Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas?

I hated this song when I first heard it. It was a clunky, tone deaf bit of musical hubris that seemed entirely self serving. That and it featured a gaggle of singers I ... could ... not ... stand.

Over the years the song has managed to worm it's way into my subconscious, and I will begrudgingly admit that there are some pretty catchy bits and I actually enjoy the song now. To the point where I look forward to hearing it over the holidays. It's still completely tone deaf, but now it just feels like something that was okay in the olden days, and a tad out of step today but that's okay.

It's hard to imagine that it's been forty years. Good grief. Of course, to celebrate the occasion there's a 40th Anniversary remix that has managed to recreate all of the vitriol I felt when I first heard it back in '84. Now, it's not just a case of me being a borderline boomer, it really is a stinking piece of musical crap. Even my daughter who loves all things Christmas has deemed it to be even worse than Chris Rea's "Driving Home for Christmas." I happen to like Chris Rea, so it seems unfair, but we do agree the new mix is absolutely and unequivocally irredeemable.

Since I'm veering wildly off course I'll just preserve and push through to the other side. The other day I met up with a buddy and his lovely wife for an early dinner. After we popped back to their place and Christine mentioned she had a bunch of old records and would I like to take them off her hands?

Duh.

It was a big pile, and while there were some records that will be given away to the charity shops, but there were a lot of really cool albums too. The one that's up on the turntable is a UK pressing of Do They Know It's Christmas? I have to admit I was surprised when I saw it there, and if I'm being honest I was pretty excited. Like I said, time and nostalgia have been very, very kind to this song for me. Over the years I've heard the other songs on the single, and they're ... um, interesting.

The version I have is FEED 112, which opens with Trevor Horn's 12" Mix of "Do They Know It's Christmas ?" that runs over six minutes and contains a lot of filler, and many of the vocal greetings from the "Feed The World" track. It's okay, and once in a while it hits the spot, but really it's a remix and as is the lot of so many remixed singles, it wears thin really quickly.

I tend to play side two. This is what I wanted to hear. The song still sounds remarkably full. I had it cranked in the basement and Phil's toms were rattling the windows. Now the neighbours know it's Christmas too. "Feed The World" is one of those tracks that reminds me of those old fan club Christmas greetings where the various artists literally phoned in their contributions. It's cute in a kitschy way, but once you've heard it you really don't need to hear it again.

Still, for all the posturing and rock star pandering, there was something about this moment in time that captured people's imaginations, and inspired people to care for their fellow man, even if for a few moments.

Maybe they don't know it's Christmas, but we do, and if nothing else we can try and be a little nicer to each other.

6 Cylinder

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