Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK on Monday 3 December. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989 and the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014. The original was produced by Midge Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.
Ultravox were a British new wave band, formed in London in 1973 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980–86, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was their 1981 hit "Vienna".
James "Midge" Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his given name.
Nicholas David Kershaw is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.
Rich Kids were a short-lived new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan, who both later founded Visage together. They released one album and three singles during their existence, from March 1977 to December 1978.
Chesney Lee Hawkes, is an English pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for one single "The One and Only", which topped the UK Singles Chart, and reached the Top 10 in the United States.
Thomas Alexander Bailey is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician, and record producer. Bailey came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist for the new wave band Thompson Twins, which released five singles that entered the top ten charts in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, including "Love On Your Side", "We Are Detective", "Hold Me Now", "Doctor! Doctor!", and "You Take Me Up". He was the only classic member of the band to have formal musical training. From 1994, Bailey was also a member of its later incarnation, Babble, releasing two commercially unsuccessful studio albums.
Mark Michael Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, From The Jam and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders, Nik Kershaw and many others. He was also the drummer on Shine, the second and final English language album by Frida of ABBA. He uses both the traditional and matched grips.
"Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw. It was released one month prior to his debut studio album Human Racing. The release was Kershaw's second single, and features the non-album track "Monkey Business" as the B-side, which was also released as a bonus track on the 2012 re-release of the album.
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written and performed by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw. It was his first single, released in 1983 to little success, but was re-released in 1984 and became his highest charting hit, peaking at no. 2 in the UK. The song was included on Kershaw's debut album Human Racing.
Modern Romance were a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier band, The Leyton Buzzards, the band achieved a string of UK chart hits before the original band broke up in 1985. Andy Kyriacou reformed the band in 1999 who continue to perform the band's music.
The Maidenhead Waterways are a system of canals in Maidenhead, England. Currently disused, plans to restore and upgrade them were announced in 2011. The works would initially make the waterways navigable by small craft, and over time by larger craft, as limitations to navigation are gradually removed.
"The Riddle" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw. It was released in 1984 as the lead single from the album of the same name. Kershaw described the lyrical content as being nondescript to fill as a "guide vocal" for the production. It reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top 10 in countries like Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. An accompanying music video was made for the song and features references to Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland. The song was covered by many artists, most notably by Gigi D'Agostino (2000) and Jack Holiday and Mike Candys (2012).
Steve Brzezicki is a British session bass guitarist and younger brother of drummer Mark Brzezicki who he often forms a rhythm section with. Among others, he and Mark worked together on the Ultravox album U-Vox (1986), Midge Ure's solo albums Answers to Nothing (1988) and Pure (1991), and Nik Kershaw's album Radio Musicola (1986). They also played live with ex-Marillion singer Fish on his first solo tour in 1989/1990 and Procol Harum in 2000.
The Here and Now Tour is a series of concert tours, which began in 2001, featuring groups and singers famous in the 1980s. The Tour takes in arenas and theatres around the UK and still runs today. The tours are organised by Tony Denton Promotions. The tour has now progressed to countries such as Japan and Australia as well as several European countries.
This Is Not Retro – This Is the Eighties Up to Date is a compilation of new and recent material from some of the Eighties' most enduring acts. It is a limited edition, presented in DVD-style packaging, with a 24-page booklet, released in 2005, in UK. Of the 19 tracks totally featured in the collection, 8 are commercially available here for the very first time, while in 8 cases, the related song is interpreted by he/she who was the lead vocalist of the given band at the time.
The Gibraltar Music Festival, as of 2017 known as MTV Presents Gibraltar Calling, is an annual pop music festival held in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Government of Gibraltar's Ministry of Culture confirmed on 10 August 2012, that the inaugural event would be held on 8 September 2012 at Victoria Stadium. The first festival had a British artist, Jessie J, as headlining act. The rest of the lineup consisted of Ali Campbell from UB40, and local bands Noiz and Jetstream.
Stuart Robert Bruce is an English recording engineer. He was the engineer for the recording of the Band Aid's charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on 25 November 1984. He was born in Northolt, Middlesex.
"Somebody Loves You" is a song from English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released in 1999 as the lead single from his fifth studio album 15 Minutes. The song was written and produced by Kershaw.
