Musician Bob Geldof remembers ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ and the opposite of ‘Last Christmas’. When the classic Christmas song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ of Band Aid heard from the radio or digital platforms sounds familiar, but at the same time somewhat unfamiliar. The reason is that to mark the 40th anniversary of its first release on November 29, 1984, a new version is being released, combining the voices of the first performance in 1984 with those of later recordings from 2004 and 2014.

“I think we had to celebrate the 40th anniversary,” says Band Aid founder Bob Geldof in London in an interview with the German News Agency: “And the best way to celebrate it is with all the artists who contributed to it.” . The new ‘Ultimate Mix’ features Sting, Chris Martin, Sam Smith, Harry Styles and Robbie Williams.

The 73-year-old Bob Geldof wrote the song in 1984 together with the singer Midge Ure of the band Ultravox to raise money to fight the famine in Ethiopia. “I spoke to Midge because I wanted to be sure that we would definitely have success with the song, so we asked everyone we knew to get involved.” In late November 1984, a studio in London’s Notting Hill district gathered the cream of the British pop scene at the time including Boy George, Phil Collins, Sting, Paul Weller, members of Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Bananarama and U2.

Last Christmas and the “contra” for the top

Among the well-known and lesser-known singers on the recordings for ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ he was also the lead singer of the band Wham! George Michael, who however participated with mixed feelings. “The song is really catchy,” the Cypriot-born musician told a journalist at the time. “But it poses a real threat to our fourth single, a Christmas song called Last Christmas.” Today 40 years ago on December 4, 1984, a few days after the Band Aid song “Last Christmas” was released. The song by Wham! It became a big hit, reaching number two in the charts, but failed to topple ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ It should be noted that George Michael donated all proceeds from ‘Last Christmas’ to Band Aid. “He was an amazing artist with an amazing voice, an amazing guy,” Bob Geldof says today.

39 years later, seven years after George Michael’s death, “Last Christmas

it finally reached number one in 2023. “Mission accomplished!”, declared Wham!’s other half, Andrew Ridgeley, in an interview with the “Official Charts” website: “George would be going crazy with joy.”

The question of which singer or band will hit the top of the Christmas charts with their song has been a tradition in Great Britain for decades. It started in the 70s, when pop and rock bands began to record more and more Christmas songs. Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ (1973) or Boney M.’s ‘Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord’ (1978), created by the imaginative producer Frank Farian, topped the UK charts.

The song is a bridge between a hungry child and a meal

In the age of streaming, where charts are measured by plays, the anniversary reissue of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ again finds itself in competition with ‘Last Christmas’ and other popular Christmas songs such as Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. Ed Sheeran also released a Christmas song this year entitled “That Chrismas”. It is a given that it will do well also because the legendary Elton John is involved.

Bob Geldof is under no illusions that the new version of his perennially popular song will have the same impact as it did in 1984. Especially when revenues from digital platforms are extremely limited. The musician and activist hopes, however, that many people will buy the CD and LP since it is for a good cause. “The tray is a bridge between a hungry child and a meal,” he tells dpa.

The new CD and vinyl edition includes the ‘Ultimate Mix’ of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, the recordings from 1984, 2004 and 2014, as well as the recording from the ‘Aid’ concert at Wembley Stadium of 1985. Notably, the new cover was created by artist Peter Blake, who in 1967 had designed the iconic album cover of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles.

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos