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129-532: Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia , a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single " Do They Know It's Christmas? " in December 1984. Billed as the "global jukebox", Live Aid

258-496: A 12-minute rendition of " Bad ". The length of "Bad" limited them to two songs; a third, " Pride (In the Name of Love) ", had to be dropped. During "Bad", vocalist Bono jumped off the stage to join the crowd and dance with a teenage girl. In July 2005, the woman said that he had saved her life. She was being crushed by people pushing forward; Bono saw this and gestured frantically at the ushers to help her. They did not understand what he

387-753: A 1986 profile in Rolling Stone Healey related how he decided to find out if the goodwill towards Amnesty of rock musicians that he had seen in the US version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball could be put to service to help improve Amnesty's profile in America. Consulting with Martin Lewis, Healey conceived and produced Conspiracy of Hope , a 10-day/6-concert rock tour of the US that took place in June 1986 in celebration of Amnesty's 25th anniversary. The tour

516-408: A benefit concert is of a large-scale, popular event put on to support a charitable or political cause. In the modern era , the first benefit concert is generally seen as the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh . Comprising two shows on the same day at Madison Square Garden , it was organized by and starred George Harrison and Ravi Shankar . The format of most modern benefit concerts, involving many acts,

645-448: A cause that celebrities do not contribute by only donating their money, but by participating in event like benefit concerts. That way stars can inspire hundreds of thousands of others to give. The presence of celebrities can draw criticism, but that is outweighed by the benefits. Some argue that pop stars only take part in charity to improve their public image. That, arguably, may be a motivation, but their participation can be essential to

774-454: A favourite celebrity support a cause can influence fans to support the same cause—not because the cause is significant to the fans, but because it seems significant to the artist. To feel connected to a celebrity, fans are likely to participate in activities the celebrity considers important. For example, if a benefit concert starred unknown musicians performing songs for unknown people in Africa,

903-459: A little mark on the children who got chosen, with Geldof stating of her at the time, "In her was vested the power of life and death. She had become God-like and that is unbearable for anyone." Traumatised by what she experienced she did not speak about it for two decades, recalling in 2005, "I felt like a Nazi sending people to the death camps. Why was I in this situation? Why was it possible in this time of plenty that some have food and some do not? It

1032-454: A member of Amnesty and a support member for five years, due to an entertainment event called 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' and before that I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." Bob Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure first met and worked together at 1981's The Secret Policeman's Other Ball which was the first benefit show that either of them had performed at. Geldof credits

1161-619: A more professional approach to exploiting the film. They approached John Cleese who agreed to be involved again. He also agreed to direct the show, though requesting that his credit read " slightly directed by John Cleese." He also recruited the majority of the comedic performers – including Peter Cook and fellow Pythons Michael Palin and Terry Jones . He also selected a newcomer on the British comedy scene named Rowan Atkinson . Lewis recruited Scottish comedian Billy Connolly with whom he had worked while employed at Transatlantic Records. Connolly

1290-873: A natural disaster rather than as a political issue". Benefit concerts are an effective form of gaining support and raising funds for a cause because of the large media coverage that they usually receive. In addition to the results they generate themselves, benefit concerts also generate a kind of cascading effect. That is, larger benefit concert motivate smaller concerts and other kinds of charity initiatives. Large-scale benefit concerts attract millions of viewers and are usually broadcast internationally. As powerful means of mass communication, they can be highly effective at raising funds and awareness for humanitarian causes. Media scholars Dayan and Katz classify benefit concerts as "media events": shared experiences that unite viewers with one another and their societies. In fact, in their book Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History ,

1419-571: A new phenomenon in Britain in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, they were accorded considerable media coverage and public attention. After 1981, there was a six-year hiatus. When Amnesty International re-commenced staging benefit shows, it did so without the benefit of the Amnesty staff members and outside producers who had successfully guided the first wave of shows. The new team running Amnesty International re-commenced staging benefit shows in 1987, and

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1548-449: A particular cause or occasion. They argue that media events interrupt the flow people's daily lives, and that such events create a rise of interpersonal communication or "fellow feeling". Furthermore, they propose that media events transform the ordinary role of the viewer into something more interactive where they adhere to the script of the event. All these principles of media events are true of benefit concerts. Benefit concerts interrupt

1677-407: A performance by Queen, which he later called "absolutely amazing", Geldof gave an interview in which BBC presenter David Hepworth had attempted to provide a postal address to which potential donations could be sent; Geldof interrupted him in mid-flow and shouted "fuck the address, let's get the numbers". Although the phrase "give us your fucking money" has passed into folklore, Geldof has said that it

1806-858: A social agenda or fund-raising focus. The Secret Policeman%27s Ball The Secret Policeman's Ball is a series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International . The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years. Co-founded by Monty Python member John Cleese , campaigner Peter Luff (Assistant Director Amnesty International 1974–1978), and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis , there have been four distinct eras of

1935-409: A tour that would visit all five continents. The aim was to raise consciousness of human rights issues rather than fund-raising. The six-week/20-concert tour was produced by Healey and Bill Graham . The tour staged concerts in 19 different nations in all five continents – and was considered successful in raising considerable awareness of the human rights issue throughout the world. The two tours were

2064-479: A trade-off. Benefit concert Benefit concerts can have both subjective and concrete objectives. Subjective objectives include raising awareness about an issue such as misery in Africa (such as Live 8 ) and uplifting a nation after a disaster (such as America: A Tribute to Heroes ). Concrete objectives include raising funds (such as Live Aid ) and influencing legislation (such as Live 8 or Farm Aid ). The two largest benefit concerts of all time, in size, were

2193-413: A young record industry executive who initially undertook to produce a record album of the show and then became closely involved with Cleese, Luff and Simpson on the show production – which evolved into a three-night run. TV documentary maker Roger Graef , approached the team offering to make a "fly-on-the-wall"-style documentary about the production of the show and to film the show itself. The resulting film

