Do They Know It's Christmas?
| Do They Know It's Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Band aid | |
| publication | November 28, 1984 |
| length | 3:47 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Bob Geldof , Midge Ure |
| Award (s) | Special BRIT Award (1985), Ivor Novello Award (1985) |
Do They Know It's Christmas? ( English for 'Do you know it's Christmas?') is a 1984 benefit song by Band Aid , written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure .
Emergence
The song was written in response to a report by Michael Buerk about the famine in Ethiopia , which the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast on November 15, 1984. After Bob Geldof had seen this report at home, he contacted his friend and musician Midge Ure from Ultravox by phone the next day through his then partner and future wife Paula Yates , who were both staying in Newcastle upon Tyne for a show . Geldof asked Ure to help raise money to fight the famine, and Ure spontaneously agreed. After initial considerations at a first meeting on November 19, about how to cover a Christmas song , the idea occurred to both of them to write a song themselves and to donate all royalties . On the same day, Geldof made contact with Sting , Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet and Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran . One day after the meeting, Geldof had written the first lines and Ure had composed a hookline on a Casio keyboard. Both met in Uure's own studio in Chiswick to record the created material. The producer Trevor Horn suggested by Geldof had to refuse due to lack of time, but made his studio available for 24 hours free of charge on November 25th. In the four days up to the recording day, the two composed and wrote Do They Know It's Christmas? . Ure created and arranged a demo tape in his studio and played most of the instruments. The day before the recording, Duran Duran's John Taylor provided the bass accompaniment. Ure also recorded the vocals of Sting and Simon Le Bon. Geldof phoned numerous well-known pop artists and urged them to support the project through active participation.
After the recordings, Geldof had an appointment with the BBC 1 radio station . Originally he was supposed to present his new album there, instead he performed the still unknown benefit song . Geldof later founded the Band Aid project with some musician colleagues with the aim of raising money for the victims of the famine.
In January 1985 the "Band Aid Trust" was founded with the aim of administering these funds and documenting the expenses. Geldof and Ure are founding members of this Anglo-Saxon form of the foundation . In the past they have given funds to organizations such as CARE International , Oxfam , UNICEF , WaterAid and the United Nations World Food Program . In addition to the current fight against Ebola , the development of a vaccine, the establishment of better medical care and keeping this topic on the agenda in the industrialized countries are a concern of the Band Aid Trust.
production
The recording on November 25, 1984 was produced by Midge Ure in Trevor Horn's Sarm West studio on Portobello Road in Notting Hill (Trevor Horn himself was only involved in the 12 "version as a producer and musician).
The demo was used for the recording with the instruments and Ures' vocals that had already been played. Ure began with the recording of the chorus, in which the artists as a choir performed the lines Feed the World and Do They Know It's Christmas? sang. After a subsequent press photo session, individual vocal traces of the artists present were recorded, which were then reduced to individual lines during mixing. Phil Collins had brought his entire drum kit with him for the recording and the drums were completely re-recorded in just two takes after the singing with Collins and partly used instead of the drum computer actually intended for the finished recording. In addition to Collins, Gary Kemp on guitar, Jon Moss on bells and percussions, John Taylor on bass and Midge Ure on keyboard can be heard as other instrumentalists.
When the recordings were finished, Ure and his sound engineer Rik Walton started the mix in the afternoon , which lasted until the early hours of the morning. It wasn't until the next morning that Bob Geldof spoke the following lines:
“This record was recorded on the 25th of November 1984. It's now eight on the 26th. We've been here 24 hours and I think it's time we went home. "
“This record was recorded on November 25, 1984. It is now 8 am on the 26th. We are here 24 hours and I think it is time to go home. "
publication
The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? took place worldwide on November 29, 1984 under the Mercury Records label . The cover picture is from the British artist Peter Blake . The single was originally released as a 7 ″ and 12 ″ or maxi single. The 7 ″ single includes Do They Know It's Christmas? the song One Year On (Feed the World) as the B-side . The 12 ″ or maxi single is a remix version of Do They Know It's Christmas? by the British musician Trevor Horn . In addition, various single versions were published in the following years, which differ regionally in the selection and number of B-sides; the song can also be found as a B-side in the follow-up projects.
content
The lyrics to Do They Know It's Christmas? translated into German means "Do you know that Christmas is?" Music and lyrics are provided by Bob Geldof , singer with the Boomtown Rats , and Midge Ure , singer with Ultravox . Musically, the song moves in the area of pop music . The individual lines are sung by different artists and in the chorus all can be heard in the choir.
