15 Unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman Singles

14. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VgyF0i5EfM Released: December 1989. UK Chart Peak: #1. Oz Chart Peak: #30. Only in the UK are Christmas-themed pop songs such a sure-fire hit and each year there's fierce competition for the coveted "Christmas Number One", as if it were the greatest trophy any artist could be awarded. Pete Waterman certainly saw the Christmas #1 pound signs when offered the chance to haul Do They Know It's Christmas? out of mothballs only five festive seasons after its first outing. More than forty of music's biggest names appeared on the 1984 original. SAW's effort was less ostentatious: alongside Kylie & Jason, Cliff Richard, Bananarama, plus various of their PWL stablemates, were UK pop favourites of the day including Lisa Stansfield, Wet Wet Wet, Bros, Technotronic, Cathy Dennis, Jimmy Somerville and Chris Rea. This version was a more standard pop arrangement than the original. There were lots of tinkly bells and synths over a 4/4 backbeat, with SAW's ever-present Linn drum machine intermittently sharing the fabled Calrec Soundfield Microphone with live drumming by Luke Goss of Bros. Diehard fans of the original no doubt disliked all of this intensely. Still, this release achieved exactly what Pete Waterman and Bob Geldof had set out to achieve: it updated an already classic tune, it was the UK's 1989 Christmas #1 and it (presumably) raised more money for underprivileged Africans, which was obviously no bad thing.