Should we re-live Band Aid?

A lively debate has ensued at Casino Avenue on the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas” being re-issued. Well, in my humble opinion this re-release is a good thing, especially as it seems to be restricted to some decent bands and not the pretty boy band/girl band impostors that did Band Aid II.

I was there in 1984 when Band Aid was released, 23 years old and still in my “wild” phase. I bought the song and paid out more during the Live Aid concert in that halcyon summer of ’85. In fact, the more we got pissed that day, the more we pledged from my local. The Governor even kept the pub open all day…it was party atmosphere. Whether you like it or not, Band Aid/Live Aid did change attitudes and views, and genuinely good things happened at a time when the “greed is good” mantra could have been held up as a slogan for a Thatcher government and a society duped into believing that “there is no such thing as society” – (Thatcher’s words not mine). People of my age came together and instead of just whinging about how shit things were via our smart-arse “alternative” comedy, we put our hands in our pockets and assuaged our guilt by putting our money where our mouth was. Would we have done it without the Geldof Project? No, we wouldn’t and the reason was we didn’t watch the news, or current affairs programmes, we were the party generation, drowning our ignorance of the Thatcher years in a haze of dope and lager. We were out most nights, and when we weren’t we probably at someone’s house, gambling or shagging.

What Geldof did was put this tragedy right in our faces using the tool most likely to get the attention of the young – our false idolatry of wealth, fame and celebrity manifested in the music stars of the time. And it worked, whoever you were you couldn’t ignore what was going on, you couldn’t forget Geldof having a pop at Maggie, or swearing in his passionate plea to “give us your fucking money”. For fucks sake it even got Led Zeppelin back on stage for the only time since Bonhams death. Whatever music you liked or didn’t like, there was someone involved that appealed. Even that crusty old misery Neil Young performed in the States. None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for one tortured, miserable, passionate, scruffy Irishman and his “never to have a number 1 single” Scottish mate. It was in it’s own way not only a master tactic, but a mini revolution.

Are you seriously telling me that we, or at least the youngsters of today, don’t need something similar today to shake off the creeping malaise of ignorance we live under now?

There is one bad element to Band Aid III and that is the fact that The Sun (specifically Knobber hack Dominic Mohan) seems to be claiming the credit for it. The Sun acting in any way altruistically is a bit like Branson doing something without mentioning Virgin – it just doesn’t happen. But I can take their “sponsorship” of it if the cause is right because like Geldof I would use it as a means to an end and not get caught up in a game of “right-on” political dogma with bleeding hearts spouting on about the whole thing being tainted because of it’s association with The Sun. Fuck The Sun! Bollocks to their little game of “Aren’t we the gracious ones” – most sensible people aren’t suddenly going to become Sun readers because of their association with the record because we have brains and intellect and can choose rationally for ourselves. The Sun is an irrelevance in all this now because Midge Ure and Geldof’s little project is now up and running again under their control. If the Sun wants to try and claim then nothing’s going to stop that, as reprehensible as that may be.

As you can tell I am a little dismayed at the cynicism that Band Aid III is being greeted with. One particularly piss poor view seems to be that because the idea was conceived in the 1980’s then somehow it is bad to resurrect it in the enlightened (sic) Millennium years. This ties in with the whole “new is good, old is bad” culture that pervades our society. It’s just another inverted form of snobbery emanating from smart-arse know-nothing shit necks barely out of nappies trying to show how clever they are with their pseudo-intellectual ramblings. My message to them is “fuck off back to University and get a degree in Real Life”. Then come back and comment on stuff you currently know nothing about.

Let’s put the new vs old argument to the test.

New Music “good” vs. Old Music “bad”

Look a lot of New Music (Goldie Lookin’ Chain anyone?) is shite, as is a lot of Old Music (who could forget Brotherhood of Man), but whether music is good or bad is fuck all to do with its age. It’s about the skill and care the artist has taken in writing, producing and performing it, added to the subjective perception and personal taste of the audience. It’s not better if it’s “cult” or enjoyed by a minority either. Just because something is popular with masses doesn’t instantly make it shite. People who think this are as bad as that cultural cripple Brian Sewell.

New Art vs. Old Art

In my periodic series of Art pictures in this blog I have included works from classical artists as well as modern art. It is subjective again to some point, but honestly will anyone be raving about Tracy Emin’s soiled bed in 200 years time, or a light switch going on and off in a room? That’s not breaking boundaries, its conning people.

New food vs. Old food

Nothing to do with the age of the food and the merits of not eating mouldy food, rather the bollocks industry around restaurants. When I go out for a meal I sometimes want something simple, wholesome and I want enough on my plate to make me feel fully contented. I am their to be fed, and to have a drink and enjoy the company. I do not need an “experience” when re-fuelling. I do not want Art on a plate. I do not want 3 “baby” vegetables drizzled in “jus”. If “old food” is so bad why are we living longer? I’d rather eat in roadside café than in The fucking Ivy.

New fashion vs. Old fashion

Fashion is a shitehole industry anyway pampering to skinny arse airheads and aging queens. But it is trendy to snigger at the 80’s fashions now isn’t it. Oh how ridiculous the hair styles were, the clothes, the music. It’s the decade that taste forgot! They said the same in the 80’s about the 60’s and 70’s, but as you get older you realise that it was of it’s time. It may look silly now, but it will recycle and at some point in the future, the yoof will be wearing pixie boots, leg warmers, ra-ra skirts (which was a top fashion idea in my view!) puffball shirts and men will wear makeup and the Mullet will return.!

So stop knocking the 80’s and start looking at what it contributed to our society and culture. Its influences are everywhere from politics (it heralded the death knell for the Tories), to music to fashion to technology. Frankly I’d live the 80’s again given the chance…even if it was just to rectify some of my ….ahem…regrets.

Later, GrocerJack