2322-524: Is how to die" to loud applause. According to Gary Kemp , "Dare I say it, it was evangelical, that moment when Geldof stopped 'I Don't Like Mondays' and raised his fist in the air. He was a sort of statesman. A link between punk and the New Romantics and the Eighties. You would follow him. He just has a huge charisma; he'd make a frightening politician." He finished the song and left the crowd to sing

2451-456: Is not right." "There are thousands of people outside. I have counted 10 rows, and each row has more than 100 people in, and I can only take 60-70 children today, but they all need to come in." —1984 diary entry from nurse Claire Bertschinger outside a feeding station. Shocked by the report, the British public inundated relief agencies, such as Save the Children , with donations, with

2580-538: The Monty Python comedy troupe to seek his participation. Cleese was taken with the idea and volunteered to assist the event by helping to "round up a few friends". Cleese's "few friends" turned out to be colleagues in Monty Python, pals in the earlier British comedic ensemble Beyond The Fringe , his Footlights and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again peers (including The Goodies ), and other members of

2709-545: The Secret Policeman's Ball series with having inspired his own charity show endeavours. The earliest shows predated the proliferation of comedy and rock benefit shows that took place in the UK and US in the mid-1980s such as Live Aid , Farm Aid , Prince's Trust concerts, The Free Nelson Mandela Concert and Comic Relief . The Amnesty shows are considered to have been the pioneering charity events that helped inspire

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2838-445: The Secret Policeman's Ball shows: Geldof, Sting and Clapton as participants with Bono as an audience member. Bono told Rolling Stone magazine in 1986: "I saw 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." In 2001, Bono described The Secret Policeman's Ball to an Amnesty audience as "a mysterious and extraordinary event that certainly changed my life..." In 1986, Sting told NBC's Today "I've been

2967-751: The Secret Policeman's Ball title. When Amnesty staged a 40th anniversary show in 2001 it was stated that the Secret Policeman's Ball title had run its course and would not be revived. However, in October 2006, following a 17-year gap, the name was revived, and also used for shows in October 2008 and March 2012. The first four shows (1976–1981) and their spin-offs are credited by many prominent comedians, musicians, actors and producers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years. Rock stars Bob Geldof , Bono and Sting have all attributed their involvement in humanitarian issues to their exposure to

3096-506: The "Royal Salute", a brief version of the national anthem " God Save the Queen ". Status Quo were the first act to appear and started their set with " Rockin' All Over the World ", also playing " Caroline " and fan favourite "Don't Waste My Time". "Bob told me, 'It doesn't matter a fuck what you sound like, just so long as you're there,'" recalled guitarist and singer Francis Rossi . "Thanks for

3225-406: The "power of the people" to change the world. Benefit concerts, therefore, have the potential to raise enormous sums of money for a cause because of the para-social interaction that occurs between the performing celebrities (the leaders) and the spectating fans (the people). Dan Laughey describes para-social interaction as "the apparent familiarity between media personalities and audiences". Seeing

3354-473: The 15th anniversary of the Amnesty parent organisation with a simple one-night benefit show with a few entertainers contributing services as was the norm with charity events in that era. There was no anticipation that the event might be filmed or recorded to be shared with an audience beyond the people attending the benefit, and no anticipation that it might be anything other than a one-off event. Amnesty's Assistant Director Peter Luff approached John Cleese of

3483-431: The 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes Bowl . The event was a massive failure and for the first time ever, one of Amnesty's fund-raising benefit events lost money. Only two more of Amnesty's benefit shows (in 1987 and 1989) carried a Secret Policeman's Ball -related title. Between 1991 and 2001 Amnesty staged four more benefit events and though they were comedy shows in the same vein as their predecessors, none of them carried

3612-595: The American market, with an opening sequence narrated by Saturday Night Live announcer Don Pardo . The new film premiered in New York in May 1982 as a fund-raiser for the U.S. section of Amnesty; it received enthusiastic reviews and went on to box office success. The film is recognised as Miramax's first hit. The American version of the film was released on home video by MGM -UA later in 1982. The US film (though drawn from

3741-443: The Amnesty benefit shows. The shows of the first era (1976–1981), featuring five members of Monty Python and newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson , yielded films, television specials, home-videos, and albums that have since been widely seen and heard internationally. The three subsequent eras (1987–1989, 1991–2001 and 2006 onwards) have primarily featured locally popular British performers – and spin-off products have been released mainly in

3870-521: The Atlantic. Tony Verna , one of the inventors of instant replay , was able to secure John F. Kennedy Stadium through his friendship with Philadelphia Mayor Goode and was able to procure, through his connections with ABC 's prime time chief, John Hamlin, a three-hour prime time slot on the ABC Network and, in addition, was able to supplement the lengthy program through meetings that resulted in

3999-588: The BBC producers Only Broadcast two songs from the reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young after 10 pm; the same applied to Rick Springfield and REO Speedwagon. BBC only broadcast one song from the BLACK SABBATH set around 3 am. Ashford & Simpson - Solid was not broadcast on the BBC. The BBC, however, did supply a 'clean feed' to various television channels in Europe. ABC was largely responsible for

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4128-415: The British comedy community from the 1960s and 1970s (primarily those described as " Oxbridge " comedians). Luff, working with his Amnesty colleague David Simpson, obtained the use of Her Majesty's Theatre , free of charge. The tickets for the show were advertised solely in the satirical magazine Private Eye and were sold out within four days. The other member of the production team was Martin Lewis ,

4257-866: The Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam – a regime the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposed – and it is also alleged some funds were spent on guns. Although the BBC World Service programme Assignment reported in March 2010 that the funds had been diverted, the BBC Editorial Complaints Unit later found "that there was no evidence to support such statements". Brian Barder , British Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1982 to 1986, wrote on his website that "the diversion of aid related only to

