Band Aid - good or bad?

[SticklinchJoe]

Just spotted this BBC article. What do people here think? 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k03qz5jqno

[Ryan1984]

40 minutes ago, SticklinchJoe said:

Just spotted this BBC article. What do people here think? 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k03qz5jqno

Ed Sheeran’s nuanced response seems to hit the nail on the head, although Geldof also makes a valid point about how many lives the ‘silly little pop song’ has helped to save.

[maelzoid]

The song is 40 years old. A lot has changed in Africa in 40 years; poverty has reduced, life expectancy has increased, family sizes have reduced. Millions more africans are essentially middle class now. This is not a story told widely enough.

 

Both Sheeran and Geldof can be right here, and I don't actually see much of a contradiction. That said, I feel no need to wheel out yet another version of this song. The original is a classic and very much of its time. Later versions are inferior and inevitably rarely played. I'd question how much cash they can possibly make from it too as nobody buys singles much any more, and this one will be forgotten by January.

[ian the worm]

Was the first record I ever bought aged 13 and I still think it’s a f**king great song for its time. Hugely iconic. I haven’t liked any new version since the original and selfish me wishes they just stopped. 

[lost]

Geldof was a complete moron as this article makes out:

 

How live aid gave an Ethiopian dictator the best equipped army on the African continent.

 

https://www.spin.com/2015/07/live-aid-the-terrible-truth-ethiopia-bob-geldof-feature/