TAYLOR-MADE FOR BAND AID
Ure wants today’s stars to record hit
Pop legend Midge Ure has called on Taylor Swift to record a new version of Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? to mark the song’s 35th anniversary.
Midge thinks the time is right for another reboot of the song which first featured an army of pop stars including U2’s Bono, Phil Collins and George Michael.
He believes Taylor is the right person for the job as he concedes he’s too old to get involved now. The original topped the 1984 Christmas chart and raised £ 8million.
But after three successful re-releases in 1989, 2004, 2014, Midge believes it’s time for a younger generation of stars to make the song their own.
He told the Sunday Mail: “The record is there.
“The Band Aid Trust owns the song for as long as the copyright lasts, which is something like 75 years after the death of the creator. Every time it’s played, money goes into the things we have been funding for the last 35 years.
“I don’t think it is on the cards that we’d do another recording. Bob is older than I am and I’m 66 so maybe we’re getting a bit long in the tooth to do it.
“We try to encourage every generation to take that song and interpret it in whichever way they like as long as it is in reasonable taste.
“Use it, put it out there because it is the song that continues to generate income. It’s an open challenge to people to take it and do something with the latest batch of rock and pop stars and everybody benefits from that.
“It’s our responsibility to generate as much income for the cause from the elements we have so the idea of Taylor Swift coming along to say, ‘ I want to sing Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ along with whoever…Please, Taylor. I’ll sort it with the Band Aid Trust.”
The last version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? was released in 2014 to mark the song’s 30th anniversary.
It featured One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Bono, Queen drummer Roger Taylor and Coldplay’s Chris Martin along with altered lyrics to fit the campaign.
It raised millions for the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
The song also inspired the 1985 Live Aid concerts, held simultaneously at London’s Wembley Stadium and the John F Kennedy stadium in Philadelphia, and 2005’s Live 8.
Midge has also welcomed the possibility of more concerts, even if he has to wait until the 40th anniversary, in 2025.
“Who knows, maybe on the 40th anniversary,” he said. “It would be fantastic but you would have to have a whole set of like-minded people standing together to do this.
“Having said that, I’ll probably get a phone call from Bob tomorrow.”
Take it and do something with the latest pop stars