4386-613: The Hill J-Series Mixing Consoles and Hill M3 Speaker System powered by the Hill 3000 amplifiers. In an interview with Studio Sound in December 1985, Malcolm Hill described the concept for the system in detail. Actor Jack Nicholson hosted the televised portion of the Philadelphia concert. The opening artist Joan Baez announced to the crowd, "This is your Woodstock , and it's long overdue", before leading

4515-569: The Live 8 and the Live Earth events, which both attracted billions of spectators. Scholars theorize that the observed increase on concert size since the Live Aid is happening because organizers strive to make their events as big as the tragedy at hand, thus hoping to gain legitimization that way. Examples exist in musical history of concerts being staged for philanthropic purposes. In 1749,

4644-609: The London/Wembley finale was taking place at 22:00 (10:00 pm) London time, syndicated viewers saw segments that had been recorded earlier so that ABC could show the UK finale during its prime-time portion. In 1995, VH1 and MuchMusic aired a re-edited ten-hour re-broadcast of the concert for its 10th anniversary. The Live Aid concert in London was also the first time that the BBC outside broadcast sound equipment had been used for an event of such scale. In stark contrast to

4773-455: The UK concert, and USA for Africa 's " We Are the World " closing the US concert (and thus the entire event itself). Concert organisers have subsequently said they were particularly keen to ensure at least one surviving member of the Beatles , ideally Paul McCartney , took part in the concert as they felt that having an 'elder statesman' from British music would give it greater legitimacy in

4902-568: The UK films of both the 1979 and 1981 shows) used as its title The Secret Policeman's Other Ball – a title that by May 1982 had some resonance in the US marketplace because of the success of the music soundtrack album and media coverage of the film festival screenings. In 1983, the Weinsteins and Lewis produced an 80-minute sequel TV special for HBO / Cinemax later released on home video by Media Home Entertainment titled The Secret Policeman's Private Parts . The program compiled material from

5031-463: The UK. In March 2012, The Secret Policeman's Ball took place in the United States for the first time. The one-night show at New York's Radio City Music Hall on 4 March was part of Amnesty's 50th anniversary commemorations. In January 2013, the website for The Secret Policeman's Ball was set to redirect to Amnesty International's; its registration has since expired. However, in 2019,

5160-416: The US broadcast (although ABC themselves only telecast the final three hours of the concert from Philadelphia, hosted by Dick Clark , with the rest shown in syndication through Orbis Communications , acting on behalf of ABC). An entirely separate and simultaneous US feed was provided for cable viewers by MTV , whose broadcast was presented in stereo and accessible as such for those with stereo televisions. At

5289-656: The Wembley stage could be made ready for the next British act like the Thompsons or whoever. In that way, lots of acts could be featured, and the television rights, tickets, and so on could raise a phenomenal amount of money. It's not an impossible idea, and certainly one worth exploiting. Live Aid production manager Andy Zweck said, "Bob (Geldof) had to play some tricks to get artists involved. He had to call Elton and say Queen are in and Bowie's in, and of course they weren't. Then he'd call Bowie and say Elton and Queen are in. It

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5418-542: The Who 's performance of their opening song " My Generation ", immediately after Roger Daltrey sang "Why don't you all fade ..." (the last word "away" was cut off when a blown fuse caused the Wembley stage TV feed to temporarily fail). The broadcast returned as the last verse of " Pinball Wizard " was played. John Entwistle 's bass wouldn't work at the start, causing an awkward delay of over a minute before they could start playing. The band played with Kenney Jones on drums, and it

5547-473: The World" at Wembley. Le Bon later recalled it was the most embarrassing moment of his career. The UK TV feed from Philadelphia was dogged by intermittent buzzing on the sound during Bryan Adams' turn on stage. This continued less frequently throughout the rest of the UK reception of the American concert, and the audio and video feed failed entirely during that performance and during Simple Minds ' performance. Phil Collins, who had performed in London earlier in

5676-612: The actor/manager who had founded the Mermaid Theatre. The title grew out of the discarded working title of the previous year's show. The comedic performers in the 1977 show included several who had performed in the first show – such as Peter Cook , Terry Jones, John Cleese – joined by his then wife Connie Booth – and some newcomers including Sir Peter Ustinov . There were also a handful of musical performers including classical guitarist John Williams , actress/singer Julie Covington and folk troubadour Pete Atkin . The album of

5805-577: The addition of an ad-hoc network within the US, which covered 85 per cent of TVs there. Verna designed the needed satellite schematic and became the Executive Director as well as the Co-Executive Producer along with Hal Uplinger . Uplinger, the co-inventor of instant replay, came up with the idea to produce a four-hour video edit of Live Aid to distribute to those countries without the necessary satellite equipment to rebroadcast

5934-420: The authors suggest that the song synonymous with the Live Aid benefit concert, " We Are the World ", might as well be the theme song for media events, as it nicely encompasses the tone of such occasions: "these ceremonies (media events) are so all-encompassing that there is nobody left to serve-as out-group". Dayan and Katz define media events as shared experiences that unite viewers and call their attention to

6063-517: The band's late drummer John Bonham (although they were not officially announced by their group name from the stage but were announced as Led Zeppelin on the VH1 10th Anniversary re-broadcast in 1995). Teddy Pendergrass made his first public appearance since his near-fatal car accident in 1982, which paralysed him. Pendergrass, along with Ashford & Simpson , performed "Reach Out and Touch". Bryan Adams (who came on after Judas Priest ), recalled "it

6192-419: The benefit show. The series was created and developed by Monty Python member John Cleese , Peter Luff (Assistant Director Amnesty International 1974–1978) and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis who subsequently worked with Peter Walker (Amnesty's Fund-Raising Officer from 1978). Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on the first two shows (1976 and 1977). After this, Cleese and Lewis worked on

