The Making of Do They Know It's Christmas?

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Summary

The story behind the 1984 UK number one song Do They Know It's Christmas?, written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and recorded by some of the biggest pop stars in the UK and Ireland at the time. The hit was released in aid of the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia and was the fastest selling single of all time for over a decade. This programme features unseen moments in which stars including Bananarama, Bono, Boy George, Duran Duran and George Michael rehearsed and recorded their parts, while interacting with each other during that 24 hours which would make musical history

Review

David Brown

During the famed Band Aid studio session of 1984, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon is seen commenting that this is pop’s equivalent of the football match truce in no man’s land during the First World War.

Le Bon knows of what he speaks, for this was an era when backbiting resulted in hostilities hardening like hair-sprayed quiffs. And yet, on a Sunday morning in late November that year, the stars of the pop charts arrived in Sarm Studios in London’s Notting Hill with sleep in their eyes, the aim being to leave egos at the door and feed the world.

This nostalgic rush of a film, utilising never-before-seen footage from the day, takes us lyric by lyric through the recording — the result being magic and, in certain cases, miraculous resurrection. So Boy George showboats with a twinkle, Paul Young displays a humble temperament but heroic vocals, while George Michael gives Paula Yates a preview of a certain seasonal song he has in the pipeline. Unlike Status Quo trying to harmonise their line under pressure, this effortlessly hits all the right notes.

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BBC iPlayer

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rolenameDirectorNigel DickEditorRichard PottsProducerJill S Sinclair

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