Do they know it's going to No 1?
2004's dream line-up
Patrick Barkham
Thursday October 21, 2004
The Guardian
Too young the first time: Coldplay's Chris Martin, the Darkness's Justin Hawkins and Jamelia are set to appear on the new version of Do They Know it's Christmas?
The days when you could deflate the egos of the country's top pop stars so they could all squeeze into one studio to sing a song for charity seemed consigned to rock history. But Midge Ure and Bob Geldof are rolling back the years by assembling a new generation of stars to remake Band Aid's Do They Know it's Christmas? for the victims of famine in Africa.
Twenty years after the original topped the charts, Coldplay, Jamelia, the Darkness and Travis are set to appear on a remixed version of the song penned by Ure and Geldolf.
Paul McCartney, Sting, Bono, George Michael, Duran Duran, Boy George, Alison Moyet, Phil Collins, Paul Weller and Spandau Ballet were among the stars of 1984 who collaborated on the hit.
Ure and Geldolf are hoping that the combustible combination of Robbie Williams and Noel Gallagher will be among the artists willing to set aside their rivalries and record the song, which will be released in time for Christmas with the original version as the B side.
Proceeds will help alleviate the suffering of those in the Darfur region of Sudan and Ethiopia, where twice as many people are now starving as there were 20 years ago.
Ure, who likened Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, to "a young Bono", said the single was definitely happening after some artists, including Martin, contacted him directly to declare their enthusiasm.
"My dream line-up has acts like Radiohead, the Darkness, Noel Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Keane and Coldplay," said Ure, who hopes to assemble "real musicians in proper bands".
"Can you imagine the harmony at the end of the song with the Darkness on guitar? It will be fantastic."
None of the original acts will appear on the new record.
"We don't want U2 and all the rest because they did it the first time around.
"We've got to get new guys on board, a bunch of people who were far too young the first time," added Ure.
A spokesman for Coldplay confirmed that the band were keen to be involved but had yet to fix a date. A spokesman for the Darkness said: "We have been approached and we are definitely thinking about it seriously but we are yet to commit. The band are really up on their charitable activity so it's more a matter of working out how they are going to do it. It is not the kind of thing you say 'no' to."
A spokeswoman for Robbie Williams said: "He hasn't been approached as yet. He has a massive involvement in his own charity, Give It Some Charity, and Unicef but it is something he would consider. It would depend on his schedule."
Organisers hope the project will raise awareness of the recurring famine in Africa, as well as money.
The first Band Aid single was Christmas number one in 1984 and in the top ten the following Christmas, raising £8m in aid for Africa. The subsequent Live Aid concerts raised more than £60 million. The song was rerecorded in 1989 as Band Aid II, with a pure pop line-up including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Bros, Big Fun, Wet Wet Wet, Cliff Richard and Chris Rea. Once again, it went straight to number one.
Even though Ure and Geldolf have yet to set a recording date, bookmakers have already made Band Aid III the hot favourite to repeat its predecessors' sales feats.
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