It's Christmas time in Liverpool

Band Aid Liverpool will be hoping to recapture the same spirit as the original Band Aid, 36 years on

Band Aid Liverpool recreating the spirit of the original charity event

IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME

A Liverpool musician had a dream, during lockdown, that he was standing on stage, performing with fellow musicians from the city. He made it his mission to make this reality and also raise money for homeless people in Merseyside and the idea for Band Aid Liverpool was born. Tony Cook, the keyboard player from the tribute band the Mersey Beatles, came up with the concept of a new version of the famous charity fundraising song this summer. Like many musicians, Tony spent months of lockdown without any work and so started the project to give musicians in the area a project to focus on and brought in his fellow bandmate Brian Ambrose, the drummer from the band. Tony, who is the Director of Band Aid Liverpool, said: “In August I had a dream that I was on stage with my band and other musician friends from around Liverpool. “We were all on stage performing and I woke up thinking ‘Wow, imagine if that was true’. So, I’ve just developed the idea through September and I decided to go with the Band Aid idea. I asked many artists from around Liverpool and it was a resounding ‘Yes!’” He had also noticed the lack of homeless people in the city centre, normally a common sight, especially as Christmas closes in. With the lack of shops, comes fewer people, so the homeless were not getting any change or help from the public. That thought stuck with Tony, which was why he chose Shelter to be the charity that benefited from the single. Shelter is a very relevant charity for those who have suffered at the hands of the pandemic as so many people have lost their jobs this year and so they may need that help at some point. The original plan was to put out a music video on social media and just give people the option to donate. But, in a radio interview, the host suggested they bring it out as a single. They are hoping that this will reach a wider audience and in turn raise even more money for Shelter. He said: “There are so many people outside of Liverpool that want to buy it already and blast it on their radio stations all around the country! “If the city gets behind it, we could go high in the charts. Wouldn’t it be a dream for the people of Liverpool to have a Christmas number one? “I think that would be an incredible achievement. On Christmas Day when the number one is announced, wouldn’t it be great for people to be sat around their tables having Christmas dinner when the Top of the Pops comes on and we are number one? That’d be an absolute dream come true!” Tony approached Warner, the original publishers, who gave them their approval and they also received approval from the writers of the original 1984 hit, Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. The original Band Aid was founded to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia. The BBC showed images of hundred of thousands of people starving to death in Ethiopia. A young nurse, Claire Bertschinger, was surrounded by 85,000 starving people and she had to decide who lived and died. This report was their inspiration for writing and releasing “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” on December 7, 1984. It became the Christmas number one and stayed there for five weeks in the UK. Selling over two million copies around the world, it was the fastest selling single ever and raised £8m. The following year, Bob Geldof staged a huge concert to raise further funds for Ethiopia. In the end, they raised £40m; half of the money was spent on food and the other half on longer-term development. To fit the new theme of homelessness in and around Liverpool, and their chosen charity, Tony changed two lines of the song. He replaced: “There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time” with “There won’t be homes on Merseyside this Christmas time” and “Where nothing ever grows, no rain nor rivers flow” with “on the streets their numbers grow, no place for them to go.” He said: “When I said that I was waiting for the approval from Warner, that was my main concern really because they have rejected numerous versions of it, but they came back with absolute approval.

“They said it was a great concept, a great idea and they loved the way we’ve changed the lyrics of two lines. I think if we’d have changed too many lines it probably would have been rejected. Everything else in the song relates to the same idea of poverty, so I’m glad I’ve done it now.”

Tony and Brian brought together (virtually!) over 70 musicians from across Merseyside, after they were inundated with requests to join the project.

They have tried to cover as many genres and age groups as possible, including children up to a couple of Mersey Beat legends like Billy Kinsley and Earl Preston.

Tony, said: “All of these artists have done this for free and we want to give a little bit of hope for the people of Liverpool and a smile this Christmas because everyone has been devastated this year.

The single, which is a recreation of Band Aid 20, will be released officially on December 10, but it was first aired on the Radio on Monday (November 30). It will be playing in over 5,000 stores across the UK as the Christmas shopping commences.

Liverpool Life was lucky enough to have an exclusive viewing of the official music video, which will be released a few days after the single.

Tony added: “It won’t be the same this year all around the country. If this single can show the world that Liverpool is the beam of light that it always has been; showing our musical heritage and how powerful the people of Liverpool can be, it’d be great, that.”

Bill Kinsley, featured artist on the track ©The Fest for Beatles fans