09/12/2004

The ISX Position on: Band Aid 20

entry posted by Inquisitor at 18:08 (permalink).
categories: Music

So, Band Aid 20. Um, it's not as bad as Band Aid II (the "Stock, Aitken and Waterman use some oddly familiar keyboard settings" version)...

It's for Sudan, and that area needs all the cash it can get (so sorry, WDM, I'm not with you on this one). I've always been forgiving about charity singles - even ones by S Club 7 - and it's that way with Band Aid 20. I really can't find it in my heart to hate it, despite the fact that it isn't anywhere close to being as good as the original.

Let's be fair, though - the original isn't a classic either, as I realised when watching the two back to back. The lyrics sound like they were written by Bob Geldof in ten minutes in the back of a taxi; coincidentally, they were written by Bob Geldof in ten minutes in the back of a taxi, and they haven't been changed since then ("And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas-time?" No shit, Bob.) Even though Busted learnt about what really they were singing about from a leaflet, and Joss Stone was 'persuaded' to go by her mother, that doesn't compare in the slightest with some of the extreme ignorance from the stars on the original; my own personal favourite being Spandau Ballet promising to tour Ethiopia the next year. The prickness of Justin Darkness all cock-rocking in the BA20 video is exactly like Duran Duran doing the same thing in the original, except that Duran were (and still are) even bigger pricks than the Darkness are now. Dizzee Rascal's rap isn't that awful - at least the guy has heart - and it's no worse than the Boy George section in the original. In fact, the main failings of BA20 are musically - the original has atmosphere, almost certainly due to Midge Ure (atmosphere was all Ultravox were ever capable of) and the new version - produced by Nigel Godrich, who is capable of really good, and indeed atmospheric rock production (Radiohead) but needs band participation - does not. It's as simple as that.

And it could be worse - we haven't got USA for Africa II yet, and hopefully won't, and "We Are The World" is an infinitely worse song than "Do They Know It's Christmas?" ("We are the world/we are the children"? Blecch.) So pray that won't happen. And at least there's amusing moments in the video: Bono overacting, the Darkness being pricks, Dizzee Rascal, and Charlie Busted wearing a Tool sweatshirt, which pretty much makes the video. Obviously. Tool. If you asked me to name two bands sounding less alike, Busted and Tool would basically be those two (although I'd probably say 'Busted and Bogdan Raczynski'.) If only Busted would try to sound like Tool, then I might even download their albums...

(Oh, and if any of your kids want a Bastard [sic] album, give them the Ramones Anthology instead. It's about as revolutionary, the songs are just as catchy if not more, and at least they had a drummer.)

So pray nightly to the deity, or lack of same, of your choice that we won't get a hip-hop "We Are The World" (featuring P Diddy, a message from Tupac's answering machine, and R Kelly!), don't buy the BA20 single if you don't want to, sit back and relax. It's the only way.

|