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About This Track
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984.
In late 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired highlighting the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”.
Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject.
Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading Irish and British musicians who were among the most popular of the era. The 1984 original became the biggest selling single in UK singles chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one, and ultimately sold more than 3.5 million copies domestically. It remained the highest selling single in UK chart history until 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” was released in tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which sold almost 5 million copies in Britain.
In late 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired highlighting the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”.
Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject.
Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading Irish and British musicians who were among the most popular of the era. The 1984 original became the biggest selling single in UK singles chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one, and ultimately sold more than 3.5 million copies domestically. It remained the highest selling single in UK chart history until 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” was released in tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which sold almost 5 million copies in Britain.
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Albums featuring this track
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Do They Know It's Christmas?
Band Aid 20
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Do They Know It's Christmas?
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Shouts
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megansmall wrote:
explodes! i love it! letssayaprayer...prayfortheotheronesssssss! lalalalaa :')
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GreggWH wrote:
First and best of the Ethiopian famine benefit songs.
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Incorrect- wrote:
One of the best Christmas songs ever! [4]
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kuma_san wrote:
Sing it to the world!
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ugogirl wrote:
GReat Song
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Bennii201 wrote:
One of the best Christmas songs ever! [3]
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midliferickman wrote:
Bob Geldof killed Michael Hutchence.
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uwe56schmidt wrote:
。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ 。 ° 。 ° 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * *MERRY* * ˛ • • 。CHRISTMAS 。* ˛ *__Π___*。* ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ ｜田田 ｜門｜ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ passt genau in die Zeit! guter Song!!!
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CuR3 wrote:
So many artists I like - in one song / video - together for a good cause = Perfect <3
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licoricepizza wrote:
No contest. WAAAAAAY superior to "We Are The World". This is a great song.
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macychick wrote:
shocked that no one has yet mentioned "glee" lol
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CDPETE01 wrote:
i didnt like this when it came out,loved the idea of live aid ,both here and in Philidelphia,I didnt agree with sentiment of saving Africa,still hasnt changed nearly 30 years later,but love this song now.
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xmas-blackmajik wrote:
this song sounds just as great today as it did back in the 80s
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MegaDoug wrote:
12th time thru this song ♥
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Enigmatic_Smile wrote:
I like Boy George's and George Michael's parts the most :) But I love the whole song.
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egojay wrote:
awesome since the 80s'
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TheDarkSide73 wrote:
This is like USA for Africa
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cinemababe wrote:
it's been more than 25 years and I can still get teary eyed remembering those pictures of those starving children
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Tombo60 wrote:
One of the best Christmas songs ever! [2]
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iamryanr0ss wrote:
One of the best Christmas songs ever!
Track Stats
773,890 Scrobbles
271,877 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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QuarkZangsun tagged Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas? with band aid and 1984. 1 hour ago
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MadCaddies97, tomnomnomm, jaycv123 and 7 other people loved Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas?. yesterday evening
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Purged-of-Sin added Do They Know It's Christmas? to Purged-of-Sin’s library. Sunday evening
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kieranleetuson, dazzlingdazz21, kea1994 and 2 other people loved Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas?. Sunday afternoon
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pumpkyns added Do They Know It's Christmas? to pumpkyns’s library. last week
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pumpkyns added Do They Know It's Christmas? to the playlist holiday mix. last week
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ralphylovesemma, kejohnny, pixieterii91 and 15 other people loved Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas?. last week
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MollyJustMight added Do They Know It's Christmas? to the playlist D Tracks. 17 days ago
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remotoboyce and deboralemes loved Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas?. last month
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QuarkZangsun tagged Do They Know It's Christmas? with ‘2’. last month
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