The new Begging Aid song

[Oakey]

Harsh title perhaps, but I feel this new Band Aid song is being taken as a publicity stunt by some of those involved. Which is kind of a shame. The original was this huge thing and it actually featured some real musical talent, Geldof, Bono, Mcartney, Sting, Bowie, Dylan, Neil Young, Keith Richards, Jagger, Ronnie wood, Phil Collins, etc, etc the list goes on. You know, the type of people who have been making some great music for decades and you know of now and will still remember in 10 years or more.

So now we have this new Band Aid song, and lets look at the 'talent' that's featured;

Chris Martin
Sir Paul McCartney (bass guitar)
Bob Geldof
Midge Ure
Radiohead
Robbie Williams
Dido
Bono
Daniel Bedingfield
Natasha Bedingfield
Turin Brakes
The Thrills
Will Young
Katie Melua
Busted
Joss Stone
Lemar
Jamelia
Keane
Beverley Knight
The Darkness
Dizzee Rascal
Ms Dynamite
Snow Patrol
Sugababes
Travis
Danny Goffey (Supergrass, drums)
Rachel Stevens
Estelle
Feeder
The Divine Comedy
Moloko
Shaznay Lewis
Morcheeba
Ash
Damon Albarn (serving tea)

This can be broken up in to groups;

God Awful Crappy Pop 'Talent' Category

Daniel Bedingfield, Natasha Bedingfield, Will Young, Busted, Lemar, Jamelia, Dizzee Rascal, My Dynamite, Sugababes, Rachel Stevens, Estelle, Shaznay Lewis.

Seriously, what the hell? The majority of them are awful, the only ones that may be of worthwhile are perhaps Will Young and the Sugababes. But Shaznay Lewis? What the hell has she done of notable worth since All Saints split? Dizzee Rascal? Great, I'm sure the Band Aid song really needs a rap in the middle of it. Natasha Bedingfield? She's been famous all of 5 minutes. Busted? They didn't even know who Bob Geldof was!!

The 'We Haven't Been Heard of For a While - May Have a New Album / Single Out Soon' Category

Danny Goffey (Supergrass), Travis, Feeder, The Divine Comedy, Moloko, Morcheeba, Ash.

Brilliant. A bunch of people and bands that haven't been heard of in some time. Amazing how they crawl out of the woodwork for these kind of occassions.

Then remaining you have some musical talent, ie, Turin Brakes, Radiohead, Bono, etc.

For the most part though the line up is dire. Where are the real stars? The real musicians? The people who create wonderful music? I don't know about anyone here but I'm not particularly interested in a charity song that's being supported by a bunch of has beens and people that won't be remembered in a few years time.

Opinions?

[Ravens Nest]

My opinion is if they want the money, then put at least a little effort into it and write a new song..
I've already got that awful song going around in my head just thinking of band-aid.

(Feeeed the Woorrrlld, let them know it's christmas time) and you already know it will be played every hour on the hour.. until new years day at least.

And i see your list oakey, and all it shows is how in dire need we are for real talent to start appearing and not has-beens and pop idols (yuck) it's a reflection on the music industry as a whole and people like simon cowell (Who should be shot) taking over, and feeding us more tripe when we wanted sirloin steak.

Also one other thought, i know it's for a good cause but enough already, i dont think throwing money at ethiopia every time they have a disaster is going to help in the long run, isnt it time there government was taken to task for not doing enough for there people.

just im so confused, i thought giving them money the last two times was more than enough to fix whats going wrong, can anyone enlighten me?

[Oakey]

No help in enlightening you but I bet Geldof is fuming at this line up (even though he may not show it). I remember the Music for the Millenium show a couple of years ago and he was outraged at some of the nominations.

[TiG]

Oakey,

You have one thing spot on and thats the assessment of musical talent, but this is a good cause after all, and if these popular bands take part in this then the flockes of sheep out there will go and buy the CD and make a lot of money for charity.

TiG

[Oakey]

But in my eyes it appears as a bunch of has beens and people who've 'been around for 5 minutes' looking to reclaim the spotlight.

[[GSV]Trig]

What spotlight is there to claim, at the end of the day at least there doing something...

[stytagm]

Weeeeeeeellll.....

1st up they do still need money from charities in western countries to help poor african countries or else people die, lots of 'em. Yes its a short-medium term fix and the governments should be sorted but how can you or I do that? Try getting Saint Tony to sort out minor african nations with no oil, how's that going to look on the budget? Or maybe George W should be handed a list of new countries for invasion just before the next election.

On the other hand charities like the Red Cross, chrisitian aid, oxfam and unicef etc might not be ideal but they make a huge difference to real people who might be dead next year without them.

Secondly while I'd rather have all my teeth pulled out than listen to this song (listen to Radio 2 - it's the answer and you know it) I agree with them having the current trend bands to get the kidddies enthused to part with their pocket money and buy the thing. It also seems that the abnds Oakey highlighted are more the bands he doesn't like (and admittendly I don't like) rather than the most fleeting / flash in the pan bands. Much as it might turn your stomach Will young is far more established than Joss Stone or even the Darkness.

Finally I'm sure that if you look at the line up on the last single there were a few bands that were popular then but you'd have difficulty even rememebr now. (Heaven 17?) Although having just googled the original line up I've got no idea, perhaps you could confirm or deny by reading Here.

