Merry Christmas From SynthTube
Posted in: Featured, Gurus, Originals, Retro, special
Comment on This Video
Way back in the 1980’s, when we here at SynthTube were in our formative years, the world was a surprisingly different place. The Cold War was still going on, and fear of nuclear annihilation at the hands of the “Evil” Soviet empire was a daily threat that everyone was more or less comfortable with. The West enjoyed its longest period of prosperity since the end of World War 2, which lead among other things, to some very great music.
One of the other things it engendered, in our opinion, is something that cynical 90’s and 00’s “emo kids” of today simply can’t grasp. That is the world was a surprisingly less cynical place, particularly when it came to grand ideas about changing the world. Africa today is considered a basketcase continent by many, but back in the 1980’s all hope was not lost.
Look no further than the “Band Aid” project, cooked up by Bob Geldof and Synth-whizz/producer/frontman of “Ultravox”, “Midge Ure”. Together they created a Pop-Charity phenomenon that became the template for similar charity music events even decades later (see “Live Earth 2007″), albeit on a MUCH smaller scale. Back then these guys genuinely believed that if they just got a bunch of the world’s coolest pop musicians together, threw together a tight synth-pop classic, and got them to sing, that maybe, just maybe they could change the world.
The track we’re talking about is of course, the 1984 hit, “Let Them Know It’s Christmas”, in which some of the world’s most influential pop musicians (at the time) came together to convince the world to give, and give generously to those in massive need on the African subcontinent. The track is sappy and overtly emotional, as indeed much music in the 1980’s was, but we here at ST believe that that’s part of this music’s appeal. It’s not trying to be cool, it’s not trying to impress you with its technique – it’s just a simply written song by good musicians, imploring you to think about someone other than yourself for just ten minutes.
The production values themselves were, for the time of course, fantastic. Names as diverse as Bob Geldof, the late Freddie Mercury, Phil Collins, Steve Norman from Spandau Ballet , John Taylor from Duran Duran, Bono from U2, George Michael (then from “Wham!”), Midge Ure, Sting (then from “The Police”, Robert ‘Kool’ Bell from Kool and The Gang, Boy George from Culture Club, among many MANY others came together to lend their voices to this previously unprecedented effort to raise money for those in need in the developing world.
To us, this is the power of music. If music were used to do good in the world like this more often, just imagine what a different world we’d live in.
So readers, we present to you today, the original Synthpop classic 1984 video from Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, followed with the impressive and technically superior modern version by the “Band Aid 20″ recorded in 2004 (featuring Danny Goffey, Thom Yorke, Sir Paul McCartney, Natasha Beddingfield, Jamelia, Lemar, Snow Patrol, Robie Williams and again, MANY others).
Original 1984 “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
2004 “Band Aid 20″ Remake of “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Are you still here?
Great.
Now’s a great time to donate to charity.
Our recommended charity here at SynthTube is Medicins Sans Frontieres. We urge you to give generously, “Feed the world, let them know it’s Christmas time again”…
Direct Link to MSF.ORG.AU’s Donation Page (We just donated 50$. Help us give more!)
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SEASON’S GREETINGS TO ALL!
