It's 40 years today since the Live Aid concert of July 1985.
Repeats of the performances are appearing on various radio and TV channels.
Many geographers will perhaps look at the lyrics of the song and consider the way that they misrepresent the whole continent on the basis of an event that was having an effect on a small area of one of the 54 countries that makes up the continent.
There are accusations of 'othering', of 'white saviour' narratives, the whiteness of the Band Aid band and the line up at Live Aid.
It was included in Dipo Faloyin's 'Africa is not a Country' as an example of where the African musicians who were asked to perform on later versions were critical of the lyrics.
I have previously blogged about it.
A 3 part series is showing on the BBC (and available to watch on the iPlayer)
In late October 1984, a BBC news report about a 'biblical famine' in Ethiopia inspired rock star Bob Geldof to collaborate with Midge Ure on a pop song that would mobilise not only Britain but also the United States, raising millions for the cause. The single, Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid, catapulted Geldof into the complex worlds of aid, charity and African politics.
Featuring archival footage and specially filmed interviews, including Geldof and Ure themselves, Bono, and Sting, as well as key figures such as the Ethiopian ministers responsible for aid, the head of USAID and two survivors of the famine.
This had some interesting insights, particularly when they revisited a girl who was on the original news footage, and also interviewed an Ethiopian politician who welcomed Geldof when he arrived to visit, and was not impressed about the title of the single saying that as one of the oldest Christian communities in the world they certainly knew about Christmas…
I have my original single...
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