Do they Know it's Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984 - Do they Know it's Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984

JUL 01 1984 · 12:00

Do they Know it's Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984 - Do they Know it's Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984 (1984) Director: Nigel Dick Era: Mid-1980s British Pop Charity Era (1984) - Height of UK supergroup charity single movement; recorded and filmed in a single day at SARM West Studios, Notting Hill, London, as an urgent humanitarian response to the Ethiopian famine crisis. Exceptionally high. This is arguably the single most historically significant British music video of the 1980s, not solely as a promotional artefact but as primary historical documentation of a real-time humanitarian and cultural event. Its low-budget documentary character, the convergence of virtually the entire UK pop firmament in one room, and its direct causal link to famine relief fundraising make it irreplaceable as both a music video and a social history document. The existence of 40 years of unbroadcast footage further elevates its archival importance. Context: Conceived and executed in a single day on 25 November 1984 at SARM West Studios in Notting Hill, London, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in direct response to BBC journalist Michael Buerk's harrowing reports on the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine. The recording united the most prominent British and Irish pop and rock artists of the era under the collective name Band Aid. Released on 7 December 1984, it entered the UK chart at number one, where it remained for five weeks, selling one million copies in its first week, the fastest-selling UK single in history at the time. It sold 11.7 million copies worldwide by 1989. The song directly preceded and inspired the 1985 US equivalent 'We Are the World,' and the project catalysed the Live Aid concerts of July 1985. The music video, raw, unvarnished studio documentary footage, became an inseparable cultural artefact of both the song and the humanitarian movement it launched. Director notes: Dick filmed the entire Band Aid recording session on 25 November 1984 at SARM West Studios (also referenced as Island Studios, Basing Street), Notting Hill, London, produced by PolyGram Music Video. Because the single was recorded and released as quickly as possible, the music video simply comprised footage from that recording session. Much of what Dick filmed remained unseen for 40 years until a BBC documentary in 2024. Dick has cited this video as the project he is most proud of in his career. A 30-minute making-of documentary was released in the UK on 15 December 1984 incorporating the session footage, artist interviews, and the completed promotional video.