- Original excerpt (1984)
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Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? celebrated its premiere in 1984. You can see the vocal recordings from the recording studio. You can always see the currently singing artists. The video begins with a person opening an article about "Band Aid" in a daily newspaper, and you can see some artists already gathering in front of the recording studio. The video ends with a thank you to those involved in the project. The total length of the video is 4:30 minutes. The music video has had over 61 million views on YouTube since December 2011 (as of March 2020). The video was nominated for a 1986 Grammy in the category “Best Music Video, Short Form”, but we Are the World was beaten by USA for Africa .
Contributors
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singing
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production
Companies
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reception
criticism
The song has received multiple criticisms for its colonial, western-centered view and condescending stereotypical descriptions of Africa. African activists and Twitter users complained that the song disregarded the diversity of the African continent and ultimately brought people more harm than good.
In the 2014 version, several texts that had previously been criticized were rewritten and the song was changed to focus on Ebola rather than the famine in the original version. The new text has also been criticized for stereotypes and condescension. Musician Fuse ODG declined a request to sing on the 2014 version on the grounds that the lyrics of the song did not reflect what Africa really is. He quoted a text like "There is no peace and no joy in West Africa this Christmas"; he said he went to Ghana every year for the sole purpose of peace and joy, so it would be a blatant lie to sing such a text.
Geldof and Ure themselves later recognized the musical limits of “Do They Know It's Christmas?”: Geldof told the Daily Telegraph in Australia in 2010 : “I am responsible for two of the worst songs in history. The other is' We Are the World '".
Ures' assessment in his autobiography read: "It's a song that has nothing to do with music. It was just about making money ... The song didn't matter: the song was secondary, almost irrelevant."
Awards
In 1985, Geldof and Ure received a “ Special BRIT Award ” and the Ivor Novello Award for the composition . Both were knighted for their services. As an Irishman, Geldof has been Knight Commander (honorary) since 1986 and Ure Officer of the British Empire since 2005 .
Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? reached number one in the singles charts in Germany , Austria , Switzerland and the United Kingdom . In the United States, the single placed at position 13 and was able to stay in the charts for a total of nine weeks. In the United Kingdom, the piece managed to position itself in the top 10 again the following year, reaching the highest position three. Since Christmas 2007, Do They Know It's Christmas? place in the UK charts every Christmas season. In Austria, the piece has been doing the same thing since 2010. In Germany, the song has also made it into the charts several times after its release, but the exact details are unknown.
Furthermore, the single reached number one in the following countries: Australia , Belgium , Ireland , Italy , Canada , the Netherlands , New Zealand , Norway and Sweden .
Chart placements
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|
| 1984/85 |
1 (11 weeks) |
1 (4 weeks) |
1 (9 weeks) |
1 (13 weeks) |
13 (9 weeks) |
| 1985/86 | - | - | - | 3 (7 weeks) |
- |
| 1986/87 | - | - | - | 91 (1 week) |
- |
| 1987/88 | - | - | - | 86 (3 weeks) |
- |
| 2007/08 | - | - | 71 (2 weeks) |
24 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2008/09 | - | - | 44 (2 weeks) |
54 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2009/10 | - | - | 60 (1 week) |
50 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2010/11 | - | 43 (4 weeks) |
- | 54 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2011/12 | 51 (5 weeks) |
49 (4 weeks) |
- | 34 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2012/13 | 62 (4 weeks) |
57 (4 weeks) |
- | 37 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2013/14 | 57 (4 weeks) |
49 (4 weeks) |
- | 57 (3 weeks) |
- |
| 2014/15 | 43 (6 weeks) |
54 (4 weeks) |
- | 56 (6 weeks) |
- |
| 2015/16 | 37 (3 weeks) |
57 (2 weeks) |
- | 38 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2016/17 | 42 (3 weeks) |
58 (1 week) |
98 (1 week) |
29 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2017/18 | 29 (4 weeks) |
38 (3 weeks) |
54 (2 weeks) |
7 (5 weeks) |
- |
| 2018/19 | 21 (4 weeks) |
22 (3 weeks) |
26 (3 weeks) |
6 (5 weeks) |
- |
| 2019/20 | 17 (4 weeks) |
14 (3 weeks) |
19 (3 weeks) |
7 (5 weeks) |
- |
| All in all |
1 (48 weeks) |
1 (36 weeks) |
1 (23 weeks) |
1 (80 weeks) |
13 (9 weeks) |
Awards for music sales and sales figures
Do They Know It's Christmas? has been awarded gold twice and platinum three times worldwide. By Christmas 1984, over six million records had been sold and raised around eight million US dollars . In total, the single has so far been sold over 6.6 million times and grossed around twelve million euros.
