Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and Trevor Horn recently announced details of the new Band Aid Compilation, brand new 2024 Ultimate Mix & accompanying video release, commemorating 40 years of Band Aid.
"Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was recorded on three separate occasions, over three separate generations, Band Aid (1984), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014). What began life as a humble Christmas pop song, went on to launch the greatest series of events in pop history. "Do They Know It’s Christmas?" ultimately corralled the political structures of its time to its own focused ends by assembling a roll call of talent that in effect describes the arc of British rock ‘n roll over these past 40 years. In celebration of this monumental “instrument of change”, producer Trevor Horn has taken these recordings and, through extraordinary music production techniques, blended all the voices of those separate generations into one seamless whole.
On Band Aid - 2024 Ultimate Mix you will hear a young Sting sing alongside a young Ed Sheeran. A young Boy George with a young Sam Smith. A young George Michael beside a young Harry Styles. The young Bono with an older Bono, Chris Martin with Guy Garvey, the Sugababes and Bananarama, Seal and Sinead O’Connor, Rita Ora and Robbie Williams, Kool and the Gang and Underworld. The voices sing on against the Band Aid houseband of Paul McCartney, Sting, John Taylor (bass), Phil Collins, Roger Taylor, Danny Goffey (drums), Thom Yorke (piano), Paul Weller, Damon Albarn, Midge Ure, Johnny Greenwood, Gary Kemp and Justin Hawkins (guitar).
In achieving this extraordinary musical and production feat, Trevor has not just re-imagined ‘the song that changed that world’ but much more importantly has revivified its original emotional sense. To witness once again the great David Bowie introduce this rag-tag of spotty, pretty young pop stars as they ambled down a Notting Hill street or tumbled bleary out of cars that early Sunday morning in late October 1984. To hear the legendary Michael Buerk BBC News report that ignited the whole decades long struggle. To understand without being hectored or lectured or beaten over the head exactly what was being done, why it was being done and that something profound was about to begin.
Director Oliver Murray was enlisted to try and make visually tangible music that which was so powerful on audio. He has achieved the impossible by visualising Trevor’s painstaking superlative creation work on video. Murray came to prominence last year when he directed the emotional short film that accompanied The Beatles on their last No.1 single, and was tasked with repeating his magical skills on the ‘2024 Ultimate Mix’. The video will be unveiled on November 25th, with broadcast details to be announced in the coming days.
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is not just the sum of British rock music it also accidentally became a bellwether of most of the British visual arts. Through the years the Band Aid sleeve has been issued with original artwork from Peter Blake, Tracey Emin, Damian Hirst and Mat Maitland.
Sir Peter Blake was initially asked to design a unique cover for the first Band Aid, creating another classic with a collage of standard Christmas card tropes set against the disgrace of a hungry child. This perfectly exemplified the central theme of the song itself - the cornucopia of our lucky wealthy world and the sharing of those spoils with family over a time of togetherness against an unnecessary awful world of utter Nothing, fear and hunger. Sucking everyone into this maw of empathy, David Bailey the iconic photographer donated one of his classic photographs for Peters montage.
Now at the age of 93, Peter was once again called to the Band Aid colours just one more time in celebration of this hugely historic song. And once again, using imagery from the past 40 years that sketches the Band Aid history he has given us something utterly beautiful, instantly classic and completely “on point”. The sleeve itself is drenched with visual compassion, understanding, tolerance and from this great gentle old giant of British art - Humanity.
So here it is then. All of the stuff of our years in a small piece of plastic again. Or if you prefer the lesser experience, a few bits of digital code that whether spun or unravelled tells the story not just of unbelievably great generational British talent but still stands as a rebuke to that period in which it was first heard. The 80’s proclaimed that “greed is good” . This song says it isn’t. It says it’s stupid. "There is no such thing as society” was famous at its time. Really? When Britain heard this collaborative effort the entire country seemed to rise up and proclaim itself in the long endless queues that stretched down the main streets and side alleys of the cities, towns and villages of Britain to buy this tune and recognise that as the song says, and has repeated forever it seems, that “there’s a world outside your window/And it’s a world of dread and fear…Throw your arms around the World at Christmastime”.
Let’s do that again this year.
Do They Know It’s Christmas? 2024 Ultimate Mix is available to buy now digitally, as well as on the Band Aid compilation, and 1CD and 12” Vinyl editions. Order here. Watch the music video and a 40th anniversary short film below:
