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About this book
All author royalties and publisher profits from the sale of this book will go to The Live Aid Trust
On Saturday, 13 July 1985, a blazing, cloudless summer day, millions of people settled in front of the television. It was just before noon in London, 7 am in Philadelphia, and around the world, it was time for Live Aid. This pair of huge concerts had been arranged in fewer than four months by singer and activist Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats: from a standing start to sixteen hours of music, seventy-plus artists and close to two hundred songs. These concerts mesmerised a huge global audience and raised millions for the starving in Ethiopia. This book revisits every band and every song that made up the two Live Aid concerts.
Some made their name at Live Aid — U2 in particular. Some bands reunited — Status Quo, The Who, Black Sabbath — and some were performing their last show together. Certain performances last long in the memory — Queen, of course, but also David Bowie, Elton John, Santana and others. Indeed, some are best forgotten …
And, behind it all, the drive of Bob Geldof: 'the best day of my life, ' he admitted. For a generation of music fans, 13 July 1985 was a landmark day. It was The Greatest Show On Earth. How much of it do you remember?
Andrew Wild is an experienced writer, music collector and film buff with many books to his name, including recent publications about Queen, The Allman Brothers Band, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and Crosby, Stills and Nash. His comprehensive study of every song recorded and performed by the Beatles between 1957 and 1970 was published by Sonicbond in 2019. He lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Social Media
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Full Page Image
- Full Page Image
- 1. Prologue: Do They Know It’s Christmas?
- 2. Coldstream Guards
- 3. Status Quo
- Full Page Image
- 4. Style Council
- 5. Boomtown Rats
- 6. Adam Ant
- 7. INXS
- 8. Ultravox
- 9. Japanese Live Aid
- 10. Spandau Ballet
- 11. Bernard Watson
- 12. Joan Baez
- Full Page Image
- 13. Elvis Costello
- 14. The Hooters
- 15. Austrian Live Aid
- 16. Nik Kershaw
- 17. The Four Tops
- 18. BB King
- 19. Billy Ocean
- 20. Sade
- Full Page Image
- 21. Black Sabbath
- 22. Yugoslavian Live Aid
- 23. Run DMC
- 24. Sting and Phil Collins
- Full Page Image
- 25. Rick Springfield
- 26. REO Speedwagon
- 27. Howard Jones
- 28. Russian Live Aid
- 29. Bryan Ferry
- 30. Crosby, Stills and Nash
- 31. German Live Aid
- Full Page Image
- 32. Judas Priest
- 33. Paul Young with Alison Moyet
- 34. Bryan Adams
- Full Page Image
- 35. U2
- 36. The Beach Boys
- 37. Dire Straits with Sting
- 38. George Thorogood
- 39. Queen
- Full Page Image
- 40. Intermission
- 41. Simple Minds
- 42. David Bowie
- 43. Drive
- 44. Pretenders
- Full Page Image
- 45. The Who
- 46. Santana
- 47. Norwegian Live Aid
- 48. Elton John
- Full Page Image
- 49. Ashford ad Simpson
- 50. Kool and The Gang
- 51. Madonna
- Full Page Image
- 52. Mercury and May
- 53. Paul McCartney
- 54. Band Aid
- 55. Tom Petty
- 56. Kenny Loggins
- 57. The Cards
- 58. Neil Young
- 59. The Power Station
- 60. Thompson Twins
- Full Page Image
- Full Page Image
- 61. Eric Clapton
- 62. Phil Collins
- 63. Led Zeppelin
- 64. CSNY
- 65. Duran Duran
- 66. Cliff Richard
- 67. Patti Labelle
- 68. Hall and Oates
- 69. Mick Jagger with Tina Turner
- Full Page Image
- Full Page Image
- 70. Bob Dylan and Friends
- 71. USA For Africa
- Epilogue
- Bibliography