Band Aid 1984: Six surprising facts about the iconic song

Virgin Radio

2 Dec 2022, 15:45

Band Aid’s 1984 song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ remains one of the most iconic festive tunes of all time. 

In 1984, Bob Geldof and Ure wrote Do They Know It’s Christmas? to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia, and the song was recorded and performed by the supergroup of British and Irish musicians assembled by Geldof himself. 

Released on 3rd December of the same year, the song entered the UK singles chart at number one, staying there for five weeks. Within a year, it had raised £8 million, which was way over the target of £70,000 that Geldof had set.

You all know the lyrics and who took part in the final cut, but ahead of Saturday’s Band Aid special, we are looking at the surprising facts about Do They Know It’s Christmas? you might not have known.

Bowie’s near miss

The opening line of the 1984 version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? was sung by Paul Young in the official recording, but apparently, it was originally written for David Bowie. 

The Starman singer was unable to attend on the day of the recording, so Young stepped in instead. 

However, Bowie did end up contributing to the track by singing on the extended 12” version Feed The World and he also sang the part during the 1985 Live Aid concert.  

Toilet humour

If you get groups of young musicians together in one room, you are bound to get some shenanigans going on. 

That’s exactly what happened when cheeky chappies Status Quo spotted Spandau Ballet heading into the studio’s toilets and decided it would be a hilarious idea to lock them inside. 

By all accounts, though, Spandau Ballet was not having any of it and managed to kick down the door to make their escape.

That Bono line

Whenever this song comes on, it’s virtually impossible not to scream the line, “Tonight, thank God it’s them instead of you!”. 

It’s arguably one of the most memorable moments in the whole track, but it very nearly didn’t happen. 

Writer Midge Urie tried to get the famous line changed to “Only fate decides it’s them instead of you.” However, Geldof thought the original line was punchier and more powerful in its philosophical message- so it remained in place.

24 hours in the studio

It’s no easy task coordinating a bunch of busy musicians with different schedules. So, when Geldof got them all in the studio together, things had to get done then and there. 

As a result, the entire recording of the original Band Aid single 1984 was done in 24 hours straight in Notting Hill studios with producer Trevor Horn. 

We can imagine many a mulled wine was consumed to get through that!

Naughty Boy George

Geldof desperately wanted Boy George involved in the recording and insisted he flew from New York to London so he wouldn’t miss out.

The Karma Chameleon singer eventually arrived late at the studio at 6pm but with a very sore throat as a result of the band’s gig the night before. 

To soothe his vocal chords, the singer reportedly necked a bottle of brandy. 

That’s one way to do it!

Record breaker

Not only did it raise an incredible amount of money for charity, but Band Aid broke records in other areas too. 

It became the UK’s biggest-ever-selling single for 13 years, only to be knocked off the top spot by Elton John’s re-release of Candle In The Wind as a tribute to the late Princess Diana. 

So there we have it! We hope you’ve learned something new about the iconic Christmas tune. 

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