Live Aid Wembley and Philadelphia

[red hander]

Who decided Phil Collins did both gigs? Was he the biggest artist on both sides of the Atlantic or what?

I can't remember the exact story but I think there was a few who wanted to do it, but somehow he ended up being the only one who did it.

It probably wouldn't be possible now with Concorde out of service.

Dunno, I'd gladly put Phil Collins in a cannon on the Cliffs of Moher and attempt to fire him over the Atlantic, the annoying liitle p***k. Bono and Geldof can have a go too if they want

[sid waddell]

Who decided Phil Collins did both gigs? Was he the biggest artist on both sides of the Atlantic or what?

He was pretty massive at the time, to be fair to him.

He had a massive forehead anyway.

Who decided Phil Collins did both gigs? Was he the biggest artist on both sides of the Atlantic or what?

I can't remember the exact story but I think there was a few who wanted to do it, but somehow he ended up being the only one who did it.

It probably wouldn't be possible now with Concorde out of service.

He could play "In The Air Tonight" on a 737 Max via Zoom, though I'd probably prefer if it was played by the Cadbury's gorilla.

[BennyCake]

Who decided Phil Collins did both gigs? Was he the biggest artist on both sides of the Atlantic or what?

I can't remember the exact story but I think there was a few who wanted to do it, but somehow he ended up being the only one who did it.

It probably wouldn't be possible now with Concorde out of service.

Dunno, I'd gladly put Phil Collins in a cannon on the Cliffs of Moher and attempt to fire him over the Atlantic, the annoying liitle p***k. Bono and Geldof can have a go too if they want

Nah, Bono is definitely first.

[Taylor]

Phil Collins was a first rate musician both solo and with Genesis.

If we judge musicians on their personality as well as their ability then there will be a long list of assholes

[johnnycool]

BBC2 had a Live Aid thing on the other night, turns out St Bob was being accused of changing the running order so that the rats could play in front of the Royals, shafting Midge Ure and Ultravox in the process...

The bit about the fruit picking video being beamed around the world when it was meant to be some Russian band was brilliant..

[Billys Boots]

Queen were c***ts. Apartheid-propping up soup takers, music for people who hate music.

Bono's performance during Bad changed Ireland. It was quite shocking to see an Irishman get up there in front of the world without the merest trace of self doubt, and demonstrate in plain terms that U2 were the greatest band in the world. It was a remarkable, life changing performance, simultaneously full to the brim with anger and joy. He nailed it in outrageous fashion.

The decade of change in Ireland that was to follow started at that moment.

You could say the exact same about u2. Music for the brown shoed shirt tuckers.

You can say what you want, but you'd be wrong. U2 came from punk and evolved through new wave into the most vital band in the world, branched into blues, folk, dance and club music, and then pushed back the boundaries of what was possible in a live setting with Zoo TV. They were raw, they were explicitly political, they were highly literate and clued in to world around them, they were loud as hell and for 13 years, which is damn sight more than the vast, vast majority of artists, they were undeniably f**king brilliant. And from the mid-1980s on and particularly from Live Aid on, they were a towering presence over not just Irish and world popular culture, but over Irish life and society in general.

Ireland was largely an insular, backward little country up to the mid 1980s where deference to power and establishment was everything. By the end of the 1980s, we were smashing it in popular culture and sporting terms in a way we never had before and even while emigration continued, there was an energy beginning to surge through the country that had never been there before. Irish people started to look defiantly outwards in their worldview rather than inwards and within a short time the deference to establishment power had gone, and all the dirty little secrets of the past were coming out in the wash. By 1995 Ireland was a much, much different place than it had been a decade earlier, more confident, more open, more dynamic, more willing to face up to its past. That decade was the biggest era of change in this country since 1913-23 and U2, like the success of the Irish football team that followed them, cannot be divorced from that.

I think you are correct in what you say there.