On this day: Band Aid Recorded ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’

Tuesday, 25th November 2014 by

What is this non-descript building in north-west London, you ask? It just happens to be the studio where one of the biggest selling singles in UK history was recorded. On this date in 1984, a star-studded list of pop and rock’s biggest names (and egos) was gathered by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to record a single to raise money for famine relief in Ethopia.

Sarm Studios

From Bowie to Bono to … er… Bananarama, some 40-odd performers made up Band Aid. The single Do They Know It’s Christmas was rush-released three days later. It sold more than a million copies in its first week alone, and three million by the end of the year. It remained the best-selling single until Elton John’s Candle In The Wind tribute to Princess Diana in 1997.

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Ian Brown lives in Ottawa, Canada, and spends his spare time perusing maps to find new routes to ride on his orange bicycle.