(BBC - click pic for photo legend)
The 20th anniversary version of "Do they Know It's Christmas" was recorded yesterday and will be credited to "Band Aid 20." BBC News entertainment reporter Ian Youngs was inside Air Studios in London for the recording and blogged it here (posts in reverse chronological order):
- AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1955 GMT
Bono has been delayed so I leave the studio. There is a single candlelit table set up in the centre of the hall where those still working on the song, including producer Nigel Godrich and Travis singer Fran Healy, are about to eat sushi.
A helper passes Bob Geldof two things from fans outside - a note from someone claiming to have very early Boomtown Rats tapes and an envelope simply marked "Donation".
AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1745 GMT
Most artists have left and the studio is emptying. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure come back to give us a round-up of how the day has gone.
"It's been fantastic, we could ask for nothing better," Ure says.
"We've had the creme de la creme of what the UK's got to offer. The quality of the singing and the quality of the musicianship is unbelievable."
Midge Ure and Bob Geldof were delighted with the recording
Geldof adds his tribute to the artists, adding a request for everybody to buy one - or more - copies of the single when it is released on 29 November.
"For some reason, this country throws up people who can play rock music and it's world-beating," he says.
"But the best thing of all is the attitude. What happened in this room today is properly important and memorable and will be remembered."
....AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1130 GMT
Outside, a media circus has sprung up with a line of TV cameras leading up to the studio doors.
Jamelia is the next star to arrive, with her daughter. She comes into the press booth and grabs a nearby box of cookies before hiding it under the table when a photographer starts taking pictures.
She will sing lines with Will Young - she does not know which yet - and says it was "such a huge thing to be involved in".
Will Young and Jamelia shared the limelight
"Of course, we can't stress any more it's for a fantastic cause and something I truly believe in," she said, revealing she would be travelling to Rwanda in January.
"I'm using my popularity to create awareness for something that's so real, it's still here. It's very sad that we're living in a world where we want for nothing but not too far away, there are people in 100% poverty."
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Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
update: compare the new version with the old
2 - Tim Hall
I wonder, will there be a new version of the Hear'n Aid single?
3 - Lisa
im very sorry but they have ruined the band aid song if you compare the new with the old it sounds like a load of dying cats.In my oppinion they will nerver sell as many for the charity as they did the original they should just re-release the old one. And RAP in band aid i dont think so!!!!!!
4 - Eric Olsen
I entirely agree they should have recorded an all new song this time around, or else just rereleased the old one as Lisa says: the new one is the same but less so
5 - Laura
Well what can i say - its not a dissappointment because i never expected it to be as good as the original. In my opinion a totally new song should have been written. People were expecting it to be as good as the original and it never would be. I personally hate it and i agree what were they thinking putting a rap in it? They will go down in history being the people that ruined the song
6 - Eric Olsen
it would appeaar this time around you can't go back
7 - Craig O
Hate to say it but it sounds really bad in the clip I heard. Most dissapointing is Bono sounds so bored.
8 - Eric Olsen
yes, he said he didn't want to reproduce his "Springsteen imitation" from 20 years ago, but it sounds like he's singing in his sleep
9 - Leo Leahy
Ms Dynamite is a very talented young woman and she is rather sensible. She is the best person in this!!! Band Aid 20