Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” turns 40 this year. At the end of the B-side of the single, an instrumental version of the song with Christmas greetings from many participating performers, Bob Geldof announces: “This record was recorded on the twenty-fifth of November nineteen eighty-four. It’s now eight a.m. in the morning of the twenty-sixth. We’ve been here twenty-four hours, and I think it’s time we went home. So from me, Bob Geldof, and Midge, we’d say, ‘Good morning to you all, and a million thanks to everyone on the record. Have a lovely Christmas. Bye.’”
Christmas #1
Twelve days later, it was the #1 song in the UK for five weeks, meaning it attained the coveted Christmas #1 designation for 1984. In the U.S., the song peaked at #13. It has been re-recorded for several anniversary releases, including one this year marking the 40th. The original, though, remains a Christmas staple and the most recognized version.
There is a lot to be cynical about when it comes to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and the other like-minded recordings that followed. It’s surprising there hasn’t been more blowback. In any case, for all its faults, Band Aid and “Do They Know Its Christmas?” did some good.
A call to action
The recording session came together rather quickly after Bob Geldof, then primarily known as the frontman of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, watched a series of BBC News reports about the 1984 famine in Ethiopia. A little over a month after watching the news reports, Geldof, with Ultravox lead singer Midge Ure, was in the studio with some of the biggest names in British and Irish music.
The artists recruited, for the most part, were already friendly with Geldof or Ure. As such, many big names were not included. American R&B group Kool & The Gang were invited, as they happened to be in the record company offices a few days before the recording.
Other folks just turned up when word leaked out. Marilyn, for example, just came to the studio that morning. One of the early gender-bending pop stars, he had a few hits on the UK chart the previous year, but his career was declining.
Nigel Planer, who played Neil in the popular sit-com The Young Ones, also crashed the recording. He, however, proved to be an annoyance and was sent away by Ure.
The three rats
There’s also the mystery of the “three rats.” When Geldof and Ure put out the call, only three of the artists they contacted declined. Geldof never publicly named them, leaving the door wide open to speculation.
One group did come forward, though. Thompson Twins, who were in the midst of a North American tour, claimed to have never gotten the message and felt terrible about the mix-up. They donated proceeds from their single “Lay Your Hands on Me” to the cause.
As for the other two, it’s anybody’s guess. It could have been an artist who later turned up at the Live Aid concert the following summer. No one knows, save for the Band Aid inner circle, and no one else ever came forward.
Other efforts to fight famine
Two months after the recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” American music artists assembled in Los Angeles to record “We Are the World.” Canadian artists gave us “Tears Are Not Enough” under the name Northern Lights a few months after that. Noted heavy metal acts, as well as ska and reggae artists, each produced charity singles to help fight famine in Africa.
Again, there’s a lot to be cynical about when it comes to Band Aid and the Live Aid concert. First of all, the dearth of African artists, save for Kool & The Gang, who were only there by chance, Dee C. Lee of The Style Council (who is of Caribbean descent), Mikey Craig of Culture Club, and Tony Butler of Big Country (by phone on the B-side along with his bandmates).
Over the years, some critics have noted the oddity of singing about Christmas to help starving Africans, which is an odd stance considering Ethiopia, the main country being helped, is two-thirds Christian.
And of course, the idea of wealthy folks drawing attention to themselves in the guise of helping others rubbed some the wrong way. Neil Peart of Rush, a band famously not invited to Live Aid, once told an interviewer that his contemporaries just should have given their money and be done with it. That’s a pretty harsh take, though, considering artists did give money and time, and in turn, so did all their fans.
False accusations
In 1986, a year after the Live Aid concert inspired by “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Spin magazine published a report claiming that at least a portion of funds raised by Band Aid ended up being used by the Ethiopian government to buy arms from the Soviets. Years later, in the aughts, the BBC made similar accusations.
Geldof dismissed the Spin article almost as soon as it came out. He threatened legal action against the BBC in 2010 for their report, challenging them to prove the accusations. They could not. The BBC ended up issuing an apology, though Spin stands by their story to this day. As recently as 2021 they asked Geldof for comment, apparently oblivious to the outcome of the BBC case and subsequent mea cupla.
To this day, proceeds from “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” go to the Band Aid Trust. This is true for all versions of the song. As of 2023, Geldof estimates the song has raised £200 million ($255 million) for African famine relief.
PF Wilson has been writing about music, TV, radio, and movies for over 20 years. He has also written about sports, business, and politics with his work appearing in Cincinnati CityBeat, The Houston Press, Cleveland Scene, Cincinnati Magazine, Cincy Magazine, Atomic Ranch, and many more. Check out his podcast PF’s Tape Recorder available from Podbean or in iTunes.