Who was the band that played the backing track for ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’?
Listen closely… can you hear them? With the chattering teeth of the cold setting in, I think I can as the shivers shake the sleigh bells to life. The arguments will start about when is an acceptable time to first hit play on the Christmas playlist, and finally return to the embrace of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s seasonal supergroup anthem.
There are some Christmas songs that just hit. Across any genre and any era, it’s always impossible to truly put a finger on why certain songs soar to the tops of charts and transform into timeless anthems. But in the world of Christmas tunes, it feels even more miraculous.
The potential for cringe is so much higher. It is really hard to write an actually good Christmas song, and even harder to write one that endures year upon year, breaking into the mythical realm of the Christmas compilations. It’s rare for a new track to make it, but if they do, they stick around.
Simply look at any Christmas playlist and you’ll see it in action. There may be a few modern picks, but generally, it feels like only one song each year, or one song every few Christmases, can be added to the forever list.
In 1984, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ made it in a big way. Not only has it endured on the playlists, but it is undeniably one of the most well-known Christmas songs – it’s a classic.
It soared to the top of the charts upon its release, staying there for five weeks and bagging the coveted Christmas number one slot. As a charity single, it also did good as the track raised £8million for Ethiopia within a year, inspiring Geldof to take it further and host Live Aid the following year.
Though people have tried to recreate the success of the song since, creating newer versions of the track in 1989, 2004, 2014 and then again in 2024, none of them succeeded like the original.
It’s really no wonder, given the names involved in that 1984 original. The list of singers is powerful, including names like Bono, Sting, Duran Duran, George Michael, Paul Weller and more. It’s a veritable who’s-who of the era, but it didn’t just stop with the vocalists.
The band that played on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’:
As well as having stars on the vocals, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had stars in the backing band too.
When you have almost all of the biggest bands of the 1980s at your disposal, picking the people to play the instruments must have been like drafting the world’s most difficult fantasy league, as the organisers had their pick of some of the greatest players around.
Obviously, they settled on Phil Collins to play drums, letting the then-Genesis player hold down the beat. For guitars, they couldn’t pick so roped in both Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt from Status Quo, as well as getting Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor to play.
Duran Duran were clearly free for the instrumental sessions as John Taylor played bass across the track.
For keys and synths, four stars stepped up. Duran Duran came through again as Nick Rhodes helped out, alongside John Temple of Ultravox, Culture Club’s Jon Moss, and Heaven 17’s Martin Ware.
When it came down to more niche instruments, the choices became more obvious. The Boomtown Rats’ Simon Crowe added more percussion, and for saxophone, Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman was called in.
For production, and for more synth work, Midge Ure got involved too, putting his mark on the music even beyond helping bring the whole thing to reality.
