What the hell? Who are these new people?
Well, Paul McCartney was pretty big as a youngster. Bono too, but he’s a bit younger. Dido, Chris Martin I know. Robbie Williams, I’ve heard of, but that’s just because I watched American Idol, and he’s associated with Simon somehow. Don’t know any of the others though.
It’s for the kids, I guess.
This isn’t the first remake. There was one about 10-12 years ago, too. I think they recorded it under the name “Music Aid.” I know Chris Rea was one of the singers in it.
They’re all British pop stars.
The original was recorded as “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, back in 1984. The new version, by Band Aid 20 is intended to raise money for famine victims in Sudan (I believe); it’s also a charity single, and although execrably bad, I can’t really knock a charity effort.
The version Earl mentions was by Band Aid II, recorded in 1989 by a motley bunch of much less famous singers (mostly from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman stable of manufactured pop).
A humerous article about a radio station in Wales that banned the song simply because it’s terrible.
It was bad enough the first time around!
While I definitely appreciate the spirit behind this song- I hope it is a best seller, even if people use the CDs as coasters- I must say that I’ve always had a bit of a problem with some of the lyrics that hint at the “all of Africa is one big hell hole”. For example:
Uh, ok. It probably won’t be blazing hot and humid in North America. That’s normal. Stick to the tragedy at hand, folks.
Actually, Pop-Up Video (may it rest in peace, 'cause I loved that show) pointed out that there WILL be snow in Africa on Christmas… on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Cat Fight that’s exactly why I hate this song. The stupid god-awful lyrics. Blah.
Dumbass christmas song…
Off the top of my head, Dizzee Rascal, Joss Stone, Travis, The Darkness, Radiohead, Moloko, Snow Patrol and George Michael have all had US releases. At least three of these are extremely well known.
The single’s terrible though.
Ah, how can you mock the truly ingenious rap that breaks into the middle of the song with the subtlety of an elephant falling off a sofa…?