was approached to record the song, but painstaking productions were his thing, and his projected six-week timeline ruled him out, though he gladly lent the use of his studio gratis.

Instead, Midge produced the record himself.

It was handed over to radio stations within days of being recorded, and while there was an "official" release date of December 7, there were copies available in shops as early as December 3.

It had advance orders of 250,000 and by release date that number went to a million copies. At the time it was the fastest-selling single in UK history, a record later beaten by Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind 1997'.

'Do They Know It's Christmas?' went straight to number one, of course where it stayed for five weeks, earning it the Christmas No. 1 position.

It sold around 2.5 million copies by the end of 1985, and that number has crept towards 12 million in the years since.

Most importantly, it raised a whopping £8 million for famine victims in Ethiopia (over £24 million in today's money,) within a year.

Who were the singers on the other versions of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and were the lyrics different?

Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas? (2024 Ultimate Mix / 40th Anniversary Video)

Since the original success of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', not only has the original song become a modern Christmas standard, but it's emerged in several new versions.

First of all, Trevor Horn finally had the time to do a fresh production job, with his remix and co-production appearing on the 1985 12" re-release of the song.

Then came Band Aid II in 1989, a Stock-Aitken-Waterman production that sounds exactly like what you'd imagine from Team SAW.

Band Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Official Video)

On that version you had the instrumentalists Luke Goss and Chris Rea along with Aitken and Stock, and SAW-stable singers and others: Bananarama., Big Fun, Bros, Cathy Dennis, D Mob, Jason Donovan, Kevin Godley, Glen Goldsmith, Kylie Minogue, The Pasadenas, Chris Rea, Cliff Richard, Jimmy Somerville, Sonia, Lisa Stansfield, Technotronic and Wet Wet Wet.

Controversially, when Band Aid 40 megamix came out, it ignored Band Aid II completely. Bob Geldof referred to the version as "unofficial", which annoyed Mike Stock no end.

Band Aid 20 came in 2004 with more of an alt rock feel, with a Dizzee Rascal rap added for good measure.

Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich took over behind the desk, and playing came from Danny Goffey of Supergrass on drums, Radiohead's Thom York on piano and Johnny Greenwood on guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, Justin and Dan Hawkins of The Darkness on guitar, and Phil Collins (again) on drums.

Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Official Video) [4K]

The singer were: Tim Wheeler, Daniel Bedingfield, Natasha Bedingfield, Bono, Busted, Chris Martin, Dido, Dizzee Rascal, Ms Dynamite, Skye Edwards, Estelle, Grant Nicholas, Neil Hannon, Justin Hawkins, Jamelia, Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Beverley Knight, Lemar, Shaznay Lewis, Katie Melua, Róisín Murphy, Gary Lightbody, Rachel Stevens, Joss Stone, Sugababes (Mutya, Keisha and Heidi edition, The Thrills, Turin Brakes, Robbie Williams, Will Young and Fran Healy.

Just ten years later there was Band Aid 30, this time produced by Paul Epworth and featuring the playing of Queen's Roger Taylor on drums and keyboard, and Clean Bandit's Milan Neil Amin-Smith on violin and Grace Chatto on cello.

This time around there was a radical rehaul of the lyrics, as the song was recorded to benefit those affected by the ebola epidemic in Western Africa.

Band Aid 30 - Do They Know It’s Christmas? (2014)

Most strikingly it added the phrases "where a kiss of love can kill you", and Bono's controversial line was swapped out with " tonight we're reaching out and touching you".

The singer list was: Bono, Clean Bandit, Paloma Faith, Guy Garvey, Ellie Goulding, Angélique Kidjo, Chris Martin, Sinéad O'Connor, One Direction, Olly Murs, Rita Ora, Emeli Sandé, Seal, Ed Sheeran, Bastille, Sam Smith. Underworld and Jessie Ware.

Band Aid 40 was a Trevor Horn-produced 40th anniversary megamix of Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and Band AId 30

Who has covered 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'?

Slade - Do They Know It's Christmas (Feed The World) - (Log Fire Edition)

As well as Band Aid, Band Aid II, Band Aid 20, Band Aid 30 and Band Aid 40, there have been semi-official versions for charity endorsed by Bob and Midge.

Band Aid Liverpool reworked the song in 2020 to raise money for Shelter, the same year a Keith Lemon and Friends lineup covered the song in memory of Caroline Flack, with proceeds going to Trussell Trust, Crisis, UNICEF, Shelter and Samaritans.

LadBaby reworked the song as Food Aid to earn his fifth consecutive Christmas number one in 2022.

Barenaked Ladies - Do They Know It's Christmas (Official Audio)

As well as those versions, there have been more traditional covers of the original Band Aid hit over the years.

An early version out the tracks was Slade's 1985 take from their Crackers album. They obviously know a thing or two about Christmas hits.

Since then the likes of Johnny Logan, Pete Yorn, Barenaked Ladies and the cast of Glee have also given it a go.