Anyhoo, in summary The song's so awfull anyway that I'm going to actively avoid it, so why do I care if the latest little pop-snot is on it if it will cadge a few more sales from pubescent teens. But I do believe it's worth it and that sitting on our backsides saying "all that money doesn't help" or "Oh well it's the government that should be doing something" isn't helping squat . Do something, give £50 to charity (I do occasionallly -well very occasionally honest) write to your MP and let him know that you expect UK-Gov-PLC to sort it out, they won't do it unless they think voters (you) want it.

Uggh, aren't I in a ranty mood today - Sorry guys I'll go back to muttering to myself in my cave

EDIT: I took so long ranting that in the mean time Tig made my point much more eloquently! Read his post above.

[Oakey]

the "I was in the new band aid song so that accounts for something, right? Right? Give me a new record deal!! spotlight. I've heard that Justin from The Darkness was boasting that he did Bono's line from the original song better than him and that Bono was annoyed. And they may be doing something, but do you think they're (not everyone, but those that shouldn't be on that list) are doing it for the people of ethopia or to further their own careers? Ms Dynamite? When was the last time she released anything? Shaznay Lewis? Hasn't she just released a new single in the last few weeks? Same goes for Travis. (incidentally Travis's single was released the same day as Shaznay Lewis's). Morcheeba haven't released anything in years (their last album being a 'Best of' a year ago). Ash have a new single out at the end of the month. Feeder hasn't released anything in a year. Dizzee Rascal and Estelle are fairly new artists (and will probably be unkowns in a years time). The bedingfields, Busted, Rachel Stevens, etc are all pop crap. Need I go on?

[stytagm]

So if they just released a single, they're on band aid just to get publicity, and if they didn't just release anything, they're on band aid to get publicity (and a new record deal)?

Sounds like damned if they do and damned if they don't with the exception of U2.

[Oakey]

Well if you wanted to raise money and awareness for a good cause... would you really sit there and think "I know... lets get that band no one's heard from for the last 3 years"? Oh, and last month Ms Dynamite was arrested for assault, she's due in court this month... I'm sure her 'charitable' personality and contributions to the Band Aid cause will come in handy for her defence.

[Rave]

I'll be interested to see how much of the cover price of the record actually goes to the charity. The original band aid single was unique in that every penny of the sale price went to the charity- the record companies, record pressing plant, shops etc. all worked for free, so when you handed over your £1.70 in the shop that was how much went to charity.

Recently though, stuff like the singles for Comic Relief have become an outrageous ripoff. I remember seeing one single, I'm pretty sure it was for Comic Relief or Children in Need, where only 30p went to the charity for each sale. This was on a single costing £3.99 for the CD. Less than 10% of the cover price actually went to the cause concerned, all the rest went into the pockets of the shops and record companies. Frankly I think that's disgusting, and it's close to fraudulent to describe a record like that as a charity single.

Rich :¬)

[Oakey]

Exactly. What I'm trying to say is that the original Band Aid, I think that everyone that performed was a pretty established artist, they had nothing to gain from the appearance. However, with this one you have people appearing who you haven't heard anything from music wise in a considerable amount of time, then at the other end of the spectrum you have people who are literally 5 minutes old and have released one or two songs. I think the people at those ends of the spectrum have their own agenda, they're not doing it 'for the cause', I seriously believe they're doing it to further themselves.

[Honoop]

I do agree that for the large part there are people in the line up who shouldnt be there. But there are some great artists in there also and I think tarring them all with the "We've got a new song out and need some publicity" brush is a bit harsh tbh.
Bands like Travis dont need publicity - their fan base is massive. Anyone who is a fan has already bought their new album and if they were that set on touting for new fans then they would change the style of their music to do so. However they havent and the only reason they would include themselves on a record like this is because it part of their beliefs and they want to put their fame to some good. People like Robbie, Damon Albarn, Dido, Radiohead, Bono, Chris Martin etc – all the greats are in there to make the record a success, not to line their own pockets.
Fair enough they get some good publicity from it – but its not going to sell their records any more because the kids the buy the record probably wont even know who some of them are anyway!! Which is why you’ve got some of the newer ‘bands’ and artists in there – to make it appeal to the people that buy singles, teenagers and kids!!
Plus a few of the newer bands to appeal to the older crowds. Keane, Snow Patrol, The Thrills etc.

Yup the song is all gonna drive us nuts, but its for a good cause and its easy to see the logic behind the line-up even if we don’t agree with it.

Personally I reckon the naff ‘pop-y’ stuff will all be out-classed by the people we want to hear and that’s what the greats are there for. Bono, Chris Martin, Travis, Damon Albarn etc are the ones who are gonna make this song good and personally I think Gary from Snow Patrol will do that too.
Ignore the Tat – its gonna be made good by the big names – the rest are there to get sales and that’s it! Its for a good cause, sales are what they need.

[Oakey]

Oh, I'm not denying there's some good talent there (as you've named) but people like Ms Dynamite and Shaznay Lewis? wtf

[tiggerai]

I'll be interested to see how much of the cover price of the record actually goes to the charity. The original band aid single was unique in that every penny of the sale price went to the charity- the record companies, record pressing plant, shops etc. all worked for free, so when you handed over your £1.70 in the shop that was how much went to charity.
Rich :¬)

Just a little snippet, but Gordon Brown isn't gonna charge VAT on it... i read on the bbc this morning... so that's 17% more to charity.

[Rave]

Just a little snippet, but Gordon Brown isn't gonna charge VAT on it... i read on the bbc this morning... so that's 17% more to charity.

Good....let's hope that's 17.5% of the full price, rather than 17.5% of 30p. Having said that, Gordon Brown is a tight b*stard, so I doubt he'd give it tax relief if anyone was making a profit out of it. So, it's looking good.

Rich :¬)