"Do They Know it's Christmas" at 40 with Midge Ure

Twelve Songs of Christmas

Midge Ure from The Rich Kids, Ultravox and Visage co-wrote and produced "Do They Know it's Christmas" 40 years ago this week on November 25, 1984. He recently released a new live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall 04.10.23, so we talked about that, touring, the Blitz club and his memories of the sessions for "Do They Know it's Christmas."

In this episode, I talk a little more than usual to contextualize the song and the interview. We talk about the new 40th anniversary mega-mix, which is due out Friday but the video is already out. I'll talk more about it next week.

I also mention the documentary Band Aid the Song that Rocked the World, where Midge Ure tells the story of the song in 2004.

I also found it interesting to think about this next to USA for Africa's "We Are the World." Band Aid led the way, and the American version feels very American because, as the Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in Pop showed, it threw cool out the window and simply marshaled the biggest names in music that they could get, whereas Geldof and Ure bet on the cutting edge of British pop to not only raise money but make charitable donations cool.

Next week I'll talk a little about the 40th anniversary mega-mix and some developments that have sprung up around it.

In the episode, I mentioned this year's playlist. I envision it as an alternative to the all-Christmas radio stations and recommend you listen to it on shuffle so you don't know what's coming next. It will also grow as I hear more songs that I want to share or listen to and decide what's missing.

Once again, I'm also making a special, listeners-only downloadable Christmas mix. If you want one, email me at [e-mail] and I'll send it over.