The sound carrier was the best-selling single in Great Britain in the 1980s with around 3.5 million copies and was the best-selling single in Great Britain at all until the release of Elton John's new recording of the piece Candle in the Wind as a necrology for the Princess of Wales, who died in 1997 . With around 3.8 million units sold, it is currently the second best-selling single in British history.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
 gold
|
250,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
 platinum
|
100,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
platinum
|
15,000 |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
gold
|
2,500,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
3,820,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 3 × platinum |
6,685,000 |
Other band aid projects
Band Aid II
| Do They Know It's Christmas? | |
|---|---|
| Band Aid II | |
| publication | December 11, 1989 |
| length | 4:28 |
| Genre (s) | Benefit song |
| Author (s) | Bob Geldof, Midge Ure |
Creation and artwork
Five years later, in 1989, after another drought in Ethiopia, a second Band Aid project was formed. Under the project name Band Aid II , Do They Know It's Christmas? recorded a second time. The single was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman . The song was mixed by Phil Harding. The single was arranged by Karen Hewitt and Yoyo. The instrumentalists were Matt Aitken on guitar and keyboard, Luke Goss on drums, A. Linn on drums, Chris Rea on guitar and Mike Stock on keyboard. On the cover of the maxi single, only the artist's name and the song title can be seen against the background of many small pictures with a globe and knife and fork arranged in multiple ways. The cover design is by David Howells.
Publication and promotion
The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? took place worldwide on December 11, 1989, under the music labels Polydor and PWL Records . The single was originally released as a 7 " , maxi-single and compact cassette . The maxi single includes the radio version of Do They Know It's Christmas? an instrumental version of the song as a B-side . In addition, various single versions were published in the following years, which differ regionally in the selection and number of B-sides. The song can also be found as a B-side in the follow-up projects.
background information
On December 1, 1989, Bob Geldof asked British music producer Pete Waterman if he could consider a new version of Do They Know It's Christmas? To help tackle the renewed drought in Ethiopia . to produce with the current stars of the UK music scene. Waterman canceled his wedding, which was scheduled for the same day, and began calling the musicians. After only two days, the recordings took place on December 3rd in the PWL Studios in South London . The recordings lasted only two days until December 4th. On Tuesday, December 5th, the piece aired for the first time on London's Capital Radio. The two Bananarama members Sarah Dallin and Keren Woodward are the only two singers who sang along with the original. The single was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman .
Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? celebrated its premiere in December 1989. You can see the vocal recordings from the recording studio. You can always see the currently singing artists. The video begins with a look at the Ethiopian people and ends with a comment by journalist Michael Buerk. The total length of the video is 4:28 minutes.
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singing |
production
Companies
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Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? reached position 74 in the single charts in Germany and stayed in the charts for a week. In Switzerland, the single reached position 24 in four weeks. In the United Kingdom, the single reached position one in the charts and stayed at the top for a total of three weeks, four weeks in the top 10 and six weeks in the charts. In the UK, the composition reached number one on the charts for the second time.
