Rhino Factoids: Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, and Ivor Novello

30 years ago today, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure won the Ivor Novello Award for Best-Selling A-Side for the charitable endeavor known as Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

One of the most memorable accumulations of musical talent for a single song ever (and certainly a cast of characters which better defined its era than “We Are the World”), the original version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was a massive hit and became an instant classic, one which continues to be hauled out every holiday season without fail, whether you want to hear it or not. It also ends up being revisited with a new crop of talent – we won’t put the word in quotation marks – every few years or so, which is how Geldof and Ure came to win a second Ivor Novello Award in 2005, this time for Best Selling UK Single.

When we chatted with Mr. Ure last month, he confirmed Geldof’s report from years ago that there were a few folks who opted not to participate in the original single, but in addition to following in Geldof’s footsteps by choosing not to name names, he added that “the majority of the people that we wanted to take part in it took part in it, and they made the thing what it was. It was a success because of those people’s collaboration and those people’s efforts rather than the fact that it was a good song. And the ongoing success is just, I think, simply because you can’t get away from the bloody thing. Every Christmas, there it is! It’s poisoning the world as we speak!”