Editing Live Aid (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Michael Buerk, British Museum, London, 23 June 2012 - Britain's Secret Treasures Filming.jpg|upright=0.7|thumb|[[Michael Buerk]]'s reports on the [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia]] for [[BBC World Service]] helped spark the aid relief movement.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/>]]
The 1985 Live Aid concert was conceived as a follow-on to the successful charity single "[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]" which was also the idea of Geldof and Ure. In October 1984, images of hundreds of thousands of [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia|people starving to death in Ethiopia]] were shown in the UK in [[Michael Buerk]]'s [[BBC News]] reports on the [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia|1984 famine]].<ref name="BBCLiveAid">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/702700.stm |title=Live Aid: The show that rocked the world |work=BBC |access-date=15 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021028083359/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/702700.stm |archive-date=28 October 2002 |url-status=live}}</ref> The BBC News crew were the first to document the famine, with Buerk's report on 23 October describing it as "a biblical famine in the 20th century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth".<ref>{{cite news|title=Higgins marvels at change in Ethiopia's Tigray province|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/higgins-marvels-at-change-in-ethiopia-s-tigray-province-1.1992467|newspaper=The Irish Times |date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112100922/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/higgins-marvels-at-change-in-ethiopia-s-tigray-province-1.1992467|archive-date=12 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The reports featured a young nurse, [[Claire Bertschinger]], who, surrounded by 85,000 starving people, told of her sorrow of having to decide which children would be allowed access to the limited food supplies in the feeding station and which were too sick to be saved.<ref name="Bertschinger">{{cite news |title=The nurse who inspired Live Aid |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4640255.stm |access-date=28 September 2020 |publisher=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719013251/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4640255.stm |archive-date=19 July 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> She would put a little mark on the children who got chosen, with Geldof stating of her at the time, "In her was vested the power of life and death. She had become God-like and that is unbearable for anyone."<ref name="Bertschinger"/> Traumatised by what she experienced she did not speak about it for two decades, recalling in 2005, "I felt like a Nazi sending people to the death camps. Why was I in this situation? Why was it possible in this time of plenty that some have food and some do not? It is not right."<ref name="Bertschinger"/>

{{Quote box|width=25%|align=left|quote="There are thousands of people outside. I have counted 10 rows, and each row has more than 100 people in, and I can only take 60-70 children today, but they all need to come in."|source=—1984 diary entry from nurse [[Claire Bertschinger]] outside a feeding station.<ref name="Bertschinger"/>}}
Shocked by the report, the British public inundated relief agencies, such as [[Save the Children]], with donations, with the report also bringing the world's attention to the crisis in Ethiopia.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Live Aid: Against All Odds: Episode 1|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078x3n|publisher=BBC|date=7 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716201128/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078x3n|archive-date=16 July 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Such was the magnitude of Buerk's report it was also broadcast in its entirety on a major US news channel—almost unheard of at the time.<ref name="Buerk Report">{{cite news |title=Ethiopian famine: how landmark BBC report influenced modern coverage |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/oct/22/ethiopian-famine-report-influence-modern-coverage |access-date=28 September 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023125111/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/oct/22/ethiopian-famine-report-influence-modern-coverage|archive-date=23 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> From his home in London Geldof also saw the report and called Ure from Ultravox (Geldof and Ure had previously worked together for charity when they appeared at the 1981 benefit show ''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball]]'' in London) and together they quickly co-wrote the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in the hope of raising money for famine relief.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/> Geldof then contacted colleagues in the music industry and persuaded them to record the single under the title '[[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]]' for free.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/> On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at [[Sarm West Studios]] in [[Notting Hill]], London, and was released four days later.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/bandaid/ |title=The 20th anniversary of Band Aid |work=BBC |access-date=15 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041205204725/https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/bandaid/|archive-date=5 December 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zSQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=do+they+know+its+christmas+-+sarm+west+studios+-+25+november&pg=RA1-PA73 Billboard 8 Dec 1984] ''Billboard''. Retrieved 15 December 2011</ref> It stayed at [[List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)|number one for five weeks]] in the UK, was [[Christmas number one]], and became the fastest-selling single ever in Britain and raised £8&nbsp;million, rather than the £70,000 Geldof and Ure had initially expected.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/> Geldof then set his sights on staging a huge concert to raise further funds.<ref name="BBCLiveAid"/>

The idea to stage a charity concert to raise more funds for Ethiopia originally came from [[Boy George]], the lead singer of [[Culture Club]]. George and Culture Club drummer [[Jon Moss]] had taken part in the recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and in the same month, the band were undertaking a tour of the UK, which culminated in six nights at [[Wembley Arena]]. On the final night at Wembley, 22 December 1984, an impromptu gathering of some of the other artists from [[Band Aid (band)|"Band Aid"]] joined Culture Club on stage at the end of the concert for an encore of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" George was so overcome by the occasion he told Geldof that they should consider organising a benefit concert. Speaking to the UK music magazine ''[[Melody Maker]]'' at the beginning of January 1985, Geldof revealed his enthusiasm for George's idea, saying, "If George is organising it, you can tell him he can call me at any time, and I'll do it. It's a logical progression from the record, but the point is you don't just talk about it, you go ahead and do it!"<ref name="MM19850112">{{cite magazine |title=Band Aid ... On Stage |periodical=[[Melody Maker]] |location=London, England |page=3 |date=12 January 1985}}</ref>

It was clear from the interview that Geldof had already had the idea to hold a dual venue concert and how the concerts should be structured:

{{blockquote|The show should be as big as is humanly possible. There's no point [in] just 5,000 fans turning up at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]]; we need to have Wembley linked with [[Madison Square Garden]]s, and the whole show to be televised worldwide. It would be great for [[Duran Duran|Duran]] to play three or four numbers at Wembley and then flick to Madison Square, where [[Springsteen]] would be playing. While he's on, the Wembley stage could be made ready for the next British act like [[Thompson Twins|the Thompsons]] or whoever. In that way, lots of acts could be featured, and the television rights, tickets, and so on could raise a phenomenal amount of money. It's not an impossible idea, and certainly one worth exploiting.<ref name="MM19850112" />}}

Live Aid production manager Andy Zweck said, "Bob (Geldof) had to play some tricks to get artists involved. He had to call Elton and say Queen are in and Bowie's in, and of course they weren't. Then he'd call Bowie and say Elton and Queen are in. It was a game of bluff."<ref name="Geldof artists"/>