Bob Geldof has spoken to NME about the success of the new musical based on Live Aid, the state of the world, and why we will never see another charity event quite like it again.
Held on July 13, 1985, in London and Philadelphia, the star-studded Live Aid concerts helped to raise global awareness of famine relief, attracting 1.9billion viewers across 150 countries, and raising over $125million in donations with now legendary performances from the likes of Queen, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Sade, U2, Elton John, Run-D.M.C., Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and many more.
Having arrived in the West End earlier this month to critical acclaim following a record-breaking sold-out run at The Old Vic theatre, Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical has been recorded into “a fully realized rock album, capturing the passion, power, and urgency that made the 1985 response to the famine in Ethiopia a turning point in music history.”
“The fucking music is insane,” Sir Bob told NME. “I’ve no idea how musical theatre works, but watching it be arranged on the hoof in the workshops was amazing.”
He continued: “I objected to some of the songs because I thought they were cliches. Let’s take Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. I said, ‘Guys, seriously, fuck off! It’s just a cliche now – it’s just there. Every folky who’s just turned 18 and discovered that song is doing it and doing it wrong’. The sense of a newer articulation of the moment is lost. The deep psychology of this boy’s voice in 1962 is lost. They said it was essential to the storyline, so I asked for them to at least put a groove into it which absolutely illuminates the whole thing.
“Now it’s turned into this most almost Nina Simone thing that makes you hear it again. Even for me, who grew up with this song, hearing it reimagined is precisely for now.”
“Queen’s Roger Taylor is a good mate of mine – we hang – and he was sat in the seat in front of me. He’s a Dylan fuck off freak. He just came out and said, ‘I can’t believe that you could do that with this song – it’s fucking eerie, it’s gut-wrenching, and if it’s like hearing it for the first time’.”
Another famous friend he took to see the show was The Who’s Pete Townshend.
“This is my bedroom fucking wall we’re talking about,” laughed Geldof. “In my life, it’s astonishing that we’re friends. In the show, an 18-year-old sings ‘My Generation’. Don’t fuck with ‘My Generation’! But it’s astonishing and it works [on the stage]. Pete was so thrilled. I took other well-known people and they just went, ‘Fuck off!’
“I’ve never been to a play where at the halftime interval, there’s a standing ovation and the audience just stay clapping.”
Check out NME’s full interview with Sir Bob Geldof here, where he talks about seeing himself on stage, the continuing legacy of Live Aid, the chances of another one, and the need for politics in music.
Make sure you are following BraveWords Records on YouTube so you don’t miss any future videos by Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse, The Chris Slade Timeline, Jack Starr, Prophets of Addiction, ASKA, Crimson Glory, Lillian Axe and more!
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The post BOB GELDOF Talks Success Of Live Aid Musical, Friendship With QUEEN And THE WHO Legends – “This Is My Bedroom F-ing Wall We’re Talking About” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Held on July 13, 1985, in London and Philadelphia, the star-studded Live Aid concerts helped to raise global awareness of famine relief, attracting 1.9billion viewers across 150 countries, and raising over $125million in donations with now legendary performances from the likes of Queen, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Sade, U2, Elton John, Run-D.M.C., Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and many more.
Having arrived in the West End earlier this month to critical acclaim following a record-breaking sold-out run at The Old Vic theatre, Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical has been recorded into “a fully realized rock album, capturing the passion, power, and urgency that made the 1985 response to the famine in Ethiopia a turning point in music history.”
“The fucking music is insane,” Sir Bob told NME. “I’ve no idea how musical theatre works, but watching it be arranged on the hoof in the workshops was amazing.”
He continued: “I objected to some of the songs because I thought they were cliches. Let’s take Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. I said, ‘Guys, seriously, fuck off! It’s just a cliche now – it’s just there. Every folky who’s just turned 18 and discovered that song is doing it and doing it wrong’. The sense of a newer articulation of the moment is lost. The deep psychology of this boy’s voice in 1962 is lost. They said it was essential to the storyline, so I asked for them to at least put a groove into it which absolutely illuminates the whole thing.
“Now it’s turned into this most almost Nina Simone thing that makes you hear it again. Even for me, who grew up with this song, hearing it reimagined is precisely for now.”
“Queen’s Roger Taylor is a good mate of mine – we hang – and he was sat in the seat in front of me. He’s a Dylan fuck off freak. He just came out and said, ‘I can’t believe that you could do that with this song – it’s fucking eerie, it’s gut-wrenching, and if it’s like hearing it for the first time’.”
Another famous friend he took to see the show was The Who’s Pete Townshend.
“This is my bedroom fucking wall we’re talking about,” laughed Geldof. “In my life, it’s astonishing that we’re friends. In the show, an 18-year-old sings ‘My Generation’. Don’t fuck with ‘My Generation’! But it’s astonishing and it works [on the stage]. Pete was so thrilled. I took other well-known people and they just went, ‘Fuck off!’
“I’ve never been to a play where at the halftime interval, there’s a standing ovation and the audience just stay clapping.”
Check out NME’s full interview with Sir Bob Geldof here, where he talks about seeing himself on stage, the continuing legacy of Live Aid, the chances of another one, and the need for politics in music.
Make sure you are following BraveWords Records on YouTube so you don’t miss any future videos by Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse, The Chris Slade Timeline, Jack Starr, Prophets of Addiction, ASKA, Crimson Glory, Lillian Axe and more!
Subscribe https://youtube.com/@BravewordsRecords?sub_confirmation=1
The post BOB GELDOF Talks Success Of Live Aid Musical, Friendship With QUEEN And THE WHO Legends – “This Is My Bedroom F-ing Wall We’re Talking About” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...