Band Aid III
Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure are back together planning another sensational Pop/Rock Concert to raise fund for Africa. There are now twice as many Ethiopians starving as there were in 1984. Sudan’s Darfur region is facing a catastrophic food crisis.
Travis frontman Fran Healy has promised to drop everything to be at Band Aid 3. Similarly Coldplay and The Darkness have expressed great interest in doing another Band Aid. All three bands will join forces to re-record the massive hit single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Sir Bob and Midge are also in discussion with Noel Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Blur, Jamelia and Dido about joining the line-up.
Midge Ure, 51, has said “It’s definitely going to happen. I’m very excited. This project is not just about raising money. It’s about putting the focus back on Africa and problem of famine. This line-up proves that this country is brimming with talent and the big names approached seemed very keen.”
Sir Bob, 53, added: “The money will be critical. There are severe famine conditions now and this will only get worse in the next couple of months.”
Geldof and Ure co-wrote the original “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” back in 1984 and followed this, in 1985, with the original Live Aid. They got together again for Band Aid in 1989 and both concerts were a phenomenal success and raised millions for the charities.
If you are less than about 25 years old, ask your parents about Live Aid. The chances are that they, like the webmaster sat glued to the TV for about 12 hours watching it all. The webmaster still has the original recorded on 6 musicassettes.
Latest: Noel Gallagher and Blur’s Damon Albarn have buried the hatchet and agreed to appear at Band Aid III. Katie Melua is also reported to have been in touch with the Band Aid offices to volunteer her appearance.
Can Band Aid III repeat what was achieved by Live Aid? 10 years have past and Live AId was a massive entertainment spectacle, broadcast across the globe with appearance by the biggest names in Rock and Pop music from around the world. We can only wait and see if today’s talent can match the crowd-pulling abilities of acts like Queen, Elton John and David Bowie.
Very Latest: The single proved to be a huge success although many, especially us old die-hards that remember the original, thought it was a bit of a damp squib.
