In the winter of 1984, British musician Bob Geldof, of the rock group The Boomtown Rats, was moved to do something to help starving people in Africa. The mid 1980s were a devastating time for the nation of Ethiopia, which was beset by a crippling famine. Geldof helped to organize a group of his fellow European musicians to come together to create a charity recording. The proceeds from that record's profits would go to buy food to feed the hungry of Ethiopia.
The group of musician who came together called themselves Band Aid, and they represented a wide variety of different styles and genres. The song they recorded together was a Christmas mixture of hope and protest named "Do They Know Its Christmas ?" The song itself was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.
Shortly thereafter, in January 1985, a group of American musicians followed suit and produced their own charity record to benefit the starving of Africa. The group they put together was also very diverse. They called themselves USA for Africa. The song they recorded was written by two of the most popular American musicians of the 1980s: Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The song was entitled "We Are The World."
For A listing of the artists who participated in Band Aid and USA For Africa, Click Here
These two groundbreaking recordings produced a series of other efforts to aid people in need. These included concerts such as Live Aid to aid the starving of Africa, and Farm Aid to help the struggling farmers in the United States. It also included a series of other recordings aimed at a number of causes.
In February of 1985, a group of musicains recorded a version of an old Reggae song, entitled "Starvation," with the intent of donating proceeds to aid the starving in Ethiopia. This effort, much in the same vein as Band Aid and USA For Africa, included members of UB40, Madness, General Public, Special AKA and the Pioneers (who had made the original version of the song). The flip side of the record featured a recording by a number of Africa musicians and was called "Tam Tam Pour L'Ethiope."
In 1986, a group of Heavy Metal musicians recorded their own effort to help the starving in Africa. The group called itself Hear 'N Aid, and their song was called Stars.
In late 1985, a group of musicians called Artists United Against Apartheid recorded a song entitled "Sun City." It included Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, David Ruffin, and Bob Dylan. The proceeds of this record went to a fund aimed at opposing apartheid in South Africa.
In 1985, an LP dedicated to helping the human right group Amnesty International was released. Called the Conspiracy of Hope, the album featured Sting, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Steve Winwood and others. There would follow many concerts and other such efforts on behalf of human rights through the end of the decade.
In 1986, artist Dionne Warwick organized a
small group of artists to record a song
entitled "Thats What Friends Are For," whose
proceeds went to the effort to fight AIDS.
The small group, called Dionne Warwick and
Friends, included Elton John and Stevie
Wonder.
