“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Overkill! And we love it!

This year is the 35th anniversary of the release of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” In 1984 when it was recorded, we were importing records, books, magazines and vhs tapes from England. We sold them thru a mail order catalog company which we ran out of our house. The morning after it was recorded, we received a frantic call from Steve, our supplier in London. He told us about Band Aid and that he had a stash of 12″‘s reserved for us. Steve had them delivered to us in two days and our phone was ringing like crazy as the flip side of the 12” record made in England was different than the US release. We sold out before we ever advertised it. The most popular flavors of the day sang on it. Those were the ones that made us the most money for many years:  Duran Duran, Culture Club, Bananarama, George Michael and U2. We still love to watch the video and interestingly, most of these pop stars are still touring and creating new music.

There have been several versions released over 35 years but we still love the original. However, we truly enjoy this French version from 2014 titled “Noel est la.”. This version was reworked and rewritten by the lovely supermodel/songwriter Carla Bruni. You may recognize the famous French tennis champion/pop star  Yannick Noah, known more stateside for being Joachim Noah’s father.  Yannick is quite a great singer/songwriter too. Hope you like this refreshing rendition! Salut!

“Noel Est La” French Band Aid 30, 2014

Here’s a few versions that you may not have heard.  They are all worth a listen and are really good and always raised money for good causes.

Here’s 1988 – the only repeats on this one was Bananarama.

And Band Aid 20 from 2004.  Bono rounded out this one with original Band Aid creators Midge Ure and Bob Geldof. Video became unavailable.  Sorry.

Band Aid 30 – 30 years from the original recording included… Bono again.

We haven’t forgotten the original reason that this phenomenon was created and we hope that the goodness that came from these recordings continues with the next generation of pop stars!

Happy Christmas!  Cheers!  Jill & Wendy