Hey friends. This week, I’m hoping that by writing about a thing, I can maybe stop my recurring obsession with said thing? That thing being Live Aid, the double-location concert-of-all-concerts, which celebrated its 36th anniversary this week.
I think it is worth noting that Live Aid being on the TV is my second oldest-memory1, although its more of a generic-memory than a specific one, in that I don’t remember any exact part of it, rather the all-day nature of the event itself.
I think my current LiveAid-mania is my third dip into the pool, the first being when I originally (re)discovered the Queen set and the second was a pandemic-era deep-dive into every aspect of the show. This one was mostly because I started watching stuff on YouTube two-weeks ago and realized the anniversary was coming up.
So, I finally did what I’ve been meaning to and made a “Best Of” compilation, because they have an impressively large amount of footage from the shows on YouTube. However, unless you wanna spend a day with it all (I have, and there’s worse things you can do) it also felt like someone needed to step up and condense it down to its most essential moments, and, in waht’s becoming somewhat of a house style here at Negative Progression, breakdown the key moments.
To which I say: Mission Accepted, always happy to help.
There’s a couple of aspects to my LiveAid-mania, both the background / logistics / whatever of the event itself and the performances.
I should say that the performances part tilts heavily in favor of the London event, which in addition to having more of bands knock it out of the park, also had a much better crowd. The Philadelphia crowd is pretty dead at times but also a lot of those performances also feel more perfunctory2. Probably due to how the organization and execution of the events transpired. So, I guess I should cover that first and then get into my best of playlist?
Consider this the cliff notes version and if you want, like your pal CW, to become a true Live Aid obsessive I strongly recommend watching the 3 hour BBC documentary “Against All Odds.”
The events that lead to Live Aid are kind of the classic hero’s journey. Our protagonist is misanthropic, journeyman musician Bob Geldof, who starts out being vaguely disliked and/or untrusted by almost everyone he deals with and, in the fullness of time, ends up becoming known (in the UK at least) as “Saint Bob.”
Our man Bob hears about the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, is deeply affected by it and is driven to take action - first with the charity single “Do They Know Its Christmas” and later with Live Aid itself. Suffice to say, there are obstacles at every turn, both small and large, humorous and deeply serious: a cynical British press, a crazy event-promoter partner in the US, logistical issues in delivering aid on the ground in Africa, an amateur cricket team doing its level-best to prevent the helicopters bringing musicians to the show from landing, ego-games and head-fucks from lots of the bands, a collection of radio-DJs fumbling the TV-broadcast on the BBC, and best of all an almost Spinal Tap-esque failure of the rotating stage in London.
Probably my favorite part of the story is when Bob (and partners) call a press conference and he just starts listing bands that are playing - whether or not those bands have confirmed they are playing, including multiple bands that haven’t played together in years. His cast-iron logic of course being that few/none of these bands are going to say that they aren’t willing to play a concert to raise money for starving people, because of their own egos or other lame reasons. Guilt is a hell of a motivator, as I’m sure many of you, like me (and I guess Bob?) learned from our mothers.
Another good story is the ultra-80s idea to have Phil Collins play both shows by playing earlyish in London, then taking a helicopter to Heathrow, then Concorde to NYC and another helicopter to Philadelphia and then playing there as well3. Almost an impossible thing to do in 2021, so who says technology advances every year, huh?
There’s probably a ton of good stories I’m forgetting, both from the day and the build up, so I say watch the doc if you can spare the time. I learned a lot.
Alright, here’s the “liner notes” to go along with the playlist:
Status Quo - Rockin’ All Over The World is basically a perfect opener, not only for this show (no, it’s not too on the nose) but really for anything. The crowd eats this up and we’re off to the races. It’s pretty cool to see them get a moment in the sun like this. While you can say they’ve seemingly only had two riffs for like 50 years now they became somewhat of an institution through nothing more than…staying power? Just keep trying, kids, if the Quo can make it, so can you. Hell, if this show was happening today, I would still book them to open.
Boomtown Rats - It’s not really one of the better performances (actually you could say its not very good) and there’s basically no chance they’d be booked if this wasn't Bob’s show but it’d be mean spirited to exclude this clip, especially the last 10 seconds where Bob realizes that he’s having the best day of his life.
Ultravox - As with the Boomtown Rats, this doesn’t really stand out, probably because the low-key electronic vibes don’t necessarily translate to a stadium stage? But, as with Bob, you can’t really exclude Midge Ure4 given that he put so much work into making it all happen, and his voice really is impressive here. Ohhhhhhh Viennnnnnaaaaaaaa!
