The Making of Do They Know It's Christmas?
The Making of Do They Know It's Christmas? is a BBC production released in 2024 that I found to represent the kind of documentary I prefer. Just the footage, mate. No latter day commentary via talking heads recalling the event. No critics or anyone elses offering their memories or takes. Director Nigel Dick was there at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studios in the Notting Hill area in London in 1984 to capture the assembly of some of the U.K's biggest names in pop, collectively known as Band Aid. Organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the supergroup -which included George Michael, Sting, Bono, and Boy George - recorded vocals for "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a song written to be benefit famine ridden Ethiopia. Dick's film does not go into this backstory or include interviews. I'm sure there are other docs out there that do. This is fly-on-the-wall stuff. The camera follows everyone around, capturing moments big and small, trivial and historic...
