Live Aid 1985 - The Greatest show on the Earth

There had been charity concerts before, notably George Harrison concert for Bangladesh in 1971, but never one on this scale. This was a 16 hour concert held transatlantic with 69 acts and watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people.

I remember the whole build up to the day with Sir Bob Geldof making perennial demands on TV with 'Just give us your bleedin money' in his broad Dub accent. The initial target of Live aid was to make £1 million pounds but as the weeks and days progressed towards the event, the eventual amount pledged was estimated to be over £100 million. The ethos of the project was to save lives and it did, approximately 2 million were saved.

The catalyst for the whole event was when in October 1984 a BBC news report by Michael Buerk from Korem in Ethiopia which showed the horrific scenes of young children dying from starvation. This prompted Bob Geldof into action and within weeks had assembled all the musicians and singers he could to form Band Aid. a single was released called 'Do they know its Christmas'. It was a enormous success and went to number one and shattered all records. However, not content with this Geldof decided to think a bit bigger and look at doing a concert. The idea was hatched by Bob and his sidekick Midge Ure and Live Aid was born.

With the idea hatched they needed someone to promote and organise and Harvey Goldsmith was the man largely responsible for putting the idea into a reality. the two concerts were held at Wembley Stadium London and the JFK stadium in Philadelphia. It was set to go on 13th July 1985 and BBC radio DJ Richard Skinner opened the show with his co-host Andy Kershaw and we were ready to rock. Veteran rockers Status Quo kicked off the show with Rockin all over the world and this set the tone for a mouth watering 16 hours of live music.  They were followed by Bob and Elvis Costello. A band from bob home town of Dublin came to prominence during this concert. U2 made an lasting impression with there performance. they were due to play 3 songs but the second song Bad went on for 14 minutes as Bono jumped off the stage to help a girl who was being crushed in the crowd. She was saved and had the despair turn to joy as she danced with Bono on the stage.

Another notable performance was by Queen, there 20 minute set was regarded as one of the finest live performances seen. Lead singer Freddie Mercury led the 70,000 plus crowd in clapping unison and captivated the audience with a mesmeric performance which sadly you don't see these days. The crowd was completely in his hands. Other memorable performances included David Bowie, The Who and Paul McCartney whose microphone failed but like a true performer carried on. Also Phil Collins made appearances at both concerts. At Wembley he teamed up with Sting then over the pond he drummed for Eric Clapton and the reunion of Led Zeppelin.

My personal memory is still clear. That day I was playing 5 a side tournament in Wellingborough (which we won!) and i can remember all the cars had the radio on to listen to this musical extravaganza. We did hope to get knocked out early so we could get home and watch but we just kept winning. I did get home and we had an abundance of VHS tapes recording the event to keep for posterity. The tapes didn't last long but the memory lingers on. A fantastic day of music and never to be repeated the same in my opinion.


To enjoy the whole concert

80s Music Revisited: House music - Second summer of Love

80s Music Revisited: House music - Second summer of Love: Hip-hop, synth-pop and rare groove may have dominated the clubs in the early 1980s but from the mid eighties a new genre was to emerge from ...

House music - Second summer of Love

Hip-hop, synth-pop and rare groove may have dominated the clubs in the early 1980s but from the mid eighties a new genre was to emerge from Chicago in House dance music.

Taking its name from the Warehouse, a largely gay club where DJ Frankie Knuckles complemented 1970's electronic rock and soul and gave it a new beat. Chicago house was born and was to explode big time in Europe.

The most distinctive Chicago track was Phutures 'Acid Tracks'. A trance beat with a heavy bass sound with backing by a Roland TB-303 synth sound. This 12 minute track released in 1987 effectively became the blue print for euro style 'acid house'. The track Landed in the UK that year via DJs Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold who returned from the euro Acid capital of Ibiza.

Acid house first took hold in clubs such as Shoom in London and the Hacienda in Manchester.
During 1988 the whole thing exploded, it moved out of clubs into a more wider rave scene. More and more out of town locations such as open fields or empty warehouses were becoming prime locations and causing anxiety to communities, police and the government. It was proclaimed the second summer of love. This was due to the party goers use of Ecstasy and the infamous 'smiley' logo. The whole rave culture soon prompted tabloid scare stories and the inevitable Police crackdown on unorganised raves. The whole culture had developed quickly and soon all young people were embracing the whole euphoria of being lost in a ecstatic haze of visual stimulation and a lot of hands in the air music.

From a music point of view, the early pioneers in the UK were 808 state and a Guy Called Gerald both from Manchester. Although some concede that S-Express big chart success in 1988 'Theme from S-Express' and MARRS 'Pump up the Volume' made the initial breakthrough into peoples conscience. We then saw an onslaught on the charts from acts like Coldcut, Bomb the Bass and Yazz.

However, as with many genres music changes and evolves into other styles and House music was no different. By the early 1990 super clubs such as Ministry of Sound in London or Cream in Liverpool signalled the end of the traditional rave and bought it back in house prompting different styles such as ambient to hardcore techno.

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For further listening

80s Music Revisited: Madchester - One Love

80s Music Revisited: Madchester - One Love: Occasionally, a town or city is integral to a style of music that the music takes it name from the area. In the 1960's Liverpool gave birth ...

Madchester - One Love

Occasionally, a town or city is integral to a style of music that the music takes it name from the area. In the 1960's Liverpool gave birth to the merseybeat sound and in the late 1980's Manchester released the Madchester phenomenon. The Madchester sound was sandwiched in between the second summer of love Acid house and grunge.

Manchester was home to the Buzzcocks, The Fall, John Cooper-Clarke and was seen by many as the second city of punk. Following the reincarnation of New Order and the rise of Factory Records, New Order introduced a strong dance orientation to there music following a visit to America. This change in scene provided the cornerstone of the 'baggy' movement with Stone Roses and Happy Mondays leading the charge.