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|
| 1989/90 | 74 (1 week) |
- | 24 (4 weeks) |
1 (6 weeks) |
- |
Awards for music sales and sales figures
On April 1, 1990, the cover version of the second Band Aid project in the UK was awarded a platinum record for over 600,000 units sold.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| All in all |
1 × platinum |
600,000 |
Band Aid 20
| Do They Know It's Christmas? | |
|---|---|
| Band Aid 20 | |
| publication | November 29, 2004 |
| length | 5:07 |
| Genre (s) | Benefit song |
| Author (s) | Bob Geldof, Midge Ure |
Creation and artwork
20 years later, in 2004, after another drought in Darfur in Sudan, a third Band Aid project was formed. Under the project name Band Aid 20 , Do They Know It's Christmas? recorded a third time. The single was produced by Bob Geldof and Nigel Godrich , Midge Ure acted as "Executive Producer" . The instrumentalists were Francis Healy , Justin Hawkins , Charlie Simpson , Dan Hawkins, Jonny Greenwood on guitar, Danny Goffey on drums, Paul McCartney on bass and guitar, and Thom Yorke on piano. The recordings took place on November 14, 2004 in London's Abbey Road Studios . On the cover of the maxi single - in addition to the artist name and song title - a small, naked, black child can be seen, surrounded by a winter landscape, a festively decorated house, several deer and polar bears. The cover design comes from Damien Hirst .
Publication and promotion
Do They Know It's Christmas? premiered as airplay on November 16, 2004 at 8am on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 . The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? took place worldwide on November 29, 2004, under the Mercury Records label . The single was originally released as a 2-track single and maxi-single . The 2-track single includes the Band Aid 20 version of Do They Know It's Christmas? the original Band-Aid version as B-side . The maxi single is expanded to include a live version of Band Aid during the Live Aid event.
background information
20 years after Band Aid became Do They Know It's Christmas? Re-recorded at the suggestion of music journalist Dominic Mohan (from The Sun ). Again the occasion was a famine in Africa , this time in Darfur in Sudan . Bono and Paul McCartney are the only two singers who sang along with the original. A dispute arose over the song line “Tonight thank God it's them, instead of you”. In the original Bono sang this line, in this version Justin Hawkins (from The Darkness ) should sing the said line. Bono insisted on re-recording the line with his voice. Eventually the latter was used on the single. On December 6, 2004, the BBC broadcast a documentary about the studio recordings.
Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? celebrated its premiere on November 18, 2014 at 5:55 pm, with an announcement from Madonna . You can see the vocal recordings from the Abbey Road Studios. You can always see the currently singing artists. The video begins with an announcement from Travis singers Francis Healy and Estelle . The total length of the video is 5:48 minutes. Directed by Geoff Wonfor. Since December 2009, the music video has had over 2.3 million views on YouTube (as of December 2014).
Contributors
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singing
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production
Companies |
reception
- Reviews
The Band Aid 20 project received mixed reviews. The BBC said that the new generation of singers, very different from the original, sought to display their talents in a 20-year template that resulted in an "anonymous" record. The Guardian described the singers' looks as successful.
- Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? reached position seven in the single charts in Germany. This was the third time that the composition was included in the German top 10. The single stayed in the top 10 for two weeks and in the charts for 21 weeks. In Austria the single reached position 15 in 18 weeks in the chart. In Switzerland the single reached position seven and stayed in the top 10 for four weeks and eight weeks in the charts. In the United Kingdom, the single reached position one on the charts and stayed at the top for a total of four weeks, six weeks in the top 10 and eleven weeks in the charts. Here the composition reached position one for the third time.
Furthermore, the single reached number one in the following countries: Denmark , Ireland , Italy , New Zealand and Norway .
