Impact! Songs That Changed The World: Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? / Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, Smokey Robinson, John Oates

Each program in the Impact! series puts the spotlight on the songs that have left an indelible mark on the world. Certain songs have come to define the times in which they appeared as they proved to be the catalyst for the transformation of the cultural and political landscape. Most set trends in music, fashion and dance while flouting convention and testing the boundaries of society's accepted moral values

Besides setting the scene for the release of the song, the programs feature the song's creator(s) and explore its cultural impact and the ways that it changed the course of history. Guests include recording artists, music industry executives, cultural and political pundits and the music fans themselves for whom these songs became their life's soundtrack.

It was, in many ways, the music world's finest hour as many of the biggest names in British popular music gathered in the summer of 1985 for the sake of charity to record a song to raise money for those people starving in Ethiopia. Organized by Bob Geldof, the singer for the British group The Boomtown Rats, the single Do They Know It's Christmas, gave birth to Live Aid, the world's biggest rock concert and TV event which spanned two continents and was the catalyst for similar recording projects in the U.S. and Canada. The project would become the template and the inspiration for a number of other charitable recordings and live events to benefit various causes around the world and marked a new era of raised social consciousness for many entertainers as well as their fans. Bob Geldof received a knighthood for his efforts. .

With song clips, archive interviews with Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, John Oates, Smokey Robinson, Daryl Hall, David Foster. Product Description

Disappointing

If you are hoping to see the original video then you are in for a major disappointment.
The documentary was weak at best....other than some interviews with Bob Geldoff and Midge Ure, you only got to catch glimpses of SOME of the other performers. The video documented very briefly about Live Aid, USA For Africa, and Canada's effort with "Tears Are Not Enough"....but once again, you didn't get to see the videos....only little glimpses here and there of the stars.
This was truly a complete waste of money and my time to view it. August 21, 2008

The weakest of the Impact Series.

This is one of a series of 12 reasonably priced ($9.99 list) DVDs released in the US by SRO (Part of Kultur International) under the umbrella "Impact: Songs That Changed The World". Each runs about 24 minutes as it was co-produced by Canadian TV and broadcast on the cable CMT network in the US in 2002 and 2003.

I could tell from the quality of the editing - even before I saw the end credits - that this was produced by Gregory Hall. Hall - who also makes music documentaries under his own Hallmark Productions banner - has been cranking these out for about 20 years now. I first saw his Country Music bios. They've always been well edited and usually contain great interview "sound bites". The four volumes in this series that I've watched so far are no exception. Some of the interviews were recent at the time of the show's production while some go back to the 80s and 90s and have appeared in other Hall productions. (You can tell by the locations where they were taped.)

Most of the Impact series DVDs cover more than the single records that are the topics. They also cover the impact that artist - at that point in time - had on our culture from style of dress to style of music.

In the case of the Band Aid volume the focus expands to successor group tributes such as "we Are The World" in the US and the Canadian tribute (after all this series was made for Canadian TV). There's lots of Bob Geldolf here. Personally, this is the weakest of the series I've viewed so far. Check out the others in the series first. I gave them all higher ratings.

These DVDS will leave a legacy to the next generation and can be very useful in, not only music history classes but in the study of late 20th century "pop culture".


Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"




December 16, 2007

Take my money and runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

Somebody wanted my money and they got it. The song may have been longer than this documental clip. I didn't read the review before purchasing, what a bummer. I should have learned from the first time when I tried to buy a dvd from a company called CAIMAN. You may have heard about them. Beware of the mini storage based wanna be a company. HEY CAIMAN if you are out there listen to this...
Next time you want to FÜ¿ÆæK someone KISS THEM FIRST
Oh Yeh about this dvd, save your money there is no music and you will learn nothing except that we are getting older. December 14, 2007

NOT the original documentary OR the video

This is NOT the original 'making of' documentary that also contained the video single. Instead, it's a 'new' documentary about Band Aid and is made up of clips from the original documentary and some new interviews. It's short, only 23 minutes, so do not expect any kind of in-depth information. Basically, it's a 'hack' program with no original analysis or scholarship. Those expecting the original documentary and song/video will be sorely disappointed. The DVD jacket does NOT make it clear that it is a new program either. AVOID if you are looking for the original 1984 song and making of documentary (which, BTW, has NOT been released on DVD yet - only VHS, Beta in the USA and LaserDisc in Japan - hopefully, we'll get an HD-DVD of the original program.) November 23, 2007

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