6321-499: The composer George Frideric Handel wrote his Foundling Hospital Anthem , and put on annual performances of Messiah , to support an orphans' charity in London. While many composers and performers took part in concerts to raise donations for charitable causes, it was also not unusual in the 18th and 19th centuries for musicians to stage performances to raise funds for their own professional work, such as Ludwig van Beethoven 's 1808 Akademie concert . The modern understanding of

6450-525: The concert continued for just over 16 hours, but since many artists' performances were conducted simultaneously in Wembley and JFK, the total concert length was much longer. Mick Jagger and David Bowie intended to perform a transatlantic duet, with Bowie in London and Jagger in Philadelphia. Problems of synchronisation meant the only practical solution was to have one artist, likely Bowie at Wembley, mime along to prerecorded vocals broadcast as part of

6579-410: The conclusion of the Wembley performances, Geldof was raised onto the shoulders of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend and Paul McCartney. Geldof stated that he hadn't slept "in weeks" in the lead-up to the concert, and when asked what his plans were post-Live Aid, he told an interviewer, "I'm going to go home and sleep." The Wembley speaker system was provided by Hill Pro Audio. It consisted primarily of

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6708-566: The cornerstone of what subsequently became known collectively as the Human Rights Concerts – a series of music events and tours staged by the US Section of Amnesty International between 1986 and 1998. In early 1976, the British section of Amnesty International was seeking a way to simultaneously raise funds for itself and elevate the very low profile of human rights issues in British public discourse. It decided to commemorate

6837-480: The crowd in singing " Amazing Grace " and "We Are the World". Despite the 95 °F (35 °C) ambient temperature, Madonna proclaimed "I ain't taking shit off today!" during her set, referring to the recent release of early nude photos of her in Playboy and Penthouse magazines. During his opening number, " American Girl ", Tom Petty flipped the middle finger to somebody off stage about one minute into

6966-509: The crowd in unison refrains, and his sustained note—"Aaaaaay-o"—during the a cappella section came to be known as "The Note Heard Round the World". The band's six-song set opened with a shortened version of " Bohemian Rhapsody " and closed with " We Are the Champions ". According to the BBC's presenter David Hepworth , their performance produced "the greatest display of community singing the old stadium had seen and cemented Queen's position as

7095-481: The day, began his solo set with the quip, "I was in England this afternoon. Funny old world, innit?" to cheers from the Philadelphia crowd. Collins played the drums during Eric Clapton 's 17-minute set, which included well-received performances of " Layla " and " White Room ". Throughout the concerts, viewers were urged to donate money to the Live Aid cause. The BBC operated three hundred phone lines so that members of

7224-528: The drums for Sting in London, then for Eric Clapton , and played with the reuniting surviving members of Led Zeppelin at JFK. On the Concorde flight, Collins encountered actress and singer Cher , who was unaware of the concerts. Upon reaching the US, she attended the Philadelphia concert and can be seen performing as part of the concert's " We Are the World " finale. In a 1985 interview, singer-songwriter Billy Joel stated that he had considered performing at

7353-499: The electronic sound feed from these mics unless they had portable TV sets and radios, drowned out what little sound from McCartney could be heard during this part of his performance. As a result, organiser and performer Bob Geldof, accompanied by earlier performers David Bowie, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshend , returned to the stage to sing with him and back him up (as did the stadium audience despite not being able to hear much), by which time McCartney's microphone had been repaired. At

7482-471: The end of the Wembley show, the microphone mounted to Paul McCartney 's piano failed for the first two minutes of the song, making it difficult for television viewers and the stadium audience to hear him. During this performance, the TV audience were better off, audio-wise, than the stadium audience, as the TV sound was picked up from other microphones near McCartney. The stadium audience, who could obviously not hear

7611-462: The event's success. Celebrities not only promote catalytic philanthropy, they can produce an effect some call Geldofism : "The mobilization of pop stars and their fans behind a cause." Therefore, because of their visibility, celebrities are used by organizers as a mean to gain support to the cause in hand. Furthermore, the success of benefit concerts is tightly related to the quality of entertainment offered by them. To gain space and legitimization in

7740-420: The event, but ultimately chose not to because he had difficulties getting his band together and did not want to perform by himself. Broadcaster Richard Skinner opened the Live Aid concert with the words: It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid. The concert was the most ambitious international satellite television venture that had ever been attempted at

7869-569: The eyes of the political leaders whose opinions the performers were trying to shape. McCartney agreed to perform and has said it was "the management" – his children – who persuaded him to take part. In the event, he was the last performer (aside from the Band Aid finale) to take to the stage and one of the few to be beset by technical difficulties; his microphone failed for the first two minutes of his piano performance of " Let It Be ", making it difficult for television viewers and impossible for those in

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7998-437: The fact that most of the performers had worked with, or for, David Frost early in their careers. In May 1977 a second Amnesty benefit was held to build on the success of the first show and with the intent of developing momentum for a regularly scheduled benefit show. The returning production team included Amnesty Assistant Director Peter Luff and Martin Lewis. The show was directed by Monty Python member Terry Jones . This show

8127-447: The familiar face of their beloved artist on stage endorsing a cause, fans feel more compelled to support the cause. Criticisms against benefit concerts go further than just criticizing the intentions of the celebrities involved. Some argue that benefit concerts are a wrong response for tragedies because the atmosphere involved on them is not one of mourning. Further criticism comes from those who argue that Geldofism turns celebrities into

8256-462: The film of the 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball and subsequently its successor The Secret Policeman's Other Ball . They determined that neither film would be successful in the American marketplace because some of the content was too parochial for American tastes. With Amnesty's blessing, they decided to combine the two films for the US. Original producer Martin Lewis distilled the best performances from both films into one new 110-minute film for

