I finally finished watching the entire LiveAid DVD
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:46 amand it only took a little over three months!
A few random observations:
--Prince Charles and Lady Diana arrive at Wembley to the sounds of “The Royal Salute” which I never knew was the same tune as “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee.” It seems we Americans can’t help but steal songs. Didn’t Francis Scott Key rip off an old English drinking song when he “wrote” our National Anthem?
--Why is Staus Quo huge around the world (except the U.S.?) From what little I’ve heard of them they seem like your average bar band yet they’re constantly on tour and globally popular.
--Obviously, short shorts were still the norm back in ‘85. Worst offenders: the percussionist for the Style Council, Queen’s guitar roadie and the male backup singers for Elton John. Ahhhhhhhhhhh my eyes!
--I can’t believe how many acts sported mullets.
--“Vienna” by Ultravox just didn’t sound right in a huge stadium. It’s a great song but so downtempo and the electronic backing sounded tinny. Isn’t it also wildly inappropriate to sing a song with the lyric “This means nothing to me” at an event like Live Aid?
--Live Aid’s lineup is overwhelmingly white. I realize that Michael Jackson had only recently broken the MTV color barrier but, except for Sade, Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle and one or two others, there aren’t many black performer to be found. Oh, except for a lot of the background singers.
--Nik Kershaw is my favorite singer who performed. Too bad he only gets one song.
--I secretly enjoyed Phil Collins’ botched piano notes during “Against All Odds.”
--I didn’t recognize the Howard Jones song at all. Must have been a hit in England cuz the crowd was singing along.
--Why did Bryan Ferry need to sing into two microphones at once?
--Jack Nicholson seemed nervous as a presenter. Chevy Chase seemed like he didn’t give a rats ass.
--Bryan Adams is one ugly dude. He’s even uglier when he’s screaming “Summer of ‘69” and his veins are bulging and his pock marks are quivering and I’m thinking his head’s gonna explode.
--I got chills when “Sunday Bloody Sunday” kicked in and even teared up when Bono pulled that chick out of the audience and danced with her. Bono may have turned into a sanctimonious, self-righteous prick but he gives good show.
--Not a big fan of Queen but they put on the best performance of the day. Watching the sea of people under Freddie Mercury’s spell was amazing and of course the songs were meant to played in a massive stadium like Wembley. Awesome.
--David Bowie’s performance of “Heroes” was the most poignant of them all. Thomas Dolby is introduced as his keyboardist but I don’t remember actually seeing him at all. Too bad he didn’t get his own slot to perform.
--It makes me wonder if the producers of the DVD added extra crowd applause when Joan Baez was introduced. Did she really get such a fist-pumping reception before her very odd (and mercifully brief) rendition of “Amazing Grace”? How I hate old hippies. And yes, she had to mention Woodstock. Please go away.
--Lots of people had electronic drums off to the side of their regular kits but only Kenny Loggins’ drummer put his to good use. I love the sound of a good hexagonal shaped drumpad.
--I had never seen what Elton John duetist Kiki Dee looked like til now. Pretty damn good actually. Sounded good too.
--When Elton John was introducing George Michael, “a friend of mine,” for “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” he had no idea that the coattail-riding Andrew Ridgely would be tagging along as well. Kinda emabarrassing for Andrew. You can see Elton saying something to Andrew along the lines of “Sorry, old chap. Didn’t know that YOU would be popping onto the stage too."
--Alison Moyet’s voice kicks ass.
--At the end of one of the discs there is some useless stock footage of the Concorde crossing the Atlantic to show that Phil Collins was on his way to Philadelphia. It’s useless because you can’t understand a word that is said. I’m pretty sure it’s an interview with Phil but it’s so noisy and garbled that there’s no way to know what’s going on.
--As a teen watching this live back in ‘85, I thought for sure that Tom Petty had inexplicably flipped off the audience at the beginning of “American Girl.” Watching it now it turns out that he was merely pointing to something or someone....albeit with his middle finger. Maybe that awful jacket covered with planets affected his thinking.
--Paul Shaffer was singing background for REO Speedwagon. Not sure why I’m mentioning this. He’s just one of those people who, while growing up, I only ever knew as Letterman’s band leader and now as an adult I keep seeing in odd places. Bit parts in movies, voiceover work etc etc
--How long ago was Live Aid? Keith Richards looked almost alive. Amazing. Keith, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood were all present but there was no Stones show. Live Aid must’ve taken place during one of their many temporary breakups.
--I like how some stagehand poked through from behind the curtain as if to ask Keith, Ron and Bob Dylan....”you guys done yet?”
--Patti Labelle was a total mike hog during the “We Are The World” finale.
--It was nice to see some prime era INXS (“Don’t Change”) on the Oz for Africa bonus feature.
I’ve been complaining about Live Aid not being available in any form for years and I feel like I almost willed it into being. Now it’s time to work on the US Festival (especially the New Wave Day parts.) Surely this is sitting in a warehouse somewhere just waiting to be turned into a bitchin’ DVD.
