Lost Hits of the New Wave #36

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid

The original "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was written by Bob Geldolf of the Boomtown Rats and the criminally underacknowledged Midge Ure of Ultravox in 1984 to bring awareness to the famine in Ethiopia. Later overshadowed by that summer's American "We Are the World," I still think the original is the better song, and with the better stars.

Geldolf brought together a supergroup he called Band Aid to sing the song, which included Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, The Boomtown Rats, Sting, U2, Bananarama, Kool and the Gang (a seeming oddity, there only because they shared a record label with the Rats), Ultravox, Status

Quo, Marilyn, Heaven 17, Paul Young, George Michael, Paul Weller, Jody Watley, and Phil Collins. Artists who could not be a part of the recording like Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson, Big Country, and David Bowie were included giving holiday messages on the B-side of the single, called "Feed the World," a cool groove all by itself.

I worked in a record store at the time of the release, and its re-release in 1985 and remember the flurry to get a copy. This was huge. I also remember the crowds at the mall's Heroes World that Christmas, because they had a poster of Band Aid out front with a number chart to show who was who - and everyone wanted to know who was who.



The song was re-recorded in 1989, 2004, and this year as well. Here's the new version for 2014 by Band Aid 30:

Brothers

Brothers ~ This intense 2009 melodrama is a remake of the critically acclaimed Danish film Brodre. It’s powerful melodrama and if this flick has one flaw it is that it is melodrama.

Sam and Tommy are brothers. As ne’er-do-well Tommy returns from prison for a drinking offense, Sam is shipping off to the Middle East again. When Sam is apparently killed, Tommy, not by design, moves in on Sam’s wife and kids. Tortured by the enemy, Sam finally returns home a changed man. And that’s when the trouble really starts.

Tobey Maguire’s Sam is an acting tour de force – where is his Oscar nom? He deserved it just as much as Jeremy Renner certainly. This film reveals the creepiness that was always bubbling under his performances and shows it off scarily. Jake Gyllenhaal as Tommy and Natalie Portman as Sam’s wife are so entrenched in their characters the actors are nearly unrecognizable. And when did Mare Winningham go from brat packer to matronly actress?

Brothers also has a phenomenal score by Thomas Newman and a soundtrack that strongly features “Water” by U2. And that’s saying a lot as I am so not a U2 fan. This flick is highly recommended.

Plagiarism at Eurovision 2009?

Here is (currently) Bosnia-Herzegovina’s entry for Eurovision this year, “Bistra Voda” by U2-influenced Bosnian rock band Regina:



There’s been a bit of a controversy regarding the tune, as some officials claim it may have been copied from this song, “Oltar” by Kiki Lesendric:



The matter is currently under investigation. Is there something fishy here? You decide.

Get On Your Boots

This is "Get on Your Boots," the new U2 single from their upcoming album, No Line on the Horizon, the first in five years. It debuted on radio, terrestrial and satelite, yesterday morning. My first reaction is that the non-chorus parts sound a lot like "Wild Wild West" by the Escape Club from waaay back in the 1980s.



The similarity aside, it's an okay song I suppose, but I have to ask - is U2 even relevant anymore? Or do they just think they are?