All of us of a certain age can remember where we were for Live Aid. That charity concert in 1985 that brought the whole world together. It was a moment in history like the assassination of JFK, or the moon landing, or the death of Princess Diana, where everyone who was old enough remembers exactly where they were.
I was on top of Snowdon. In the rain. And Eddie Kiernan had a transistor radio and was God.
Before Live Aid there was Band Aid.
In a few days it is exactly 40 years since the Band Aid single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was recorded. On 25th November 1984 the biggest artists of the 1980s got behind an initiative spearheaded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to help children affected by the famine in Ethiopia.
Exactly 40 years on, and a new version of the song (a song which has been refined and re-recorded every decade since) is due to be released. It is a version that blends old and new. With bits from the original seamlessly mixed with lines from subsequent versions.
This year, however, the release is mired in controversy. Apparently some British-Ghanaian rapper named Fuse ODG (probably not his real name) has said that it “…fuel[s] pity rather than partnership…” and “…perpetuate[s] damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economic growth…and destroy it’s dignity, pride and identity.”
Others have gone further, saying that the song takes “…an ignorant and colonial attitude, more about making white people feel good than helping anyone.”
I am white. I am male. I am heterosexual. I am Gen X. I make no apology for being any of those things.
I also bought Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in 1984. I had just turned 17. I handed my £1 to Vibes Records in Bury in the hope that in some way I was helping someone.
At that age I didn’t consider my colonial attitude. I wasn’t trying to patronise anyone. I just saw starving kids covered in flies and wanted to do whatever my meagre finances and my huge distance would permit me to do. I’m sorry Mr ODG, but you haven’t a fucking clue. You can spout whatever shite you want to about my motivations but you are wrong.
And just in case you are interested, Mr ODG wasn’t born until 4 years after the Band Aid single was released. And born in London, of all places.
Now, 40 years later, we are all about “reclaiming the narrative” and crushing “colonial tropes” and I get that to some people that is the most important thing of all. Back in 1984 there were millions of people for whom the most important thing was food. And however you dress it up, the fact remains that there are people alive today who would not have been alive but for the aid given through that song and that concert and the things that have happened since.
I bet none of them are bleating on about how patronised they feel. I bet those people just think, “Thank God.”
And those people, who are alive because of what Messrs Geldof, Ure, and everyone else involved over the years managed to bring together, will change the world. Far more than some publicity seeking rapper without a proper name who has never known what it is like to not have food in the fridge.
You are the patronising one, Mr ODG. Fuck off back into your box.
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