Eldergays, the 40th anniversary of LIVE AID is July 13th. What was your best memory and favorite performance?

It was so hot that day in the Northeast. I remember being so disappointed that Cyndi Lauper wasn’t there.

But on the plus side, we solved world hunger that day. Phew.

Though I generally can't stand them U2 were very good on the day too.

This. By far.

Madonna got all the attention

Madonna

It gave us this masterpiece for the ages:

I watched it all, all day and all night, UK and US iterations, the broadcast just never stopped. Loved Elvis Costello, Bowie, George Michael and but of course Queen. The interviews between acts, Geldof swearing on live TV, "Just send us the fucking money, NOW..." I get tingles of nostalgia thinking about that astonishing day.

I was 9 years old and watched Live Aid with my cousin at our grandmother's house. FORTY years ago. Wow.

This picture from People Magazine is pretty iconic.

I was at Live 8 in Philadelphia in the early 2000s. Saw Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Dave Matthews, and a few other forgettable names. I have pics somewhere.

Sorry, forgot link

^^Daryl Hall's mullet was epic.

There were rumors up until the day of the show that the three Beatles were going to reunite with Julian Lennon and play, but it didn’t pan out.

Also that Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie would show up to help sing We are the World, but only Lionel and Harry Belafonte showed up for the finale

Springsteen donated the UK show the use of his stage, He has said not performing was the biggest regret of his career..

The first time Eric Clapton actually looked good. His backup singers were great.

I was 16, and don't remember if I ate or drank or took a leak, but I watched from start to finish. It felt important and was astonishing in it's power to coalesce.

I remember getting up to go to the bathroom, but otherwise I spent the day on the couch.

Not an eldergay but from clips I've watched, I really enjoy watching U2 performing Sunday Bloody Sunday

Somewhere, I still have the Live Aid pin I got for making a donation during the event. I loved it! Unless the tape has dissolved, I may still have my VHS recordings.

YouTube, Live Aid's channel, is having an event for the 40th anniversary.

I remember it being hot as fuck that day in NY, too R1. I lived on the third floor of a brownstone with no AC, just fans. Still watched the entire broadcast.

YouTube is showing quite a bit of it. Not sure if they're playing the DVD or showing everything. This will be multiple links.

You youngsters can see what music really was. Note, no cell phones! Everybody enjoyed the experience.

Started in England, finished in the US. This is Part 1

I was a kid and it's my earliest memory of Madonna.

Part 1 included: Royal Salute (London); Status Quo; The Style Council; The Boomtown Rats; Adam Ant; INXS

This is Part 2: Ultravox; Loudness; Eikichi Yazawa; Spandau Ballet; Joan Baez; Elvis Costello; Austria für Afrika - Warum? (Austria)

Part 3: Nik Kershaw; Sade; Black Sabbath feat. Ozzy Osbourne; Yu Rock Mission; Run DMC; Sting; Phil Collins; Sting/Collins duet;

R10 Aww look at baby Madge with her original face. She was so cute even before the 90s plastic surgery which made her pretty pretty. Moderation is important in all things because like you one you bitches said, she walking around now looking like cousin It cosplaying as Stevie Knicks.

Part 4: REO Speedwagon; Howard Jones; Autograph; Bryan Ferry; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Udo Lindenberg; Band für Afrika; Judas Priest; Paul Young

Madonna singing live and dancing with such joy.

I was 24 and would love to go back in time to relive that year and maybe tweak a thing or two to change the future the future 😉

When did I get old!?

No Kim Carnes no interest

Part 5: U2; Beach Boys; Dire Straits / Sting; George Thorogood & The Destroyers

I can already tell that this is more than what they put on the DVD. Not showing any introductions, but I do wonder if they're showing all of the performances.

Part 6: Queen; Simple Minds; David Bowie & Mick Jagger; David Bowie; The Cars - Drive (CBC Ethiopian Famine Film)

Part 7: Pretenders; The Who; Norwegian Band Aid; Billy Connolly; Elton John

Part 8: Ashford & Simpson / Teddy Pendergrass; Kool & The Gang; Madonna; Freddie Mercury & Brian May; Paul McCartney; Band Aid; Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; Kenny Loggins; The Cars

OK, I'm caught up to the "live" feeds. Part 9 just started with Neil Young.

Mick and Tina backstage

Unedited backstage feed of Madonna and Bette Midler

Sheena Easton

Bobby Dylan. Not working in Maggie’s Farm no more.

I've read that BBC channels are showing the whole thing. I'm jealous.

But, this YouTube feed is definitely showing more than the DVD as they're currently showing Power Station (Love me some John and Andy Taylor), and they weren't even on the DVD. I just may sign up for a trial of Premium only so I can download this!!!

I am literally dancing around my apartment. GET IT ON, BANG A GONG.

