THIS DAY IN 1985, I REMEMBER IT SO WELL…IT WAS BASICALLY MY FIRST MUSIC FEST, ALBEIT VIRTUALLY THROUGH MY PARENTS’ CONSOLE TV SCREEN… BILLED AS THE ‘GLOBAL JUKEBOX’ , LIVE AID , THE BOB GELDOF ORGANIZED EVENT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR FAMINE RELIEF IN ETHIOPIA WAS ACTUALLY INSPIRED BY THE RELEASE OF THE SUCCESSFUL FAMINE RELIEF CHARITY SINGLE THE DECEMBER BEFORE ‘DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS’
I CAN IMAGINE THE LEVEL OF ANXIETY THE ORGANIZERS MUST OF FELT AS THE CONCERT WAS HELD SIMULTANEOUSLY IN LONDON’S WEMBLY STADIUM AND STATESTIDE AT PHILADELPHIA’S JOHN F KENNEDY STADIUM, WITH 58 BANDS OVER 16 HOURS. OVER 170 THOUSAND PEOPLE ATTENDED THE 2 VENUES AND AN ESTIMATED 2 BILLION…YEAH, BILLION, PEOPLE WORLDWIDE WATCHED ON TV, IT WAS BEFORE STREAMING SERVICES AND THE INTERNET… THE EVENT RAISED MORE THAN 125 MILLLION DOLLARS FOR AFRICAN FAMINE RELIEF. I ALWAYS SAY MUSIC UNIFIES!
THE DIVERSITY OF THE LINE UP AT EACH CITY WAS A WHO’S WHO OF THE MUSIC WORLD, THE LONDON STAGE SAW ELVIS COSTELLO, STING, U2, DIRE STRAITS, DAVID BOWIE, THE WHO, ELTON JOHN, PAUL MCCARTNEY AND AN EPIC PERFORMANCE BY QUEEN, AMONG OTHERS…THEN THE SHOW CONTINUED AT JFK IN PHILLY WITH AN EQUALLY WILD LINE UP INCLUDING BLACK SABBATH, RUN DMC, REO SPEEDWAGON, THE PRETENDERS, MADONNA, THE POWER STATION AND A LED ZEPPELIN REUNION WITH PHIL COLLINS ON DRUMS…IT WAS A BIT OF A DEBACLE BUT COLLINS WAS THE ONLY ARTIST TO PLAY BOTH CITIES THANKS TO THE HIGH SPEED COCORDE JET…ALSO PLAYING THE JFK LEG OF LIVE AID ON THIS DAY BACK IN 1985…THE BRIT HEAVY METAL BAND …JUDAS PRIEST…AND THEY ROCKED 100 THOUSAND CONCERT GOERS AT 11:30 IN THE MORNING WITH HALFORD ALL LEATHER CLAD, THEY CLOSED THEIR SET WITH “YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMIN’”…LEGENDARY! IT’S TODAY’S ROXY’S ROCK REWIND ON 105 7 THE X…TURN IT UP!