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|
| 2004/05 | 7 (6 weeks) |
15 (4 weeks) |
7 (8 weeks) |
1 (10 weeks) |
- |
| 2005/06 | - | - | - | 52 (2 weeks) |
- |
| 2007/08 | 100 (1 week) |
34 (3 weeks) |
- | - | - |
| 2008/09 | 30 (5 weeks) |
42 (4 weeks) |
- | - | - |
| 2009/10 | 29 (4 weeks) |
38 (4 weeks) |
- | - | - |
| 2010/11 | 43 (5 weeks) |
- | - | - | - |
| All in all | 7 (21 weeks) |
15 (15 weeks) |
7 (8 weeks) |
1 (12 weeks) |
- |
- Awards for music sales
Do They Know It's Christmas? was awarded a double platinum record in the UK. The single was certified for over 1.2 million units sold.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
1,200,000 |
| All in all |
1 × platinum |
1,200,000 |
Band Aid 30
| Do They Know It's Christmas? | |
|---|---|
| Band Aid 30 | |
| publication | 17th November 2014 |
| length | 3:50 |
| Genre (s) | Benefit song |
| Author (s) | Bob Geldof, Midge Ure |
Creation and artwork
30 years later, in 2014, a fourth Band Aid project was set up after an Ebola epidemic in parts of West Africa . Under the project name Band Aid 30, Do They Know It's Christmas? recorded a fourth time. The single was produced by Paul Epworth , Jimmy Napes and Midge Ure acted as "Executive Producer" (executive producer). The song was mixed by Matt Wiggins. The instrumentalists were Milan Neil Amin-Smith on violin, Grace Chatto (both Clean Bandit ) on cello and Roger Taylor ( Queen ) on keyboards and drums. The piece was recorded on November 15, 2014 in the Notting Hiller recording studio Sarm West Studios. The song was released under the Virgin Records record label. On the black cover of the maxi single are - in addition to artist names and song titles - the words "Faith, Love, Trust, You, Me, And the World" (German: Faith, Love, Trust, You, Me, And the World) written with neon lights to see. The cover design is by Tracey Emin , Phil Hustler and Fuel Design Inc.
Publication and promotion
The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? took place worldwide on November 17th, 2014 as a digital release. The publication as a physical sound carrier followed a week and a half later on November 28, 2014 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; in the UK this followed on December 8, 2014. The song is available for individual download and as a maxi single . The maxi-single consists of a total of four tracks and, in addition to the current Band Aid project, contains the previous versions of the song by Band Aid 20, Band Aid II and Band Aid.
background information
For the 30th anniversary, initiator Geldof recorded a new edition of the song to raise money to fight the Ebola epidemic in parts of West Africa . Geldof was asked by the United Nations to revive the project . This time, in addition to a new edition of the British version, a German and French version of the song was sung for the first time. The French version includes Carla Bruni , Johnny Hallyday and Daft Punk . For the German version see below in the article Band Aid 30 Germany .
To adapt to the theme of the Ebola epidemic, the following lines have been changed: “Where a kiss of love can kill you” and “And there is death in every tear” (And there is death in everyone Tear). Both are related to the transmission of the Ebola virus through body fluids.
As the only interpreter, Rita Ora was not present in the studio recordings. She recorded her part during a break from filming The Voice UK . In advance, the media speculated about Adele's participation .
Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? premiered on November 16, 2014 during a UK edition of the talent show The X Factor . You can see the vocal recordings from the recording studio. You can always see the currently singing artists. The video begins with the arrival of the artists and ends with a common choir as singers. The total length of the video is 3:27 minutes.
Contributors
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singing |
production
Companies
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reception
- Reviews
In December 2014, Ebola survivor William Pooley described the song as "cultural ignorance" and "cringeworthhy". Bob Geldof replied: "It's a pop song, relax". He also said that such critics can "fuck off" (Fuck off!) About the text.
- Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? reached position two in the singles charts in Germany and stayed in the top 10 for two weeks and in the charts for six weeks. In Austria and Switzerland, the single reached position five in the single charts in four and six weeks respectively. In the United Kingdom, the single reached number one and was able to stay at the top for a week, three weeks in the top 10 and six weeks in the charts. In the United States, the single reached position 63 on the charts in one week. In Germany the composition reached the top 10 for the fourth time, in the United Kingdom it reached position one for the fourth time.
Furthermore, the single reached number one in the following countries: Belgium (Flanders) , Ireland and Spain .
