portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

The Pretenders - Run up to Live Aid! 1985 - So Many Roads

 Interesting document set from Chrissie and the boys from So Many Roads and as they note:

1985: When Bob Geldorf organized an effort in late 1984 to recruit an all star cast of rock stars to record a charity single to raise money to address the famine in Ethiopia, he had little idea what idea would eventually transpire. Band Aid's recording of Do They Know Its Christmas would eventually evolve into one of the largest charity initiatives in history, the world wide concert held on July 13, 1985, 26 years ago today, known as Live Aid. Billed as the "global jukebox", Live Aid was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, with 72,000 in attendance, and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia,, with a crowd of about 100,000 people. On the same day, concerts inspired by the initiative were also held in other countries, such as Australia and Germany . It was one of the largest satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time, as estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations, watched Live Aid. Over 50 different rock artists performed for over 16 hours between the 2 concerts at Wembley and Philadelphia, making it one of the largest and longest single day rock festivals in history. Most importantly, the effort raised over $283 million for famine relief.  The Pretenders were one of the dozens of bands who played the legendary charity concert, taking the stage in Philadelphia.  They warmed up for the big night with a performance, captured in this soundboard recording, the day before, July 12, 1985, 3 dozen years ago today at a small club in Philadelphia called the Chestnut Cabaret!  They actually served as the lead-in for a long forgotten group known as the Vels!


The Pretenders (build up to Live Aid!)1985 - So Many Roads

that's Chestnut Cabaret, 1985!



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