Sade looked so gorgeous that day. I was obsessed with her jacket.

Laaaaayyyyyyyla . You got me on my knees ....

I was most interested in all my British favorites but they were on at a weird time, I think, in the States due to time difference.

Agree Queen was amazing. Watching the audience in unison during We Are The Champions made me sob when I rewatched it.

I was happy to see Sade, Alison Moyet, and my crush Paul Weller (with Style Council) as well as a few others (Elvis Costello, and on the American side, Pretenders, Thompson Twins and, I suppose, Madge).

Part 9 showed: Neil Young; Powerstation; Thompson Twins / Steve Stevens / Nile Rodgers / Madonna; Eric Clapton; Phil Collins; See Link Above.

Part 10 is starting with Duran Duran More dancing around the apartment. Hope the downstairs neighbors don't mind.

OK, now I know they're not showing everything on YouTube, as they skipped Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", which had the infamous "bum note' from Simon that he has always noted. Still, it's more than the DVD.

I spent the entire day watching the live broadcast and recording the whole thing.

Mick & Tina doing It’s Only Rock n Roll

Madonna & Thompson Twins doing Revolution (Beatles cover)

The CNN special is tonight.

I was living in the boonies at the time where we did not have cable TV, so we had no access to the all-day MTV feed. ABC had the end of the show during prime time, and the rest I saw in bits and pieces through a syndication package with local stations. None of them in my area wanted to devote the whole day to the show, so they showed a few hours here and there. It was frustrating not being able to see the show for hours knowing that something legendary could be happening.

Thanks for the links r17. I want to watch. I honestly have no recollection of it. Was it on a Saturday? I probably had to work and maybe caught snippets here and there. Since its debut in 1981, MTV was usually playing in the background of my life for over a decade.

R46, yes, Live Aid was over a weekend. Otherwise, I would not have been able to watch much of it as I don't think there was much internet at the time, as I was also working at the time.

Hmm, I think it's done. Here is the lineup for Part 10: Duran Duran; Cliff Richard; Patti LaBelle; Hall & Oates / Eddie Kendricks / David Ruffin; Hall & Oates - Maneate; Mick Jagger; Mick Jagger / Tina Turner; Bob Dylan / Keith Richards / Ron Wood; USA For Africa - We Are The World (Philadelphia)

And for those comments I saw on YouTube saying that the event didn't do enough I'll say that it's better than doing NOTHING.

Teddy Pendergrass

Great thread.

What a day! I was 14 years old and watched from the beginning ~6am ET through the entire show. I only moved that day to get food from the kitchen, run to the bathroom and gab on totalphone with my also watching it all day friends. Fab! Bowie, Queen, George Michael, Sting, Paul Young, Phil Collins (at both venues, thanks to the Concorde). I remember being SO HYPED for Duran Duran and then Simon LeBon fucked up the high notes on A View to a Kill. So embarrassing for my Durannie self.

I remember Madonnas ugly brocade(?) jacket and the sweat running through her eye make up. IIRC it was f-ing HOT in Philly that day

I still cannot fathom why Madonna wore that horrendous outfit.

At 4:00 is the "bum note"

I was 9 years old and watched it with my cousin at our grandmothers' house. I was already obsessed with Madonna and couldn't wait for her to come on. Nobody in my family was surprised that I turned out to be gay.

I remember that this concet happened soon after Madonna's"Sex" book came out, and that's why she wore so much, saying "I'm not taking shit off today. ( (or something like that)

It was the nude photos in Penthouse that Madonna was referring to. Live Aid was in 1985 and the Sex book was in 1992.

Not usually my thing, but George Thorogood and the Destroyers were fantastic.

Ahh, OK. Thanks R57. I knew it was in reference to something that was recent.

I remember wondering would Madonna dare to show up with the humiliating nude pics scandal unspooling around her? Boy George showing up blitzed on heroin, and Simon LeBon hitting a clunker of a high note at the climax of A View to a Kill.

Live Aid upended my aunt’s annual Jehovah’s Witness carnival, the venue dumped them for a bunch of pagan rock stars! I tried to make her understand that the big picture was hunger relief, but she was unmoved.

If Bob Geldof is to be believed Boy George suggested the LiveAid concert, but it's sad that by the time it happened he was coked out of his mind.

The article at R54 also talks about Led Zeppelin's performance, that they've refused to have replayed.

Watching some of the new uploaded YouTube clips. Looks like Madonna was still too butthurt to stick around for the performance of We Are The World, but Cher was there. Did she perform in any way that or was she just enjoying the concert?

Cher actually had no idea Live Aid was happening! She just happened to be on the same Concorde flight as Phil Collins and told her he was on his way to Philadelphia to do the concert and she tagged along. She didn't perform solo, just We Are the World.

The CNN doc is good. I was struck how every single one of them was singing live, with a live band. You would never see that today.