Do they know invasion of uncool tracks is hilarious?

Given some of the reaction to the latest incarnation of pop charity singalong Band Aid, you would think Bono was the problem, rather than ebola. The U2 frontman seems to have come in for as much stick as the deadly virus after Bob Geldof decided to revive the festive famine relief classic, Do They Know It’s Christmas? for a new cause.

All the arguments about patronising celebrities, etc, have been played out many times in the record’s 30-year history and those of us who remember the first time round have lost the will to hear it all a fourth time.

If anything, there’s something rather quaint and old-fashioned about recording a charity single in these days when many people think all the ills of the world can be solved through Twitter hashtags.

Bono himself long ago descended into self-parody with his heal-theworld, messianic posturing and, dare I say it, he seems smart enough to be aware how ridiculous he can sometimes look (unlike other ‘humanitarian’ celebrities).

The fact is that despite their worldwide success, U2 have always been woefully unfashionable. The two are probably linked, as fashionable bands tend to go the way of Visage and Blue Rondo A La Turk (look ‘em up).

It was U2’s sheer unhipness that made the pathetic outrage around the release of their latest album so hilarious.

At least Bono is moaning about genuine problems like famine, poverty and deadly viruses. Most of his critics apparently have nothing more to worry about than the fact they had some unwanted U2 tracks dumped in their iTunes account.

I loved the idea of all these hipsters, their iPod playlists lovingly compiled around cliched ideas of ‘cool’, suffering this unwanted invasion of deeply ungroovy anthemic rock to contaminate their Miles Davis and Velvet Underground.

Let’s hope Simply Red try the same stunt with their next album.