The whole Madchester scene was about clubbing, music and being blissed out on MDMA(ecstacy) and baggy theme was influenced by the clothes being worn by the bands and the followers. Although the roses and Mondays had been going since the mid eighties the catalyst for the success was the Factory Records run Hacienda Club which became the temple for all everything Madchester. The club introduced a new groove based sound and embracing this was the Happy Mondays. The Mondays gave a blissed out feel almost psychedelic dance music. They embraced funky rhythms with hip hop beats topped with low energy lyrics. It was a unique style but worked well on songs such as Step on, Loose fit and Hallelujah. The Mondays sound was quintessentially Madchester for its chaotic mix.

In the early 1980's Manchester had produced one of the most important guitar bands The Smiths and another was to follow in the late 1980s. The Stone Roses were also influenced by 1960s guitar pop but they added a dance influence to there music and none more significant than on Fools Gold from there debut album Stone Roses.

Other bands soon started to get success on the Madchester bandwagon. James (Sit down) and Inspiral carpets (this is how it feels) enjoyed top 10 hits and were guitar based bands while on the house and techno style A guy called Gerald enjoyed huge commercial success with Voodoo Ray was quoted as Madchester unofficial anthem and 808 State (Cubik the big single) were making contributions on the dance scene. Also The Charlatans came on to the scene with the one and only and Mock Turtles (Steve Coogans brother was on lead) gave us the infectious Can you dig it. There were some pretenders with Liverpool The Farm and Colchester Blur nailing there Madchester flag to the mast. According to some this killed the Madchester credentials.

As with many phenomenons they go as quickly as they came. The popular press and Music mags were turning attention to the Seattle based grunge music and the Madchester faded, The roses and Mondays went into decline and only really the Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets and 808 state were making any further strides, but while it lasted it was one hell of a rave. 

To listen to some of the sounds of Madchester, click on the artist name or song. Enjoy!

Stone Roses - Fools gold

Stone Roses - I wanna be adored

Happy Mondays - Step on

Happy Mondays - Hallelujah

Charlatans - The only one I know

Inspiral Carpets - This is how it feels

James - Sit down 

A guy called Gerald - Voodoo Ray

808 state - Cubik

Recommended purchasing or listening, click on the either the artist or soundtrack for further details.

Stone Roses - Stone Roses

Happy Mondays - Bummed

808 state - Ninety

Madchester Anthems

80s Music Revisited: This Charming Smith

80s Music Revisited: This Charming Smith: The Smiths were born in Manchester in 1982 and an aspiring laureate by the name of Morrisey teamed up with the guitar skills from Johnny Mar...

This Charming Smith

The Smiths were born in Manchester in 1982 and an aspiring laureate by the name of Morrisey teamed up with the guitar skills from Johnny Marr. Also mentioned in background were the two other members Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce.

It is fair to say Morrisey singing style was different along with his views and style. The name was christened as a shot at the fancy names of the synth bands that were dominating the charts and felt it was his duty to bring things back to perspective.

During there four year existence, The Smiths enjoyed huge influence and a cult appeal. They released four studio albums and countless singles although the highest placed single only reached number 10. Just when mainstream success was on the verge, the band split!

All the members of the Smiths had come from a Punk background and were influenced by 1960's guitar along with the bard of Salford Punk Poet John cooper Clarke. Soon the band released the first single Hand in glove which was championed by Radio one DJ John Peel, However, the single didn't make any impact on the charts. This didn't stop the band from pursuing and the release of This Charming Man and What difference does it make made the top 30 with people now starting to take notice of the band.

Also the look of the band was taking note with a simple shirt and jeans as opposed to the glitzy attire of the new romantics. The loose shirts, NHS glasses and Gladiolas in the back pocket certainly made the smiths different. Also during an appearance on the Old Grey whistle Test Morrisey wore a fake Hearing Aid Kit to show support for the hard of hearing. Unusual but who else could have handled with such mysterious beauty.

With the growing success, they released the first album imaginatively named The Smiths and reached the heady heights of number two. this was followed up by two singles Heaven knows I'm miserable now (there first top 10 hit) and William, it was really nothing (on the b-side was the iconic song How soon is now?). Controversy was always around the corner with certain songs touted by the press as distasteful with subjects of paedophilia and the moors murders. However, Morrisey gained a mutual friendship with Ann West who was the mother of one of the victims Lesley Ann Downey. Morrisey was in fact taking a swipe at the tabloids who sensationalise the devils and forget about the victims and there families.

The band then released the album Meat is Murder (Morrisey is a Vegetarian) with the album gaining critical acclaim and reaching number one in the charts. Again two singles followed with Shakespeare Sister and That Joke isn't funny anymore. The latter barely making the top 50.

The band were fairly prolific in the album market along with there touring and in 1986 they released The Queen is Dead. This saw the release of singles Bigmouth Strikes again and there is a light that never goes out.  By this time the band were having issues with the record label Rough Trade and band member Andy Rourke was fired, replaced and reinstated.They then became a 5 piece band with Rourke replacement Craig Cannon staying. After releasing the biggest hits Panic and Ask, Cannon left the band and The Smiths left Rough Trade to join EMI.

1987 saw the release of there final studio album Strangeways here we come. This saw shoplifters of the world and Sheila take a bow released as singles. However, it was to come to an abrupt end, with Marr on the verge of a breakdown and members leaving and with musical differences between Marr and Morrisey the band split.

Although the time was short, the music and influence they spread had far more impact. This encouraged other guitar bands from the Manchester area to take it on and aspire the likes of the Stone Roses and Oasis. For that we are eternally grateful.

Recommended listening or purchasing, please click on the title track for further information on The Smiths