Bob Geldof and Band Aid are on the cover of this week's Radio Times
As Band Aid turns 40, Sir Bob Geldof reveals the story behind the making of the classic charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?
Forty years ago, Bob Geldof was at home and watching The 6 O'Clock News on BBC1. He got very angry at what he saw. Within a month he was in a recording studio in west London overseeing an unruly mob of Britain's finest music talent.
In this week's issue of Radio Times, read the story of how the supergroup Band Aid came together. RT's David Hepworth was there covering the story and, recalling the day now, Geldof tells him that nobody wanted to be the first to sing, until Paul Young stepped up to the mic.
Do They Know It's Christmas? might never have become the most famous Christmas number one if the Boomtown Rats' 1984 album In the Long Grass hadn't sunk without trace and Geldof had been gadding about being a pop star rather than watching Michael Buerk's heartbreaking report from Ethiopia on 23 October. It demonstrates the power of television (and Bob Geldof) to change the world we live in.
Fittingly, to mark the anniversary there is a new version of the song featuring Harry Styles, Chris Martin and Sam Smith singing with young versions of Sting, Boy George and Bono. It's the gift that keeps on giving...
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Also in this week's Radio Times:
- Death in Paradise returns and is on the move... to Australia.
- New drama Joy tells the story of the pioneers of IVF treatment - and the unsung woman who was key to its success.
- Take a deep dive under the waves where you'll find cunning octopuses, elusive narwhals and much more.
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