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Live Aid - It Was 30 Years Ago Today

By Brett R on Jul 15, 2015 11:29 AM

"Live Aid at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA" by Squelle via Wikimedia Commons

Do you remember Live Aid? On this day in 1985, dozens of the world's most popular musical artists performed in the largest benefit concert in history. Organized by rock singer Bob Geldof, who the previous year had organized the all-star benefit record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" the concert was performed on two stages on two continents - JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and Wembley Stadium in London - and broadcast all over the world. The concert was a reaction to the devastating strife and starvation occurring in Africa, particularly Ethiopia, and brought worldwide attention to the issue.

The performers that day were a mix of then-popular acts and legends. Bands and singers like Madonna, Duran Duran, Run-DMC, Dire Straits, U2, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, Sting, and Phil Collins (who played on both stages that same day!) played the top MTV hits. Superstars such as Elton John, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and the Beach Boys also turned in memorable performances. Reunions of the Who, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Osbourne) were very exciting to see. The most famous performance of all, however, came from Queen. Freddie Mercury was in full command that day. It's a bracing performance to watch.

If you want to see Queen's performance, among many others, the Milwaukee County Public Library System has Live Aid DVDs available for borrowing. There is also a book on the event available for viewing in the Art, Music and Recreation Department at Central Library. If you sat in front of your TV that day taking in all of these performances, these materials will bring back fond memories.

LIVE AID 1985

Tina Turner with Mick Jagger

Backed by the Hall & Oates band, with Daryl on keyboards and John on guitar.

1 State of Shock

2 It's only Rock and Roll

Tina Turner and Mick Jagger, Philadelphia
Once the Wembley event finishes, attention turns to the Live Aid performances in the US, which include The Beach Boys, Bryan Adams, Duran Duran and a Jagger-Turner duet.
Tina Turner: The only thing I remember of the day is stabbing Mick in the foot with my high heels in the middle of It's Only Rock and Roll. And then they put us on the cover of Life magazine.

‘Scene of subjugation’ ... Tina Turner and Mick Jagger at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in July 1985.

Watched it on tv live!! This was done via satelite long before live streaming happened.

Some of us without cable had to ditch work to go watch it on large screen TVs at a beach bar...

Best set overall was the following string:

First it was Patti Labelle tearing a half dozen songs to shreds! She was followed by...

Hall & Oates with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick of The Temptations. (Remember, this was two months before they would release a live album, Live at the Apollo, one side just Holland Oates, the other w/ D&E.)

Then they backed up three Mick Jagger songs.

Then came Tina with "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock n' Roll." Mick changing clothes, then ripping Tina's lightly velcroed skirt off and her faux-shocked look. It was just good rock n' roll theater.

Also, let's not forget Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers played with Madonna (which was great, sorta polished, really hungry and ready to take on the world in her Prince jacket), then Madonna sang backup with Nile for Thompson Twins' set. (And Madonna yelling, "I ain't takin' shit off today," after those older photos of her had been published in Playboy. She owned that shit before then in an interview what quoted her response as, "so what?" That is Madonna!)

For me, those were the best moments.

Pretty fun that UK acts like Mick Jagger, Duran Duran, Eric Clapton, Simple Minds, and Black Sabbath played the U.S. side.

The US and UK sorta leveled out in spectacular moments, but with that longer set by LaBelle, H&O, etc, they stole the crown.

[Edited 7/13/20 23:56pm]

Great day! Musicians and singers with real talent who just got up there and did their thing!

Empress said:

Great day! Musicians and singers with real talent who just got up there and did their thing!

I was thinking the same thing when I was going over Live Aid 1985. That kind of freedom is lost in later musical scenes and generations

luv4u said:

Watched it on tv live!! This was done via satelite long before live streaming happened.

Right!!!

Being connected to events before modern live streaming.

We took the day to watch it all, with pizza and snacks and friends

Prince designed the trench she is wearing

Had a friend who came out of his house screaming while watching this in 1985.