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|
| 2014/15 | 2 (6 weeks) |
5 (5 weeks) |
5 (4 weeks) |
1 (6 weeks) |
63 (1 week) |
| 2017/18 | 56 (2 weeks) |
53 (1 week) |
95 (1 week) |
- | - |
| 2018/19 | 49 (2 weeks) |
50 (2 weeks) |
98 (1 week) |
- | - |
| 2019/20 | 92 (1 week) |
72 (1 week) |
- | - | - |
| All in all | 2 (11 weeks) |
5 (9 weeks) |
5 (6 weeks) |
1 (6 weeks) |
63 (1 week) |
- Awards for music sales
Do They Know It's Christmas? was awarded a gold record in the UK for over 400,000 units sold. In total, the single has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK so far.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
gold
|
501,000 |
| All in all |
1 × gold |
501,000 |
Do They Know It's Christmas? in Germany
TV all stars
| Do They Know It's Christmas? | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| TV all stars | |
| publication | November 24, 2003 |
| length | 3:26 |
| Genre (s) | Benefit song |
| Author (s) | Bob Geldof, Midge Ure |
| album | The Ultimate Christmas Album |
Creation and artwork
The single was produced by Thorsten Brötzmann. The song was mixed by Joachim Mezei. The arrangement of the choir comes from Christoph Leis-Bendorff. Thorsten Brötzmann and Joachim Mezei were hired as instrumentalists on the keyboard. On the cover of the maxi single - in addition to artist names and song titles - a group photo of all participating artists can be seen.
Publication and promotion
The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? took place on November 24, 2003, under the music label Polydor , in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The song was originally released as a 2-track single and maxi-single. The 2-track single includes the radio version of Do They Know It's Christmas? an acoustic version as B-side . The maxi single has been expanded to include an “80s rock” and “karaoke” version of the song.
background information
TV Allstars was a charity project for several German pop singers at Christmas 2003. 19 years after its first release, a music project from Germany sang the song for the first time. Besides Do They Know It's Christmas? a full album of Christmas carols was also created. Part of the proceeds went to SOS Children's Villages around the world. Only artists came together for the project who had become known through casting shows from various broadcasters in Germany ( Popstars , Deutschland sucht den Superstar and Star Search ).
Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? celebrated its premiere in November 2003. You can see the vocal recordings from the recording studio. You can always see the currently singing artists. The video begins with the arrival of the artists and ends with a common choir as singers. The total length of the video is 3:40 minutes. Directed by Johannes Grebert .
Contributors
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singing |
production
Companies
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reception
- Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? reached position three in the single charts in Germany and stayed in the top 10 for six weeks and in the charts for eight weeks. In Austria the single reached position 28 in five chart weeks and in Switzerland position 32 in also five chart weeks. In Germany the composition reached the top 10 for the second time.
| year | Chart placements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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DE
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AT
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CH
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|
| 2003/04 | 3 (7 weeks) |
28 (5 weeks) |
32 (5 weeks) |
- Awards for music sales
In January 2004, Do They Know It's Christmas? Awarded a gold record in Germany. The single was certified for over 150,000 units sold.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
Germany (BVMI)
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gold
|
150,000 |
| All in all |
1 × gold |
150,000 |
Band Aid 30 Germany
| Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) | |
|---|---|
| Band Aid 30 Germany | |
| publication | November 21, 2014 |
| length | 3:56 |
| Genre (s) | Benefit song |
| Author (s) |
Andreas Frege , Bob Geldof, Marten Laciny , Thees Uhlmann , Midge Ure, Sebastian Wehlings |
Emergence
Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) is a German cover version for the 30th anniversary of Do They Know It's Christmas? . To record a German version, Geldof turned to Campino, who called the local music scene together for a German version. Campino , Marteria , Thees Uhlmann and Sebastian Wehlings contributed a new text that was independent of the original. The single was arranged and produced by Tobias Kuhn , Vincent Sorg and the band Die Toten Hosen . The single was mixed and mastered in the Principal Studios. The programming was done by Julia Hügel. Other instrumentalists are Markus Perner on drums and Andreas von Holst on guitar. Tom Rußbüldt was also responsible as “ProTools Operator” and Tobias Lehmann as sound engineer. The piece was recorded on November 17, 2014 in the Berlin recording studios The Globe (drum recordings by Simon Frontzeck and Valentin Marquardt) and Teldex Studios (vocal recordings), as well as in the Principal Studios in Münster (guitar recordings). The song was released under the Polydor music label .
“Finally Christmas time again, the nerves are so beautiful.
Whether it's raining or snowing, we'll meet at the mulled wine stand.
We don't forget our neighbors, we buy all the shops empty.