8385-449: The final words. Elvis Costello sang a version of the Beatles' " All You Need Is Love ", which he introduced by asking the audience to "help [him] sing this old northern English folk song". Queen 's twenty-one-minute performance, which began at 6:41 pm, was voted the greatest live performance in the history of rock in a 2005 industry poll of more than 60 artists, journalists and music industry executives. Freddie Mercury at times led

8514-552: The first four shows (released in the US in 1982 and 1983) and then helped expand the participation of rock musicians for Amnesty (that he first engendered in the 1979 and 1981 shows) with his contributions to the 1986 Conspiracy of Hope US tour and the 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour. The first wave of shows took place approximately every other year, and three of the first four shows were filmed and released theatrically as movies with corresponding record albums. Because multi-artist benefit shows with contemporary performers were

8643-462: The first three Amnesty benefit shows did not initially receive much exposure in the US, but this started to change in 1981–1982. The original British versions of the two Secret Policeman's Ball movies were presented at the 1981 and 1982 Filmex Los Angeles International Film Festival . Media coverage of the screenings in magazines such as Rolling Stone created awareness of the benefit shows. The album The Secret Policeman's Other Ball – The Music

8772-449: The first to document the famine, with Buerk's report on 23 October describing it as "a biblical famine in the 20th century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth". The reports featured a young nurse, Claire Bertschinger , who, surrounded by 85,000 starving people, told of her sorrow of having to decide which children would be allowed access to the limited food supplies in the feeding station and which were too sick to be saved. She would put

8901-401: The first two Amnesty shows (the 1976 and 1977 benefits) and the best of the content from the original 1979 and 1981 films that had not been used in the 1982 US version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball . In the early 1980s, Amnesty had a low profile in the US, and its Executive Director Jack Healey was looking for a way to raise the organisation's profile, especially among young people. In

9030-452: The forthcoming show in an interview conducted by Michael Billington , transmitted on BBC television on 22 June 1979. Cleese and Palin explained their support for Amnesty and their reasons for doing the shows. The shows took place over four consecutive nights at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on 27–30 June 1979. The shows were again filmed by a rudimentary 16 mm documentary crew and

9159-463: The fucking honesty, Sir Bob." This would be the band's last appearance with bassist and founding member Alan Lancaster and drummer Pete Kircher . Princess Diana and Prince Charles were among those in attendance as the concert commenced. Bob Geldof performed with the rest of the Boomtown Rats, singing " I Don't Like Mondays ". He and the band paused just after the line "The lesson today

9288-487: The incentive for viewers to donate would be minimal. Bob Geldof, the founder of Live Aid, is aware of the need of familiarity and para-social interaction on behalf of the viewer. When criticised for not inviting enough African performers to play at Live Aid (of which the main purpose was famine relief for Africa), Geldof commented that only popular musicians were invited to play at the show because unfamiliar artists would cause viewers to lose interest and "switch off". In seeing

9417-492: The later shows. Amnesty directly attributes the leaps in awareness of the human rights issue, the significant increases in its membership (especially among the young) and its dramatically increased fundraising achievements to the impact of the various shows, their spin-offs and successor Amnesty events such as the Conspiracy of Hope and Human Rights Now! tours. Some of the films received international cinema release, and

9546-417: The live broadcast, nearly 40 percent of the world population. The impact of Live Aid on famine relief has been debated for years. One aid relief worker stated that following the publicity generated by the concert, "humanitarian concern is now at the centre of foreign policy" for Western governments. Geldof has said, "We took an issue that was nowhere on the political agenda and, through the lingua franca of

9675-415: The live feed. The concert began at noon British Summer Time (BST) (7:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)) at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. It continued at John F. Kennedy Stadium (JFK) in the United States, starting at 13:51 BST (8:51 EDT). The UK's Wembley performances ended at 22:00 BST (17:00 EDT). The JFK performances and the whole concert in the US ended at 04:05 BST on 14 July (23:05 EDT). Thus,

9804-470: The live sound mix for Jagger's performance from Philadelphia. Veteran music engineer David Richards ( Pink Floyd and Queen ) was brought in to create footage and sound mixes Jagger and Bowie could perform to in their respective venues. The BBC would then have had to ensure those footage and sound mixes were in sync while also performing a live vision mix of the footage from both venues. The combined footage would then have had to be bounced back by satellite to

9933-416: The media, benefit concerts must have a large audience, the kind of large crowd attracted by famous music stars. Bob Geldof himself responded to criticisms about the lack of African artists on the Live 8 by stating that, although those musicians produce great works, they do not sell many albums—and, for the sake of reaching as many people as possible, his concert had to include only popular artists. Finally,

10062-432: The mirrored sound systems commonly used by the rock band touring engineers, with two 40–48-channel mixing consoles at the front of house and another pair for monitors, the BBC sound engineers had to use multiple 12-channel desks. Some credit this as the point where the mainstream entertainment industry realised that the rock concert industry had overtaken them in technical expertise. The Coldstream Guards band opened with

10191-477: The most-loved British group since the Beatles". Later in the evening, Mercury and guitarist Brian May performed the first song of the three-part Wembley event finale, " Is This the World We Created...? " Other well-received performances on the day included those by U2 and David Bowie . Both The Guardian and Rolling Stone have cited Live Aid as the event that made stars of U2. The band played

10320-495: The next two shows (1979 and 1981) with Luff's replacement at Amnesty, Peter Walker – using the Secret Policeman's Ball title for the first time in 1979 and developing the series identity. Cleese credits Lewis with coining the Secret Policeman's Ball title. In an interview aired on BBC TV on 22 June 1979, Cleese told interviewer Michael Billington "It's Martin Lewis' title, I can pin that one on him. But I thought it

10449-437: The occasion he told Geldof that they should consider organising a benefit concert. Speaking to the UK music magazine Melody Maker at the beginning of January 1985, Geldof revealed his enthusiasm for George's idea, saying, "If George is organising it, you can tell him he can call me at any time, and I'll do it. It's a logical progression from the record, but the point is you don't just talk about it, you go ahead and do it!" It

