DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?
by BAND AID II

Five years on since the first Band Aid, producers and songwriters Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, who’d scored 11 chart-toppers with acts such as Dead Or Alive, Mel & Kim and Rick Astley, were asked by Bob Geldof to assemble a new update of Do They Know It’s Christmas.

The line-up that were involved had between them 27 UK Official Singles Chart Number 1s between them, such as Cliff Richard, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Bros, Wet Wet Wet, Lisa Stansfield, Jimmy Somerville (with Communards), Sonia and Kevin Godley (with 10cc). Also present were Chris Rea, Big Fun, D Mob, Pasadenas, Technotronic, Glen Goldsmith and – the only act who featured on the original – Bananarama.

The remake was released on December 11, 1989 and shot straight into the top for three weeks in order to become 1989’s UK Official Singles Chart Christmas Number 1 selling over 660,000 copies ending up as the ninth biggest-seller of 1989 and raising even more cash for the Band Aid Trust.