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Andrew Potter's avatar

One thing I mean to stick in the post but forgot was to note how male the Band Aid, and even Live Aid, things were. Bananarama were in Band Aid but only for the chorus -- otherwise every line is sung by dudes. The politics of it all aside, it would be simply impossible to do a Band Aid type thing today, with the major stars, without it being overwhelmingly female.

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Marc Mckerracher's avatar

Unbelievable beauty and vibrancy in that voice. A tragedy to lose her so young. Thanks for posting, Andrew. A very good read.

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Andrew Potter's avatar

Thanks. That song came up on a spotify playlist as I was proofing the post; like the algorithm was reading my mind.

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Marc Mckerracher's avatar

It replaced the Shane MacGowen Fairy Tale of New York as a new earworm

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Geoffrey Tanner's avatar

Here's something with both of them. Sinead singing a Shane tune. I found this right after Sinead died and I could not stop watching it.

https://youtu.be/ocjxFunwQNE?si=L79wEfPAlXKPP7UT

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Dr Genevieve Diamant's avatar

The algorithm is reading our minds. Apropos: what popped up on my youtube feed right before Christmas this year (that made me think of the song you wrote this post about) was the local coverage of the court that convicted Shanda Vander Ark. There were so many weird gaffes (the prosecutor wants to show a photo, beamed up on the wall, magnified, of the starving child a month or so before he passed, then wants to SEND THE JURORS TO LUNCH, because that's just the appropriate stopping place), not to mention the fact that the trial was scheduled right before Christmas, multiple holes in the plot (her husband, a wheelchair user, was living in the LEAST ACCESSIBLE house with this "family" in all of Norton Shores) that I'm actually wondering if any of it is even real. I don't live in the US or I'd literally drive over to Michigan to find out. You hear anything over there?

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Dr Genevieve Diamant's avatar

This is a great post, thanks from another Gen Xer

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Doug's avatar

I had that same 12in. Bought at Sam the Record Man at Southcentre in Calgary. The radio edit immediately made it to a mix tape. Despite the cheesy lyrics, Do They Know Its Christmas still holds up better than the endless wannabes it spawned. Band Aid may have marked the beginning of mass market, naive activism. The mid 80s were a time when many of the worthy causes had ready been fought and won, technology had progressed to the point where global distribution was possible, and vapid celebrities were searching for depth. Perhaps Band Aid was proto-woke.

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Andrew Potter's avatar

the activism was naive, but what I like about it -- in contrast with the stick-it-to-the-man politics of the 60s, was that it was deliberately focused on institutions and policies. There was definitely some vapidness, but the anti-apartheid stuff in particular was important and not irrelevant. I think that in contrast with the 90s -- that sort of just reinvented countercultural politics as "alternative", the 80s was a strange brief time when rock stars had policies.

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Brad Buchanan's avatar

Those three songs are also telling on the national origins of their creators, in my humble opinion.

"Feed the World"... so Irish (Catholic) in its naïve messianic famine-traumatized big-heartedness. Undefeated champion of good intentions, and the pretext for Live Aid, so we're good!

"We Are the World"... so very American in its Michael Jacksonian narcissism.

"Tears Are Not Enough"... so very Canadian in its benign complacency: of course, we are all already crying tears of pity for those starving people, but let's pony up a few bucks while we blow our (dry) noses. As a fellow Canuck, I'd say this was quintessential Can-con.

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Andrew Potter's avatar

You should write for Nevermind!

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Brad Buchanan's avatar

Well, I'll take that as a compliment!

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Kathy's avatar

I think it helped many of us feel depth. It was the first “cause” I remember feeling like I could influence in some way, and it felt as though there were maybe other causes I could be involved in. As a high school student it felt empowering and a little like I was connected to a bigger world. That was new for me, and naive as it was, or as misplaced as it was, it fuelled a spark of social justice that had been lacking in my own life. I look back and wish I had actually tried to learn more. Instead it was still all about how it made us feel and not about educating myself. Still, I love the song.

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Andrew Potter's avatar

Yeah I felt a bit like this when the Amnesty tours were going on a few years later. I actually went to the one in Montreal -- it was lousy; the Big O is no place to see music. But I remember listening to one Amnesty concert on the radio that I taped, and I listened to it over and over again, especially U2 doing Bad.

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