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Today is the 27th Anniversary of Live Aid

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by The Big Ragu, Jul 13, 2012.

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  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    OK. For those old enough, what are your memories? I was going into my senior year in high school. It was really ambitious. Performers at venues all around the world, with Wembley Stadium as the centerpiece, and all of it being beamed around the world by satellite, which was a big deal for something like that in 1985.

    It began, "It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for: Live Aid."

    It is amazing how many acts they got to perform in the various venues. Forget the 80s phenoms like Paul Young, Nik Kershaw, Howard Jones, The Hooters, etc.

    The day included Elvis Costello, Sting, Phil Collins, U2, Dire Straits, David Gilmore, Queen, David Bowie, The Who, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Black Sabbath, Run DMC, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Beach Boys, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Santana, The Cars, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Hall & Oates, Mick Jaggar, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and BB King. Jack Nicholson was introducing acts.

    The thing that will always stand out was how Queen absolutely killed its set, and I am not that big of a Queen fan. A lot of people still think it was the greatest live rock set ever performed. You had to see it to believe how good Freddie Mercury was that day.

    Anyone else have strong memories?
     
    The Big Ragu, Jul 13, 2012
    #1
  2. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    One of the greatest days in MTV history. I was 17. I watched when I woke up until I had to go to my summer job. Then I went to a friend's house where about 10 of us sat around watching until curfews called us home.
     
    Inky_Wretch, Jul 13, 2012
    #2
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I'm not 100 percent sure. ... was it on MTV or network TV? I kind of remember them cutting to Dick Clark somewhere in the U.S. and though it might have been on regular TV all day?
     
    The Big Ragu, Jul 13, 2012
    #3
  4. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Both MTV and ABC had coverage. Both made horrible decisions like cutting to commercials in the middle of songs. Not in the middle of a set, in mid-verse of a song.
     
    Inky_Wretch, Jul 13, 2012
    #4
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Yup. Just hit the google and was reading that. Not sure how true any of this is, but the thing said 1.4 billion of the earth's 5 billion people watched some part of it. At one point, they announced that 95 percent of the world's TVs were tuned in. The U.S. phone center crashed at one point when 700,000 pledge phone calls came in at once.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jul 13, 2012
    #5
  6. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    I remember being pumped for the Led Zep reunion, until Phil Collins took to the drum kit.
     
    Inky_Wretch, Jul 13, 2012
    #6
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    And then it was the land of confusion?
     
    The Big Ragu, Jul 13, 2012
    #7
  8. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Remember it well, watched the whole thing, just days after being hit by a car in the mall parking lot.

    I thought U2, whom I had seen a few months earlier at Maple Leaf Gardens, was great. They went into a whole new stratosphere after that. Queen completely killed and revived their entire career. The Mercury bio I just finished spends plenty of time on that show.

    Geldof's autobiography, Is That It?, is tremendous. loads of backstage LiveAid dope.
     
    Huggy, Jul 13, 2012
    #8
  9. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    I took the GED -- for the second time, but the first time sober. Each of the 5, one-hour tests took me about 10 minutes to complete, so I would go out to my car and listen to the broadcast for the remaining time.
     
    TigerVols, Jul 13, 2012
    #9
  10. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    The Queen documentary I watched the other day also spends a lot of time on the performance, which is presented as the best Queen show ever, and the one that revived the band.

    Bowie was the highlight, IMO.
     
    TigerVols, Jul 13, 2012
    #10
  11. rmanfredi

    rmanfredi Active Member

    It definitely wasn't an A1 story after that.

    I remember all of the hype about Phil Collins playing two venues - ON TWO DIFFERENT CONTINENTS - in one day. And yeah, Queen was absolutely the high point from a performance standpoint. U2 was pretty good as well - along with Bono dancing with some girl from the crowd when it turned out that he noticed she was getting crushed against the barrier and he jumped down to help her out.

    I also forgot that it was where Teddy Pendergrass had his first performance since his car accident back in 1982.
     
    rmanfredi, Jul 13, 2012
    #11
  12. waterytart

    waterytart Active Member

    lono and I were living in our first place together. We invited the newsroom for the whole thing. People came and went all day and evening. The living room TV was on ABC and the one in the bedroom on MTV so you could try to avoid the commercials.

    The performance I remember is Jagger dancing with Tina Turner.
     
    waterytart, Jul 13, 2012
    #12
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