The whole city is sinking into the sea of lights tonight. "
Publication and promotion
The initial release of Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) took place on November 21, 2014 as a digital release. The release as a physical sound carrier took place a week later on November 28, 2014 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . The song is available as a single download, a 2-track single, and an EP . The 2-track single includes the German version of Do They Know It's Christmas? also the re-recording of the British version of the Band Aid 30 project . The EP consists of a total of five tracks and also contains the previous versions of the song by Band Aid 20 , Band Aid II and Band Aid .
Music video
The music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) celebrated its premiere on November 21, 2014 in front of the Tagesthemen in Das Erste . You can see the vocal recordings from the recording studio. You can always see the currently singing artists. In between, artists can be seen posing in front of a red wall. The total length of the video is 4:04 minutes.
Contributors
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Singing (participants in the order of their use in the song)
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production
Companies
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reception
- Reviews
In his late night show Neo Magazin , comedian Jan Böhmermann satirically criticized the Band Aid 30 project in a six-minute video clip. He accused the music industry of hypocrisy. To this end, Böhmermann introduced a new category entitled “Eggs made of steel”. In the same week Campino responded in an interview with the radio station 1 Live as follows: “It's a cynical mindset to attack charity and benefit like that! If necessary, I'll stand naked on the cathedral square and let myself be pelted - the main thing is that you pay for Africa! "
The rapper's arrest warrant was originally supposed to participate, but he dropped out and criticized the fact that the artists could not have contributed to the text, although this had been promised beforehand.
In a Facebook post was Patrice known that he was shocked by the opening sequence of the video. He would have been assured that this would be cut out. The dignity of women would be completely disregarded. She is not just an “anonymous Ebola victim”, but a person with parents, friends, relatives, maybe children. He also expressed criticism of the “Band Aid 30” logo. The logo, which shows a slogan in front of the contours of the African continent , is in the best case thoughtless showmanship and in the worst case propaganda , which should not be underestimated in its destructive power. Ebola has only reached huge proportions in three relatively small countries. It is not clear that 99% of the continent is not affected, as is the fact that, for example, in Senegal and Nigeria the disease had been successfully conquered without outside help. The singer also did not agree with how Geldof dealt with the criticism of the project and considered it to be nonsense. He assessed positively that the project forced people to deal more intensively with the topics of Ebola, development aid and African clichés . Burkhard Wilke, managing director of the German Central Institute for Social Issues , who awards the donation seal , criticizes: "It is completely non-transparent what the funds are actually used for."
- Charts and chart placements
Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) reached position one in the single charts in Germany and was able to stay at the top for a total of two weeks, four weeks in the top 10 and five weeks in the charts. In Austria the single reached position 10 and was able to stay in the top 10 for a week and in the charts for three weeks. In Switzerland, the single reached position 21 in the single charts in two weeks. In Germany, the song was the most successful German-language song in the single charts for a period of three weeks and although the song did not make it to number one, it was still the most successful German-language song in the Austrian single charts for a period of one week . The single was placed in the German annual single charts of 2014 at position 83. In Germany, the composition reached the top 10 for the fifth time and position one for the second time after the original.
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DE
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AT
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CH
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| 2014/15 |
1 (5 weeks) |
10 (3 weeks) |
21 (2 weeks) |
literature
- Robin Eggar: Midge Ure, If I Was… The Autobiography . Virgin Books, 2005, ISBN 0-7535-1077-4 (British English).
- Bob Geldof and Paul Vallely: Is That It? Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1986, ISBN 0-283-99362-6 (British English).
- T. Uhlmann: Band Aid, in: ders., Die Toten Hosen. Cologne 2019. pp. 69–92.
Web links
- Do They Know It's Christmas? at Songfacts.com (English)
- Music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? (Original version from 1984) on Youtube
- Music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? (German version) on Youtube
- German version of "Do they know it's Christmas": Who sings which line? ( Memento from December 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at WDR 2
- Peter Wicke: Do They Know It's Christmas? . In: Song Lexicon . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- Do They Know It's Christmas? at crew united
Individual evidence
- ↑ Video for the German “Band Aid 30” song “Do They Know It's Christmas?” Daserste.de, accessed on December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ William Easterly: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Condescension Sells Well but Doesn't End Famine. April 29, 2014, accessed April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Barry Malone: 'We got this, Bob Geldof, so back off'. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Sir Bob's Chrissy mea culpa. November 26, 2010, accessed April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Midge Ure . In: Wikipedia . April 11, 2020 ( wikipedia.org [accessed April 16, 2020]).