A few random observations:
--Prince Charles and Lady Diana arrive at Wembley to the sounds of “The Royal Salute” which I never knew was the same tune as “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee.” It seems we Americans can’t help but steal songs. Didn’t Francis Scott Key rip off an old English drinking song when he “wrote” our National Anthem?
--Why is Staus Quo huge around the world (except the U.S.?) From what little I’ve heard of them they seem like your average bar band yet they’re constantly on tour and globally popular.
--Obviously, short shorts were still the norm back in ‘85. Worst offenders: the percussionist for the Style Council, Queen’s guitar roadie and the male backup singers for Elton John. Ahhhhhhhhhhh my eyes!
--I can’t believe how many acts sported mullets.
--“Vienna” by Ultravox just didn’t sound right in a huge stadium. It’s a great song but so downtempo and the electronic backing sounded tinny. Isn’t it also wildly inappropriate to sing a song with the lyric “This means nothing to me” at an event like Live Aid?
--Live Aid’s lineup is overwhelmingly white. I realize that Michael Jackson had only recently broken the MTV color barrier but, except for Sade, Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle and one or two others, there aren’t many black performer to be found. Oh, except for a lot of the background singers.
--Nik Kershaw is my favorite singer who performed. Too bad he only gets one song.
--I secretly enjoyed Phil Collins’ botched piano notes during “Against All Odds.”
--I didn’t recognize the Howard Jones song at all. Must have been a hit in England cuz the crowd was singing along.
--Why did Bryan Ferry need to sing into two microphones at once?
--Jack Nicholson seemed nervous as a presenter. Chevy Chase seemed like he didn’t give a rats ass.
--Bryan Adams is one ugly dude. He’s even uglier when he’s screaming “Summer of ‘69” and his veins are bulging and his pock marks are quivering and I’m thinking his head’s gonna explode.
--I got chills when “Sunday Bloody Sunday” kicked in and even teared up when Bono pulled that chick out of the audience and danced with her. Bono may have turned into a sanctimonious, self-righteous prick but he gives good show.
--Not a big fan of Queen but they put on the best performance of the day. Watching the sea of people under Freddie Mercury’s spell was amazing and of course the songs were meant to played in a massive stadium like Wembley. Awesome.
--David Bowie’s performance of “Heroes” was the most poignant of them all. Thomas Dolby is introduced as his keyboardist but I don’t remember actually seeing him at all. Too bad he didn’t get his own slot to perform.
--It makes me wonder if the producers of the DVD added extra crowd applause when Joan Baez was introduced. Did she really get such a fist-pumping reception before her very odd (and mercifully brief) rendition of “Amazing Grace”? How I hate old hippies. And yes, she had to mention Woodstock. Please go away.
--Lots of people had electronic drums off to the side of their regular kits but only Kenny Loggins’ drummer put his to good use. I love the sound of a good hexagonal shaped drumpad.
--I had never seen what Elton John duetist Kiki Dee looked like til now. Pretty damn good actually. Sounded good too.
--When Elton John was introducing George Michael, “a friend of mine,” for “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” he had no idea that the coattail-riding Andrew Ridgely would be tagging along as well. Kinda emabarrassing for Andrew. You can see Elton saying something to Andrew along the lines of “Sorry, old chap. Didn’t know that YOU would be popping onto the stage too."
--Alison Moyet’s voice kicks ass.
--At the end of one of the discs there is some useless stock footage of the Concorde crossing the Atlantic to show that Phil Collins was on his way to Philadelphia. It’s useless because you can’t understand a word that is said. I’m pretty sure it’s an interview with Phil but it’s so noisy and garbled that there’s no way to know what’s going on.
--As a teen watching this live back in ‘85, I thought for sure that Tom Petty had inexplicably flipped off the audience at the beginning of “American Girl.” Watching it now it turns out that he was merely pointing to something or someone....albeit with his middle finger. Maybe that awful jacket covered with planets affected his thinking.
--Paul Shaffer was singing background for REO Speedwagon. Not sure why I’m mentioning this. He’s just one of those people who, while growing up, I only ever knew as Letterman’s band leader and now as an adult I keep seeing in odd places. Bit parts in movies, voiceover work etc etc
--How long ago was Live Aid? Keith Richards looked almost alive. Amazing. Keith, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood were all present but there was no Stones show. Live Aid must’ve taken place during one of their many temporary breakups.
--I like how some stagehand poked through from behind the curtain as if to ask Keith, Ron and Bob Dylan....”you guys done yet?”
--Patti Labelle was a total mike hog during the “We Are The World” finale.
--It was nice to see some prime era INXS (“Don’t Change”) on the Oz for Africa bonus feature.
I’ve been complaining about Live Aid not being available in any form for years and I feel like I almost willed it into being. Now it’s time to work on the US Festival (especially the New Wave Day parts.) Surely this is sitting in a warehouse somewhere just waiting to be turned into a bitchin’ DVD.