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The charity single "Do They Know
It's Christmas?" was inspired by a series of reports made by
the BBC journalist Michael Buerk in 1984, which drew
attention to the famine in Ethiopia. Boomtown Rats singer
Bob Geldof watched the broadcast and were deeply affected by
it. He began recruiting musicians to make a charity record,
among others with Sting, George Michael, Simon Le Bon, Boy
George, Phil Collins, Bono, and Paul Young. Released on
December 3, 1984, the song sold more than a million copies
in the first week in United Kingdom alone, making it the
fastest-selling single there at this time. Furthermore it
reached the number one position in Germany, Canada,
Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and New Zealand. In
the United States it sold also more than a million copies
but did not reach number one there, due to the more complex
nature of the chart system, which counted airplay as well as
sales. Despite outselling the official number one by four to
one, it did not make the Top 10 due to a lack of airplay,
ultimately peaking at no.13 on the Billboard Hot 100. |