- ↑ Chart sources Band Aid: DE1 DE2 AT CH UK US
- ^ Band Aid Trust - With Love from Band Aid. (PDF (170KB)) (No longer available online.) In: live8live.com. Band Aid Trust, p. 41 , archived from the original on June 23, 2011 ; accessed on July 9, 2011 (English).
- ↑ 1980s Singles Chart Archive. In: www.everyhit.co.uk. Retrieved August 21, 2011 .
- ↑ UK Top 10 Best Selling Singles from UK Charts. In: www.ukcharts.20m.com. Retrieved August 21, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Justin Myers: The Official Top 20 bestselling Christmas Number 1s. officialcharts.com, December 3, 2019, accessed December 5, 2019 .
- ↑ The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed. officialcharts.com, accessed September 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on May 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Platinum for Do They Know It's Christmas? In Canada. musiccanada.com, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ^ Scapolo (1997). p. 28.
- ↑ Stephen Holden: The Pop Life; Artists Join in Effort for Famine Relief . In: The New York Times , The New York Times Company, February 27, 1985. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
- ↑ Volume Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas? discogs.com, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ Chart sources Volume Aid II: DE CH UK
- ^ Volume Aid 2 - Do They Know Its Christmas. bpi.co.uk, accessed December 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Volume Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas? discogs.com, accessed December 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Band Aid 20's low-key style. news.bbc.co.uk, accessed December 16, 2014 .
- ↑ 20 years on, and girl power drives Bob's Band Aid line-up. theguardian.com, accessed December 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Chart sources Band Aid 20: DE AT CH UK
- ↑ 2x platinum for “Do They Know It's Christmas?” In UK. bpi.co.uk, accessed December 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Band Aid 30 - Do They Know It's Christmas? discogs.com, accessed December 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Rita Ora covers up in black hoody and yellow tracksuit as she arrives in Manchester to film The Voice… hours after recording Band Aid 30 in London. dailymail.co.uk, accessed December 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Chart sources Band Aid 30: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Gold for “Do They Know It's Christmas?” (Band Aid 30) in UK. bpi.co.uk, accessed December 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Justin Myers: Christmas Number 1 Flashback: Do They Know It's Christmas? . Official Charts Company. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ↑ TV Allstars - Do They Know It's Christmas? discogs.com, accessed December 17, 2014 .
- ↑ Do They Know It's Christmas? at crew united , accessed December 17, 2014.
- ↑ Chart sources TV Allstars: DE AT CH
- ↑ Thomas Kosarew: New highs with No Angels and Bro'Sis. onetz.de, January 17, 2004, accessed December 8, 2018 .
- ↑ Band Aid 30 - Do They Know It's Christmas? discogs.com, accessed December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Even in German, Band Aid 30 has a text problem “Everyone dies for himself”. stern.de, accessed on December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Eggs made of steel: Campino & Band Aid 30 - Do they know it's shit? - NEO MAGAZINE with Jan Böhmermann. In: YouTube . ZDFneo , November 26, 2014, accessed on December 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Campino defends himself against criticism of "Band Aid". bild.de, accessed on December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Campino on the criticism of Band Aid 30: "Cynical mindset". (No longer available online.) 1 Live November 28, 2014, archived from the original on December 21, 2014 ; accessed on December 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Sophie Albers Ben Chamo: Band Aid 30 also has a text problem in German: “Everyone dies for himself”. Stern , November 24, 2014, accessed December 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Patrice / Statement on Band Aid 30 !!! facebook.com, accessed December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Band Aid: Criticism of Bob Geldof's Ebola aid annoys the stars , Hamburger Abendblatt , November 26, 2014
- ↑ German TOP100 Single Annual Charts 2014. (No longer available online.) Deutschrap.org, archived from the original on January 15, 2015 ; accessed on January 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Chart sources Band Aid 30 (German version): DE AT CH