10578-710: The only legitimate spokespeople for a cause, robbing the NGOs of the possibilities to speak up for a cause. In chronological order, beginning with the earliest date: The following is an incomplete list of benefit concerts with their own Misplaced Pages page. For a more descriptive and inclusive list focusing on historically notable events, see the list above . Note that while some of the listed concerts feature only one headliner and several supporting acts, other benefit concerts feature diverse lineups and are also considered music festivals . This list may have some overlap with list of free festivals , which are rock festivals that often have

10707-460: The performance of the theatre's regularly scheduled play. Being late-night events became a hallmark of subsequent shows. In addition to Lewis' audio recording team, Roger Graef, used a small 16 mm crew, to film rehearsals and performances. The footage was later assembled into the film Pleasure at Her Majesty's , which premiered in November 1976 at the 20th annual London Film Festival , and

10836-472: The performing talent so favourably disposed to assist it in raising funds. Peter Luff left Amnesty in 1978 and the organisation's new fund-raising officer, Peter Walker, was deputed to work with Lewis on reconfiguring the show to raise more money and greater awareness of Amnesty. Lewis and Walker determined that the third show needed to be produced in the same vein as the first show (i.e. multiple performances, late-night and filmed for theatrical release) but with

10965-537: The planet – which is not English but rock 'n' roll – we were able to address the intellectual absurdity and the moral repulsion of people dying of want in a world of surplus." In another interview he stated that Live Aid "created something permanent and self-sustaining" but also asked why Africa is getting poorer. The organisers of Live Aid tried to run aid efforts directly, channelling millions of pounds to NGOs in Ethiopia . It has been alleged that much of this went to

11094-428: The presence of other people, and that happens in benefit concerts, they become connected to each other and are more likely to work together towards a goal. Critics also say that benefit concerts are just a way for the rich West to forgive itself by helping the poor and distressed. These critiques argue that concerts like the Live Aid "rob Africans of agency, reinforces Western ethnocentrism and racisms and see famine as

11223-429: The public could make donations using their credit cards. The phone number and an address to which viewers could send cheques were repeated every twenty minutes. Nearly seven hours into the concert in London, Bob Geldof enquired how much money had been raised so far; he was told about £1.2 million. He is said to have been sorely disappointed by the amount and marched to the BBC commentary position. Pumped up further by

11352-438: The quality of entertainment is key to the creation of a public sphere where discussions about the concert's cause can occur. The better the entertainment, the more people watch the concert, and thus the more people become aware of the cause. Furthermore, the music played in the concerts can lead spectators to interconnect and become more likely to act towards the cause. According to a theory, by Jane Bennett , when people sing in

11481-413: The recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and in the same month, the band were undertaking a tour of the UK, which culminated in six nights at Wembley Arena . On the final night at Wembley, 22 December 1984, an impromptu gathering of some of the other artists from "Band Aid" joined Culture Club on stage at the end of the concert for an encore of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" George was so overcome by

11610-587: The report also bringing the world's attention to the crisis in Ethiopia. Such was the magnitude of Buerk's report it was also broadcast in its entirety on a major US news channel—almost unheard of at the time. From his home in London Geldof also saw the report and called Ure from Ultravox (Geldof and Ure had previously worked together for charity when they appeared at the 1981 benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball in London) and together they quickly co-wrote

11739-615: The reprise of "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", Mick Jagger ripped away part of Tina Turner 's dress, leaving her to finish the song in what was, effectively, a leotard . The JFK portion included reunions of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young , the original Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne , the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson , and surviving members of Led Zeppelin , with Phil Collins and the Power Station (and former Chic ) member Tony Thompson sharing duties on drums in place of

11868-457: The resulting 100-minute film – also titled The Secret Policeman's Ball was released theatrically by ITC in June 1980 heralded by a special preview attended by many of the show's participants. (A one-hour television special drawn from the performances aired on Britain's ITV network by London Weekend Television in December 1979, to coincide with the release of The Secret Policeman's Ball record album on Island Records , produced by Lewis, of

11997-673: The routine of people's lives because they occur (in most cases) for only for one night or for one week-end. Furthermore, they are broadcast as television spectacles that interrupt the regular scheduled programming on a given television network. Often, this kind of announced interruption has television viewers discussing the event with others beforehand, generating excitement around the event. Moreover, benefit concerts encourage audiences to adhere to their script, such as by phoning in donations or signing an online pledge. As media events, benefit concerts are widely broadcast and seen by millions of people. (The Live Aid charity concert in 1985, for example,

12126-516: The show and the TV show were given a fresh title by producer Lewis: The Mermaid Frolics . The album was released on Polydor Records in December 1977 and the TV special was shown on the ITV network that same month through Granada TV . The title of the TV show and record album has since become the name by which the original stage show itself is referred to. Amnesty decided not to present a benefit show in 1978, in order to consider how to make better use of

12255-679: The show was adapted as The Secret Policeman's Tour , performing at Hackney Empire in London, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Manchester Palace Theatre . "Amnesty first started doing these fund-raising shows in 1976. The instigation came from John Cleese who wanted to help out. And he did it in the only way he knew how. Which was to put on a show with what he described as 'a few friends'. Who of course transpired to be his colleagues in Monty Python and other luminaries of British comedy". — Martin Lewis , co-founder of The Secret Policeman's Ball , on Cleese instigating

12384-470: The show, it's the most dramatic thing I've ever seen.' That was probably one of the most evocative things in the whole show and really got the money rolling in." —Live Aid promoter Harvey Goldsmith on Bowie picking out the CBC news piece for the concert, a video Bowie introduced on the big screen at Wembley after his set. The transatlantic broadcast from Wembley suffered technical problems and failed during