Phil Collins (1) - First, I love Phil’s shirt (and his ‘rich guy mullet’.) While it seems weird that he is playing without a full band (and that is presumably to simplify his transatlantic journey?) it doesn’t really matter, because the instrument that multi-instrumentalist Phil was sharing with us on July 13, 1985 was his voice. I could write a whole lot about the fascinating, hit-filled, and somehow both under-rated and over-rated career of Philip David Charles Collins (and maybe I will someday!) but, if nothing else, this is a reminder that Against All Odds is an oft-overlooked classic from his deep oeuvre and this live version has an effortless-excellence to it.
U2 - I’m not much of a U2 guy5, but as any student of pro wrestling will tell you, if the crowd is going wild, the performance is de facto good, whether you subjectively enjoyed it or not, hence you can’t deny this performance. And on the plus slide, we can all watch this video and laugh at Bono’s haircut. No wonder he started wearing sunglasses all the time, if I’d been seen on global TV with that barnet I wouldn’t want anyone to look me in the eyes either.
Dire Straits - I must have watched this video a hundred times or more? It’s so good. You can tell these guys were in the middle of a tour, because they are DIALLED IN here. One thing that’s cool is this era of Dire Straits had the sax-player in the live band and the sax really adds a cool extra-dimension to the traditional crazy-riffing end-section of this song. What else, hmmm? Knopfler’s western cut shirt is incredible and I’ve been trying to find one just like for at least 4 years now. I also love that there’s no band-wide fashion aesthetic and everyone is so differently attired6. A fun easter-egg in this video that I noticed after many, many watches: the drum tech (I assume that’s who it it) comes out at about 6:35, talks to the drummer, then picks up a tambourine and gets really deep into the groove by the end. He was living his best life that day. You love to see it.
Queen - I wrote about this in the Peak of Their Powers post two weeks ago, so there’s not a ton to add here. I guess I can add that Freddie looks cool. No wonder mustaches were so popular in this era. And the shots of the crowd from over Freddie’s shoulder really give you a glimpse into what it must be like to have like 80,000 people in the palm of your hand. (Check the lady on someone’s shoulders at 1:15 and the wider shots at 1:35 and 3:01)
…Jumping over the ocean to Philadelphia, giving the London crowd a chance to recover from Queen…
Black Sabbath - I wonder what weird politics lead to this being “Black Sabbath featuring Ozzy Osbourne”, especially as Ozzy is such a hot mess. Like one of the comments on this video says “I heard they found traces of blood in Ozzy’s cocaine system.“ The crowd seems to be making them work for a reaction and Ozzy gets them going a bit by the end but it seems hard work, especially when he’s yelling “clap your hands” and is barely able to clap his own hands in time to the song. On the plus side, Tony Iommi looks cool as fuck, which is reinforcement of the lure of the 80s mustache. Another good comment on this video - Costumer: “How many crosses do you want, Tony?” Tony: “Yes”
Neil Young - The cheers for Neil here are about as loud as the Philly crowd gets, best I can tell. At least they saved it for a true legend. He could probably use a band in a stadium this size, but I love this crazy bastard none-the-less. There’s lots of weird band dynamics bubbling beneath the surface of the US show; Crosby, Stills and Nash are all there, and so is Neil but we don’t get any CSNY action. Were Neil and Crosby still on the outs because Crosby wasn’t clean, in which case add some extra layer of irony to Neil playing The Needle and The Damage done, I guess?
Beach Boys - 1985 seemed like such a weird juncture in the Beach Boys timeline7 and I was kind of surprised when I remembered they played. So, like any good lawyer8, I called in an expert witness for this one and asked my pal AdB to study the tape for me. Here’s what he had to say:
Jeff Foskett on guitar and the Brian parts. That guy is aces. At 2:31 singing with Bruce. Billy Hinsche, of Dino, Desi and Billy fame, on the keys. Both are pretty respected long-time Beach Boys friends/hired guns.
Carl looking dapper in the grey suit. Putting everyone to shame here. Still has the voice.
Mike. We talked about this9. Going in on his meditation talk. Where do you get a shirt10 cut like that, ffs?
Bruce gets The Beach Boys shirt wrong. Classic. Probably thinking of writing a song for Barry Manilow. For a Santa Barbara rich kid…well let’s just say it’s believable he wrote Disney Girls.
2 minutes in, we get Brian. I think he’s wearing something that would later inspire an X-Men costume. Looks like he’s “there” at least?
Finally at 3:15 we get Al Jardine. He’s a power house. No idea why he took one of Mike’s patterns and made an oversized Hawaiian shirt. Come on, guy.
At 3:40 we get a guy {in the crowd} clapping off beat. Good times.
Passable, non-offensive version of Good Vibrations. But who needs this in their life? Song’s not made for live shows anyways because it’s just bananas. It’s tape cuts stitched together. I once saw the Apples in Stereo play Heroes and Villains. I loved it. It was a train wreck.
Thanks to Alan for a superb contribution. Love to have a guest contributor!
