Three decades ago Bob Geldolf had honorable intentions when organising a concert to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia and many other artists jumped on the band wagon realising that this could be a nice wee earner, It has been pointed out more than once that Queen became the stadium band that we all remember on the back of their performance at Wembley that day. For the next year or so the album charts were loaded with the back catalogues of bands and artists who performed that day. I wonder how much of the proceeds of those extra sales went into the coffers of charities and how much went into aiding the Cartels of Columbia.
Still I can't be too po-faced about it, it helped me get my higher English after I produced an essay called Charity Not Change. (A Cynical Take On Live Aid And "Rock Stars") which was aided by an album by a then little know anarcho punk band called Chumbawamba, entitled "Pictures Of Starving Children Sell Records: Starvation, Charity And Rock & Roll - Lies and Traditions".
Did you know that there was a Royal Box at Live Aid?
Just to remind us of the order of things
Chumbawamba - Prologue
Chumbawamba - How To Get Your Band On Television
Chumbawamba - Unilever - How To Succeed In Business
4 comments:
I think Live Aid has had an almost entirely negative effect on music.
Good to hear Chumbawamba stirring things up. I've been playing through their albums at home recently. Rarely has a band's reputation been so inaccurately effected by just one song.
My partner just does not believe I did not watch LiveAid, just was not interested in watching it. Those Chumbawumba tracks hit the spot, stil relevant today.
george - Stiff and I and another mate didn't watch it either as we were in a Caravan in North Berwick. We did tune into the radio in the early hours to hear Bob Dylan who was fucking woeful.
I agree SA
Yes Swede, there is a lot more to Chumbawamba than tub thumping.
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