12513-446: The shows were on a noticeably smaller scale and consequently generated less media attention. The shows from 1987 onwards were videotaped to be shown as TV specials and/or released on home video in Britain rather than filmed as movies with prospects for international release. The sole exception to the smaller scale events was an ill-fated attempt in June 1988 to stage a weekend concert event titled "Amnesty International Festival of Youth" at

12642-461: The song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in the hope of raising money for famine relief. Geldof then contacted colleagues in the music industry and persuaded them to record the single under the title ' Band Aid ' for free. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill , London, and was released four days later. It stayed at number one for five weeks in the UK,

12771-464: The song. Petty stated the song was a last-minute addition when the band realised that they would be the first act to play the American side of the concert after the London finale and "since this is, after all, JFK Stadium". When Bob Dylan broke a guitar string while playing with the Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood , Wood took off his guitar and gave it to Dylan. Wood

12900-420: The soundtrack albums enjoyed commercial success worldwide, all of which generated considerable international awareness of the original shows, together with a growing grassroots awareness of Amnesty International and the human rights issue. Amnesty states that public awareness of Amnesty increased by 700% between the first and third shows. Membership of the organisation increased sharply. The films and records of

13029-479: The stadium to hear him. He later joked by saying he had thought about changing the lyrics to "There will be some feedback, let it be". Phil Collins performed at both Wembley Stadium and JFK, travelling from Wembley by helicopter (piloted by UK TV personality Noel Edmonds ) to London Heathrow Airport , then took a British Airways Concorde flight to New York City, before taking another helicopter to Philadelphia. As well as his own set at both venues, he also played

13158-419: The syndicated/ABC coverage is that the network had wanted to reserve some of the biggest acts that had played earlier in the day for certain points in the entire broadcast, particularly in the final three hours in prime time; thus, Orbis Communications had some sequences replaced by others, especially those portions of the concert that had acts from London and Philadelphia playing simultaneously. For example, while

13287-509: The time, before multichannel television sound was enacted nationwide, very few televisions reproduced stereo signals, and few television stations were able to broadcast in stereo. While the telecast was run advertisement-free by the BBC, both the MTV and syndicated/ABC broadcasts included advertisements and interviews. As a result, many songs were omitted due to the commercial breaks, as these songs were played during these slots. The biggest issue of

13416-449: The time. In Europe, the TV feed was supplied by the BBC , whose broadcast was presented by Richard Skinner , Andy Kershaw , Mark Ellen , David Hepworth , Andy Batten-Foster , Steve Blacknell, Paul Gambaccini , Janice Long and Mike Smith and included numerous interviews and chats in between the various acts. The BBC's television sound feed was mono, as was all UK TV audio before NICAM

13545-497: The tiny proportion that was supplied by some NGOs to rebel-held areas". The 1985 Live Aid concert was conceived as a follow-on to the successful charity single " Do They Know It's Christmas? " which was also the idea of Geldof and Ure. In October 1984, images of hundreds of thousands of people starving to death in Ethiopia were shown in the UK in Michael Buerk 's BBC News reports on the 1984 famine . The BBC News crew were

13674-548: The tour, the membership of Amnesty in the USA had increased by 45,000 members. Subsequent to the A Conspiracy of Hope tour, Lewis and Healey conceived the 1988 Amnesty world tour Human Rights Now! , that featured Bruce Springsteen , Sting, Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour and Tracy Chapman . Lewis and Healey's intention was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by staging

13803-465: The various broadcasters worldwide. Due to the time lag (the signal would take several seconds to be broadcast twice across the Atlantic Ocean), Richards concluded there was no way for Jagger to hear or see Bowie's performance, meaning there could be no interaction between the artists, essentially defeating the whole point of the exercise. On top of this, both artists objected to miming during what

13932-548: The world (though neither US feed showed the film), showing starving and diseased Ethiopian children set to " Drive " by the Cars (this would also be shown at the London Live 8 concert in 2005). The rate of donations became faster in the aftermath of the video. Geldof had previously refused to allow the video to be shown due to time constraints and had only relented when Bowie offered to drop the song " Five Years " from his set as

14061-451: Was Christmas number one , and became the fastest-selling single ever in Britain and raised £8 million, rather than the £70,000 Geldof and Ure had initially expected. Geldof then set his sights on staging a huge concert to raise further funds. The idea to stage a charity concert to raise more funds for Ethiopia originally came from Boy George , the lead singer of Culture Club . George and Culture Club drummer Jon Moss had taken part in

14190-514: Was a game of bluff." Among those involved in organising Live Aid were Harvey Goldsmith , who was responsible for the Wembley Stadium concert, and Bill Graham , who put together the American leg. On promoting the event, Goldsmith states, "I didn't really get a chance to say no. Bob [Geldof] arrived in my office and basically said, 'We're doing this.' It started from there." The concert grew in scope as more acts were added on both sides of

14319-533: Was a very special feeling to be part of something so unique. Live Aid was a unique privilege for all of us. It's become a fabulous memory." "One afternoon before the concert, Bowie was up in the office and we started looking through some videos of news footage, and we watched the CBC piece [footage from the Ethiopian famine , cut to the Cars' song " Drive "]. Everyone just stopped. Bowie said, 'You've got to put that in

14448-464: Was bedlam backstage", before performing a four-song set, including " Summer of '69 ". Duran Duran performed a four-song set, which was the final time the five original band members publicly performed together until 2003. Their set saw a weak, off-key falsetto note hit by frontman Simon Le Bon during " A View to a Kill ". The error was dubbed "The Bum Note Heard Round the World" by various media outlets, in contrast to Freddie Mercury's "Note Heard Round

14577-448: Was broadcast by the BBC in December 1976. Subsequently, the film received a modest theatrical release at art-house cinemas in 1977. A record album of the show, titled A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick) , was released in November 1976 by Transatlantic Records and was a commercial success. The original working title for the show had been An Evening Without David Frost – an allusion to

