Three-part series for BBC & CNN that takes indepth look at the stories behind the Band Aid single – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, the global Live Aid concerts in 1985 and Live 8 concerts in 2005.
In October 1984, after watching a BBC News report on Ethiopia’s ‘biblical famine,’ Bob Geldof puts a band of rock stars together and records the song – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’. The song sparks a global response, inspiring millions. The following year Geldof and others organise Live Aid – the world’s biggest global benefit concert. On the day of the concert nearly £50m is raised for Africa. Geldof becomes “Saint Bob” and is drawn into charity politics in Africa, fundraising, controversy and celebrity. In 2005, Geldof and Bono team up to stage Live 8, a global concert to pressure the world’s richest leaders to confront the root causes of poverty in Africa.
“This fascinating portrait of a complex man’s attempt to solve an impossible problem is packed with amazing archive footage – from George Michael singing to Thatcher being berated…Among the many startling, blackly comic archive clips… is footage of Geldof at that glitzy party, reeling from what he had seen on TV and remarking to a fellow guest that it was “gross” for them to be enjoying champagne and canapes. That tension between glamour and guilt is at the heart of this three-part retrospective.” – The Guardian