06/07/2020
Sounds of the Eighties on BBC Radio Two, which airs on Friday nights, is this week looking to the July of 1985. Thirty five years ago, two mega concerts in Philadelphia and Wembley, united the globe in a fundraising telethon to end all telethons, raising money for famine relief. It was a rare moment of global solidarity, and arguably, in a world where war and suffering are commonplace on television news and in the internet, it might not happen these days. But in 1985, stars came together to entertain and showcase the cream of rock and pop talent. One performance above all others sticks in the mind. Freddie Mercury, the bisexual Asian hero of rock, was at his pompous best, strutting the stage with his band Queen and apparently more than one modern pop star watching flabbergasted from the sidelines, quipped, “we've just been totally outclassed”. It was a triumph for Queen, and considering that many rock journalists had written them off as an old hat act, a high point in their illustrious career. There's another LGBTQ link for Live Aid though, quite apart from the performance from Madonna, at their height of her 80's fame, and already beloved of many gay people. The original idea for the concerts actually came from Boy George. George had participated in the Band Aid Single “Do They Know It's Christmas?” in November 1984, and just before Christmas, on 22nd December, concluded a tour at the Wembley Arena. His band Culture Club were joined onstage by some other pop stars of the day and performed “Do They Know It's Christmas?” as a grand finale. George was totally overcome with emotion as his fans joined in and after coming off stage, told Bob Geldof that the next step in the Band Aid Project should be a concert. In January 1985, Geldof confirmed to the Melody Maker music paper that a concert was definitely in the offing. Join Gary Davis, who back in 1985 was a pin up DJ on BBC Radio One. He'll be on at 9pm on Radio Two this Friday looking back at that incredible weekend in the summer of 1985 when rock music really did change the world.