14706-518: Was clear from the interview that Geldof had already had the idea to hold a dual venue concert and how the concerts should be structured: The show should be as big as is humanly possible. There's no point [in] just 5,000 fans turning up at Wembley ; we need to have Wembley linked with Madison Square Gardens , and the whole show to be televised worldwide. It would be great for Duran to play three or four numbers at Wembley and then flick to Madison Square, where Springsteen would be playing. While he's on,

14835-652: Was headlined by a mixture of British and Irish artists – Sting, The Police , Peter Gabriel and U2 – with American and Canadian musicians Jackson Browne , Lou Reed , Joan Baez , The Neville Brothers and Bryan Adams . The tour was promoted by rock impresario Bill Graham . The tour concluded with a major all-day concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey that was televised live by MTV. The final concert featured additional artists including Bob Geldof , Joan Armatrading , Rubén Blades , Carlos Santana , Howard Jones , Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell . Just one month after

14964-493: Was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London , and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia . On the same day, concerts inspired by the initiative were held in other countries, such as the Soviet Union, Canada, Japan, Yugoslavia, Austria, Australia, and West Germany. It was one of the largest satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time; an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations watched

15093-471: Was introduced, but the BBC Radio 1 feed was stereo and was simulcast in sync with the TV pictures. Unfortunately, in the rush to set up the transatlantic feeds, the sound feed from Philadelphia was sent to London via transatlantic cable, while the video feed was via satellite, which meant a lack of synchronisation on British television receivers. Due to the constant activities in both London and Philadelphia,

15222-465: Was left standing on stage guitarless. After shrugging to the audience, he played air guitar , even mimicking the Who 's Pete Townshend by swinging his arm in wide circles until a stagehand brought him a replacement. The performance was included in the DVD, including the guitar switch and Wood talking to stagehands, but much of the footage used was close-ups of either Dylan or Richards. During their duet on

15351-536: Was never uttered. Private Eye magazine made great humorous capital out of this outburst, emphasising Geldof's Irish accent, which meant the profanities were heard as "fock" or "focking". After the outburst, donations increased to £300 per second. Later in the evening, following David Bowie's set, a video shot by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was shown to the audiences in London and Philadelphia, as well as on televisions around

15480-503: Was perceived as a historic event. Instead, Jagger and Bowie worked with Richards to create a video of the song they would have performed, a cover of " Dancing in the Street ", which was shown on the screens of both stadiums and broadcast as part of many TV networks' coverage. Each of the two main parts of the concert ended with their particular continental all-star anti-hunger anthems, with Band Aid 's " Do They Know It's Christmas? " closing

15609-413: Was pioneered in 1985 with Bob Geldof's Live Aid. Benefit concerts are a major example of celebrity charity for they involve popular musicians; actors and actresses; and other kinds of entertainment figures volunteering to a greater cause. The efficiency of celebrity charity is explained by the theory of Catalytic Philanthropy designed by Paul Schervish . His thesis explains that it is more beneficial to

15738-436: Was quite funny." Although the Secret Policeman's Ball title was not used until the third show in 1979, the two preceding shows in 1976 and 1977 were retrospectively treated as part of the Secret Policeman's canon. Cleese and Lewis subsequently worked individually on other Amnesty projects. Cleese made brief cameo appearances in the 1987 and 1989 shows and co-directed the latter. Lewis produced two American films drawn from

15867-529: Was released by Island Records/ Warner Bros. Records in March 1982 and became a Top Thirty album in the Billboard charts. The third major element in bringing the Secret Policeman's Balls to the U.S. was the acquisition of the UK films by American distributors Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein , founders of the independent distribution company Miramax Films . They had acquired the US rights to

15996-491: Was saying, and so he jumped down to help her himself. Rolling Stone described David Bowie's performance as "arguably Bowie's last triumph of the 1980s", observing that "as approximately two billion people sang along to 'Heroes' [...], he still seemed like one of the biggest and most vital rock stars in the world". According to Ultimate Classic Rock , Phil Collins also "performed an especially crowd-pleasing selection of songs", and John Illsley of Dire Straits recalled, "It

16125-471: Was seen by an estimated 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.) However, this mass dissemination is only one of the factors that contribute to the success of benefit concerts. The people who send the message for collective action are essential to a benefit concert's effectiveness. Dayan and Katz suggest that media events are an expression of a "neo-romantic desire for heroic action", meaning that media events produce leaders who inspire collective action with belief in

16254-432: Was the first non- Oxbridge comedian to perform at an Amnesty benefit – a distinction he made fun of at the show. Lewis proposed to Cleese that in addition to the comedy performances the show should feature some contemporary rock musicians. Cleese delegated this responsibility to Lewis who recruited Who guitarist Pete Townshend to perform, as well as new wave singer-songwriter Tom Robinson . Cleese and Palin promoted

16383-480: Was their first performance since disbanding after a 1982 'farewell' tour. The Who's performance was described as "rough but right" by Rolling Stone , but they would not perform together again for another three years. At 32 minutes Elton John had the longest set on the day; his setlist included the first performance of " Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me " with George Michael . While performing " Let It Be " near

16512-453: Was titled Pleasure at Her Majesty's . Lewis also undertook responsibility for publicising the show and its film and record spin-offs. The show – titled by Cleese A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick) – took place on 1–3 April 1976 as a series of late-night galas at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End theatre district . The show was directed by Beyond The Fringe alumnus Jonathan Miller . The shows started at 11.30 pm, after

16641-424: Was unlike the first show and its primary successors in three key aspects. It was a single-night event rather than consisting of multiple performances, it started at 8:00 pm on a Sunday evening, and the show was videotaped as a TV special rather than filmed for theatrical release. The show took place at London's Mermaid Theatre and was titled An Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles , an affectionate reference to

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