Saturday, July 13, 1985, will forevermore be known as one of the biggest days in music history. Bob Geldof, the scruffy, scrappy frontman of The Boomtown Rats, strongarmed artists, venues, satellite companies, and even heads of state into participating in a massive concert event to raise money to combat a catastrophic famine in Ethiopia.
Over a 16-hour broadcast, Live Aid, split between Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, brought in over US$125 million in humanitarian aid from a global TV audience estimated at 1.9 billion — nearly 40 per cent of the world’s population — in 150 countries, including the Soviet Union. Queen’s 20-minute set is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time. Bono’s dancing with a woman from the audience is now considered iconic. And Phil Collins jetting via Concorde to appear on both stages? Crazy.
There has never been, nor may there ever be again, a more powerful demonstration of how music can be a powerful agent for social and political change. Almost 40 years later, people still talk about Live Aid. And the talk has been rekindled, thanks to a new musical based on the event called Just For One Day (yes, the title is from the Bowie song, Heroes.) It follows several characters who remember that day and intertwines real-life events with over 30 songs performed at Live Aid.
After a run at the Old Vic in London’s West End (the reviews were brilliant), the production’s next stop is the Mirvish Theatre in Toronto from Jan. 26 to March 25, 2025. Geldof was in Toronto to talk about the production. I sat down with Bob for about half an hour. And Bob being Bob, I got in exactly two questions during that time. Here’s a gently summarized version of our chat.
Alan Cross: You never struck me as a fan of musical theatre.
Bob Geldof: Well, if you’re a Catholic, you have your confirmation at 11. My dad took me on my confirmation treat to see South Pacific and it blew me away. I got it. I really like Oklahoma. I’m a words guy. I tune into words first and the words are so smart [Bob quotes back a bunch of lyrics from Oklahoma]. And then West Side Story was just phenomenally good. Why wouldn’t I be into [musical theatre]? What I’m not into is stuff like Cats. That sort of nonsense doesn’t do it for me.
AC: When it comes to Live Aid — the actual event — a lot of people today don’t realize how big of an event that was. We in ’85 rarely got to see our heroes, especially if we were in the hinterlands. Live Aid was transformative because technology allowed us to see our people.
BG: That’s absolutely key. Rock ‘n’ roll is a function of technology. Elvis and Little Richard wouldn’t have communicated if not for the new whiz-bang transistor radios. Six years later, in comes these four young [men] who don’t understand why they should be deferential. So you suddenly got through your TV in a very black-and-white, still-bankrupt, postwar Britain … colour! Optimism and joy.
The Rolling Stones! There’s no WAY they would have broken through with that racket [without television]! Pure punk! Utter contemptuous insolence just staring out at you from the screen! Looking weird, you know? But all of us got it simultaneously. That’s essentially the story for Band Aid and Live Aid.
As I watched that news clip on the 6 o’clock BBC news [reporter Michael Buerk’s story on the Ethiopian famine], I thought this demands something of the self.
The Boomtown Rats were off the boil. There’s Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Boy George, Eurythmics. I’m not guaranteed a hit, so why don’t I get those guys — who I knew, because my missus [Paula Yates] was the host of the rock show of the hour, The Tube. So I called her and asked, “Who’s there?” Luckily, there was Midge [Ure, the future co-writer of the Band-Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas]. And that’s how that began. A function of technology.
[After a trip to Africa after the Band-Aid project, Geldof was shocked to find that none of the grain purchased with the funds raised could get to the people who needed it because a cartel was holding up the trucks.]
I went back to the Band Aid trust and reported on the trip. “I think we should do a concert” [to raise money for the trust to buy its own trucks]. I began to go into Bob Mode. Suddenly, the world could listen to this stuff. A function of technology. “If we do it globally,” I said, “then we can do this.”
I read that the LA Olympics was the only Olympics that made money, so let’s get the guy who did the LA Olympics. I got ahold of him and I said, “This is what I want to do. Are there enough satellites?” They said, “Well, there are but many of them belong to the military and there are a lot of secret ones up there.” And then I said, “Can we get them?”
I went to dinner with the president of France [François Mitterrand] at Elysée Palace, like you do, and I said, “Mr. President, France has a satellite over central Africa that I want to be in on this. I really want Africa to be involved in this, to understand that they’re not alone.” He goes, “Well, I don’t know if we’ve got satellites.” So this general was called in who said “Non, non, non! Cette impossible!” Then Mitterand said, “General, I’m your president. The question is, ‘Do we have satellites that operate over central Africa?” The guy said, “Yes, Mr. President, we do.” “Bob would like to use them for 24 hours.”
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So never forget what this is. In our world, it’s about this great moment of music when the greatest acts ever did their greatest songs ever and performed way over their norm. And it’s reverberated down through the years.
We — well, he — spoke for some time after this, eventually moving to Live Eight, another global concert event that took place in 2006. He also hinted at more 40th anniversary Live Aid events coming in 2025 plus a celebration of The Boomtown Rats’ 50th anniversary.
Tickets for Just for One Day go on sale Monday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. ET.
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Alan Cross is a broadcaster with Q107 and 102.1 the Edge and a commentator for Global News.
Subscribe to Alan’s Ongoing History of New Music Podcast now on Apple Podcast or Google Play
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