#OTD in 1984 – Bob Geldof and Midge Ure founded ‘Band Aid’ and wrote a song, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing it for the Christmas market.

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Geldof was given no more than 24 hours to record and mix ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ at the SARM Studios in the Notting Hill district of London.  Considering the logistics of getting all of those names in one room (which included Sting, Bono, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, George Michael and Boy George, to name a few), it’s amazing the single was released in the U.K. four days later on 29 November 1984.

‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ shot straight to number one selling an astounding one million copies in the first week of release. The single would go on to raise over $24 million.

Band Aid opened the doors to countless other charity singles (most notably USA for Africa’s “We Are The World”) and also led to the Live Aid concert, which took place on 13 July 1985, and helped raise $125 million.

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure pictured outside SARM Studios in Notting Hill, London, during the recording of the Band Aid single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, part of the Feed The World campaign, raising money for famine-stricken Ethiopia, on 25 November 1984 | Photo by Larry Ellis/Express Newspapers/Getty Images

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