BBC to mark 40th anniversary of Band Aid
November 6, 2024

BBC Four and BBC Radio 2 will be marking the 40th anniversary since the recording of the first ever Band Aid single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which took place on November 1984 25th. The programming includes footage from that day which has never previously been broadcast.
Singer-songwriter Bob Geldof created Band Aid, which brought together some of the biggest names in pop for the charity single – produced by Midge Ure and released on December 10th 1984 – and the Live Aid concert in July 1985.
Geldof, commenting on BBC Four’s upcoming documentary, said: “That Sunday morning when a bunch of young spotty English pop stars who were (more or less) just out of school and had taken over the pop culture of the world, ambled up a Ladbroke Grove street in London to make a song their friends had written for the starving people of Ethiopia, they could never have understood the enormous consequences of that day. It was, if not exactly the ‘shot that rang around the world’, it certainly became, however unwittingly, ‘the shout that rang around the world’, culminating 20 years later in all its unlikely majesty in ultimately forcing the global political process to bend to its focused will at the Gleneagles G8 summit of 2005 and after the Live8 concerts. This then is the ‘fly on the wall’ story of that day from found footage that no-one had thought to look for before, but is now an integral part of British pop history. I love it because it is so… English. So guileless, so charming and yes so innocent.”
He added: “These rock stars piling into the control room, babies under arm – it was a Sunday, family day, chipping in, laughing, shouting suggestions, taking the piss, funny, having fun making history, on top of the world. And boy can they sing. Compare and contrast with the American follow up and it’s hyper-sophisticated, hyper super-talent, hyper-organised and professional and our lot, basically a bunch of bouffanted oiks giving it large and being quite brilliant. What wonderful people they were. And largely still are. Great film. The Maysles Bros would be proud.”
On BBC Radio 2, Zoe Ball will present Do They Know It’s Christmas?: The Song That Changed The World (12-1am, on December 1st, and on BBC Sounds from November 25th) – a one hour documentary which tells the story of the world’s most successful charity record across the years. The programme tells the story of Band Aid’s potent legacy, with contributions from Ure, Trevor Horn, Nigel Godrich, Paul Epworth and Pete Waterman, along with Geldof and those who have participated in the versions recorded in the last forty years, including Bono, Fran Healy, Sting, Phil Collins, Keren Woodward, Sara Dallin, Cathy Dennis, Rita Ora, Seal, Jason Donovan, Marti Pellow, Will Young, Tom Chaplin, Ellie Goulding, Lisa Stansfield, Justin Hawkins and Olly Murs.
Later that week, BBC Four and BBC iPlayer present a new 75-minute documentary, The Making of Do They Know It’s Christmas?. The song was recorded over the course of one day at SARM Studios in Notting Hill, and was filmed by director Nigel Dick. Whilst some of the footage was used for the iconic music video, much of what Dick recorded has remained unseen for four decades and some of it has never been seen before, until now.
This documentary unearths 75 minutes of that original footage, shot on 16mm film and newly-restored and digitised. In rare and previously unseen moments, stars including Bananarama, Bono, Boy George, Duran Duran, George Michael, Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17, Paul Young, Collins, Spandau Ballet and Sting, rehearse and record their parts and interact with each other during 24 hours which would make musical history. The film also includes interviews which were shot on the day with Bono, Gary Kemp, George Michael, John Taylor, Simon Le Bon and Trevor Horn, plus an appearance from Nigel Planer.
Jonathan Rothery, Head of BBC Pop Music TV, commented: “The creation of the Band Aid supergroup and release of Do They Know It’s Christmas? was a hugely significant moment in pop music history, and BBC TV will be celebrating the 40th anniversary since its recording, and its incredible legacy which lives on today.”