Phil Collins (2) - “I was in England this afternoon. Funny old world, innit?” Phil’s long trek is complete (but along the way he lost the fun shirt. Oh well.) For a dude that must be exhausted, he plays a song most famous for its drum part exclusively on the piano and somehow makes it work really well? (Like I said, his voice is the instrument today). I love the crowd doing the famous drum fill for him when the moment comes. I don’t love them cheering themselves for it afterwards. Hot Take alert: no one tell Queen, but you could make a reasonable case Phil “won” Live Aid, between crushing both stages with his own songs and filling in for other people as well (see footnote 3.)
Hall & Oates - When I was going through the set order for the US show, it took me a minute to figure out why these guys were so high up the bill (they are followed only by the heavy hitters of Bob Dylan, Tina Turner and the various members of The Rolling Stones). Then I remembered we were in Philadelphia and we have ourselves some real hometown heroes here. While both of them are competing with Bono for the ‘worst hair’ award, if you watch this and don’t find yourself at least humming along, please check you didn’t fall into a coma as this is some infectious shit right here.
…Ok, back across the Atlantic so we can close out in London, because the end of the US show is frankly a huge fucking mess…
David Bowie - Kind of like Queen, this is someone whose whole set from the day is worth checking out. This is my favorite David Bowie hit so I went with this one, but everything he played in his set sounded great, especially given he points out at one point that they pulled the band together on short notice. Every time I watch Bowie live, I am reminded that for all of his many talents, he’s a real bad dancer (and it takes one to know one, yeah.)
Elton John - I’m sure agreeing who played when throughout was a constant hassle, but I can’t too many people expecting to “headline” ahead of Elton fucking John11? if I have my timeline correct, this is after Elton has cleaned up and he’s really good in this set. (And unlike some of his cocaine-era sets, the tempo is more, uh, digestible.) It wouldn’t be Elton if he didn’t have a weird hat on, and this one is a real peach. This is another one to check out the whole set. The older I get, the more I appreciate Elton John. We really do turn into our parents, huh?
Paul McCartney - Whatever, this is fine. Paul’s been on auto-pilot for a long time and this is part of that. I get it the dude gets a lifetime pass for being a Beatle. Somewere along the way he turned that into thinking he can just show up at these big events and play Let It Be or Hey Jude and thinks that’s enough. Fuck that, play a real set, Paul. Invite Ringo and/or George to play with you for a charity event like this. But like I said about U2, the crowd loves it, so it’s de facto good. Whatever.
Band Aid - A Christmas song in the summer - that no one knows the words to - is a weird time, but there was no other way to close this show. Has there ever been a bigger concentration of talent on one stage at one time, in any form of entertainment? Surely not, right? It’s like if 1980s pop music had an All-Star Game. Wait, that’s a great idea we should do that: Miley Cyrus vs Katy Perry in a game of golf? The Killers vs The Strokes in a basketball classic? I’m sending this idea to the TV stations, hold on……..Anyway, for the TV viewer, this is “the emotional closer that failed to close12” because the US show was still going and the end of that show is kind of a clusterfuck. Just use your imagination and pretend both of the shows ended here.
So there you have my ideas of what worked best on the day, but there’s a ton of other stuff you could to dig into: The Cars, Simple Minds, Sting, Eric Clapton. The Who played but it sucked, same for Bob Dylan with some Rolling Stones, and same for Mick Jagger without some Rolling Stones. My your decent into LiveAid Mania be as fun for you as it has been for me.
Catch ya next time!
The oldest is blowing out the candles on my birthday cake on my fourth birthday.
See: Madonna.
Phil really worked that day: in addition to his solo performances he played with Sting in London and Eric Clapton in Philadelphia.
And if you watch that documentary, you’ll know that if you don’t give Midge his flowers, you risk the wrath of his first wife, who is out there in the doc earnestly defending him and pushing his contributions to the event, years after they divorced. It’s kinda heartwarming in a weird way, even if its a strange forum for it.
That said, the usage of With Or Without You in the series-finale of The Americans was all caps PERFECT. But no show has ever used licensed music better than The Americans, so no surprises there. Watch The Americans if you haven’t, it’s the absolute best.
Why is the drummer dressed as a referee/umpire?
Brian being deep in his health struggles, it’s not that long since Dennis passed, the general “square-ness” of them in the context of the 1980s, etc.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a lawyer, but I’m always happy to represent you. (Pro-bono, of course)
This is a reference to Alan and I shit-talking Mike Love for about 5 mins on the phone when Alan agreed to help with this.
I had some bed covers in the early 90s that looked a lot like Mike’s shirt here.
To clarify - Paul McCartney showed up to play one song, after Elton finished his set and used Elton’s piano, so I’m not counting that as a set, hence Elton headlined. I also like to imagine Paul saying, “Oh I can do some Wings stuff” and Geldof was like, “Uh, that’s a pass Paul, but thanks anyway”.
To quote John Reis from the liner notes of the CD issue of RIP RFTC.