It was the Zeppelin reunion and while it wasn't the best performance, this guy had several Zep tattoos and was a little intense.

We all watched it on MTV when it was for music.

[Edited 7/15/20 18:00pm]

I love how the "new" act on this... is Madonna. I will be watching both concerts on DVD soon.

Cinny said:

I love how the "new" act on this... is Madonna. I will be watching both concerts on DVD soon.

I need to see this again...

https://www.ultimate-guit..._Li5dilPvE

Tony Iommi Recalls 'Embarrassing' Moment of Ordering Madonna to Leave Black Sabbath Rehearsal Without Knowing Who She Was

"It was a bit of a disaster, really," the guitarist said.

During an appearance on SiriusXM, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi looked back on the band's 1985 reunion at the Live Aid.

The show saw Tony, singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward, grace the stage for a three-song performance.

Looking back on the event's 35th anniversary, Tony now commented (transcribed by UG):

"It was great - it was great being with the guys again. It was a bit surreal, to be honest, because...

"Basically, I had been in the studio working, and it was an unusual thing for me to come from the studio, and then suddenly, here we are - in the next couple of days - on stage, in front of all the people.

"We'd never really done that before. We'd always sort-of rehearsed for a proper show for a while.

"But this was a quick rehearsal for an hour or whatever it was, and then the next day, of course, on stage. So it was a bit unnerving because you don't know how things are gonna go with the equipment and all this stuff.

"We hadn't been on stage together for so long. You have to sort of suck it and see what's gonna happen."

Remembering the rehearsal for the show, Iommi said:

"It was a bit of a disaster, really, to be honest. They had a room booked for us to rehearse. We started rehearsing and then we started talking about the old times; so most of the rehearsal was talking.

"And the time when we did rehearse, it was a closed session, and it would be embarrassing really because I saw these two girls come in at the back of the room.

"And I said to one of our crew, 'Look, there's people walking in,' you know, 'you better tell them to get out, this is a private rehearsal.'

"Anyway, he goes up and tells them and it turns out to be Madonna. So it's a bit embarrassing. But anyway, we had the rehearsal and then went back to the hotel."

Iommi added:

"On the night before the show, we went back to the hotel and of course, we all ended up in the bar, and that was another disaster because we had a bit too many to drink.

"And then the next day, of course, I had a dreadful hangover when we were on stage."

And on top of that, you guys performed in the middle of it. It was daylight and it was hot.

"Yeah. I mean, we didn't expect to be going on that early but, of course, we did. And it was - as I said, I didn't feel exactly on top of the world and I don't think any of us did.

"We sat in the bar with Judas Priest for ages because we hadn't seen them for a while and it was like, you know, everybody talking about the old times and all the things 'cause we're both from the same town."

Live Aid

On 13 July 1985, Tears for Fears were scheduled to perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the Live Aid charity event. However, on the morning of the historic event, it was announced that the band (who had actually been billed to appear at the event before they had even agreed to do so) had pulled out of the show. They were replaced by blues rock group George Thorogood and the Destroyers, which has a strong Philadelphia-area following. The official reason given for their non-appearance was that two of their backing musicians, guitarist Andrew Saunders and saxophonist Will Gregory, had quit due to the expiration of their contract; they were replaced by Alan Griffiths on guitar and Josephine Wells on saxophone for the remaining bulk of the 1985 world tour. In place of appearing, the band pledged to donate proceeds from their concerts played in Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York.^[22]

As a further donation, the band also recorded a slightly rewritten version of one of their biggest hits and released it for the British fundraising initiative Sport Aid, a sister project of Band Aid in which people took part in running races of varying length and seriousness to raise more money for African famine relief projects. Sport Aid's slogan was "I Ran the World", therefore Tears for Fears released "Everybody Wants to Run the World" (No. 5 in the UK and No. 4 in Ireland). Indirectly, the band were involved in the earlier Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" from 1984, which featured a slowed down sample from their song "The Hurting" (from their debut album of the same name) in the introduction.