It’s twenty five years since Live Aid, yes it does make me feel old. It was a day that would change not only the music of the 80’s but the world, as we knew it, forever.
Christmas 1984 had been dominated by Band Aid‘s Do they know it’s Christmas, I can’t begrudge that even if it did keep Wham’s Last Christmas from Number 1 (George was on the Band Aid single anyway – that’s my 12 year old brain working).
So I was just finished National School, about to enter First Year in Secondary School and Live Aid was definitely going to be the biggest day of my Summer. I had a little cassette recorder I had inherited from my mum and a few blank audio cassettes, very few had video recorders back then. I didn’t have the gadgetry and wizardry of now, so I tried a few spots to record from the TV. The radio we had was literally a radio, no cassette player so watching the TV while recording from it seemed like the best option.
I remember my mum wanted to go to Kells for shopping and me pleading with her not to go as I wanted to see the start of the whole thing. Patiently, I sat by the TV and I pressed play as Status Quo started playing ‘Rocking All Over the World’. I wasn’t a particular fan but thought it was important to record the first song.
The people I wanted to see were Wham!, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, the saviours of music and who would change my life forever. (more…)