Taken from NY Times...

"Noel Gallagher of Oasis; Coldplay; Damon Albarn of Blur; and the Darkness are among the British pop stars who are to revive the 1980's ad hoc charity pop group Band Aid and rerecord the 1984 hit song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in time for that holiday. Dido, and the band Travis and Keane have already committed, and Midge Ure of Ultravox, who wrote the hit with Bob Geldof, said he is trying to get Robbie Williams and Radiohead's Thom Yorke to join the group, the BBC reported. Nigel Godrich, Radiohead's producer, is to record the song, and Mr. Ure said he hoped to convene the session on a Sunday in early November. The original "Do They Know It's Christmas?" sold 3.5 million copies in Britain to raise money for African famine relief, and it set the stage for the 1985 Live Aid concerts. The song was rerecorded in 1989 by Band Aid II, which included Rick Astley, Luke Goss, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. The new group will be called Band Aid III."

I meant to post this yesterday but forgot. Thanks for doing it, Tom!

I love that Noel and Damon are gettin over their silly selves to do this

First off, I had no idea there was ever a Band-Aid II! Second, they should do something original, not just re-make that tune.

It would be better without that twat from Oasis.

JediMaster said:

Good heavens.

NWF said:

Exactly! This is an awful idea, especially seeing as the freak from The Darkness is going screech through it.

kisscamille said:

Thank you. It was great when my New Wave heroes did it in '84. But please, we don't need a new version now.

my pop vocals class in college did a performance of this and i got to sing the boy george parts.

i just thought i'd contribute that little nugget of trivia to the conversation. thank me later.

Anxiety said:

I remember an episode of Beavis & Butt-Head when they were watching this video. Then, when they showed Boy George singing his part, Beavis said "hey look, it's that Boy chick".

Anxiety said:

Cool! I'm trying to remember what his parts were.

(Paul Young?)
It's Christmas time,
there's no need to be afraid.
At christmas time
we let in light and banish shade
(Boy George)
And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of Joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Christmas time.

(George Michael)But say a prayer,
Pray for the other ones.
At Christmas (Simon leBon)time it's hard
but when you're having fun...
There's a world outside your window
and it's a world of dread and fear
(Sting) Where the only water flowing is
the bitter sting of tears
(Bono)Where the Christmas bells that are ringing
are the clanging chimes of Doom
Well, tonight thank God it's them istead of you.

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life.
Ohh....
Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Here's to you...
Raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them
Underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?




But yeah, it's kinda silly to do this again. I guess for the new generation to buy it... But I had no idea there was a Band-Aid II. It would be better if they wrote a new song.

Why in the hell would they know it's Christmas?

Not everybody in the world is a Christian...

JediMaster said:

I remember hearing about Band Aid years after the fact when I was listening to a "Best Of Stern" (Howard Stern's radio show reruns old bits when he is on vacation) and they played part of it and said that it sucked compared to the original. I think they mentioned and made fun of the fact that Bananarama was a part of it (makes sense considering the time frame).

Dauphin said:

they're not?!

endorphin74 said:

Dauphin said:

And not just Christians celebrate the holiday. wow!

Tom said:

And no word about this new version being for any charity...

Anxiety said:

Did you dress like Boy George circa 1984?

Tom said:

VinaBlue said:

Hrmm. every version of this song I've heard, until recently, has that line sang by a same bunch of people who sing the next line ...

however, I recently picked up a copy of the 12 inch .... and indeed sting sings this line... it seems very out of place. Not the line itself, but his delivery of it, like he's harmonizing with someone who isn't actually there in the mix.

odd.

smokeverbs said:

Yeah, I kinda meant he comes in at that point. I think he's singing with Simon and Bono. I have to watch the video again. I thought it was cleaver that he sings sting.

No, I wasn't trying to correct you. I just meant that on the 12" version Sting sings that line solo, and it's just odd.

smokeverbs said:

Oh, I know.

BOY GEORGE OWNED THE ORIGINAL!!

sosgemini said:

sosgemini said:

Bono did, with one line.

i dislike this song intensely, why the press in Britain see it as a classic is beyond me. i hated it then, and will the new version. i'll still buy it again, so long as the £'s go to Ethiopians or Sudanese and not the bloody Iraqis or Afghanistanis.

take that how you wanna.

I read this the other day, and all I can say is...OMG, does that mean we're gonna get a We Are the World Again? Fun!

Anxiety said:

I'll think about it.

Cloudbuster said:

no shit!


this is a cheesy idea but good luck to them.

ok...must every sacred thing from the 80's be completely blasphemed?