LIVE AID - (1985)

I finally broke down and bought a VHS to DVD recorder, so now I can share some of the crazy stuff I taped off of the TV over the years! This "Live Aid" concert was broadcast almost all day and all night on July 13, 1985, basically without commercials as far as I remember! I watched it for hours on end, and taped a good deal of it! The tapes are now exactly 30 years old, so they don't track as good as they used to, and I probably recorded them at the slowest speed since I was making about five bucks an hour back then, and the tapes weren't as cheap as I was, so the quality isn't exactly HD, but at least it's some record of the event!

There were about eighty zillion bands performing at two different venues, JFK Stadium in Philly, and Wembley Stadium in London, and it was simulcast back and forth from both places! There were also several international stages doing the same thing all over the world!

It was an all-star affair no doubt! Sting came out and performed with Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits!

George Thorogood calls out the "Master Of The Telecaster" Albert Collins to join him on stage to perform the classic "Madison Blues," and here's just a couple of minutes of that performance for your audio pleasure!

Albert Collins was so cool, and here's a few of his song titles to prove it! His biggest hit was called "Frosty," and other chill songs of his included "Defrost," "Freeze," "Thaw-Out," and "Snow-Cone!" Albert passed away in 1993!

Maybe all the Pepsi and beer had something to do with Freddie Mercury's early demise!

James Kerr and Simple Minds were just one of the bands that performed!
Almost 2 billion people viewed the show all over the world! That's more than the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight!

David Bowie performed to a packed house of about 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium

Bowie's backup singers Tessa Niles and Helena Springs were styling!

During an instrumental break, Bowie cuts a rug with Helena!

We love David Bowie in this house, so that's why you get a couple extra shots from his performance!

Great framed shot of David!

I wonder who this lucky gal was? The only one in a shot of 100's in focus at Wembley!

The Pretenders put on a good show too! I didn't go, but I was told that years later when Chrissie Hynde performed here, the first words that came out of her mouth in an angry tone were, "This Place Smells Like Meat!"

All for a good cause, this was the first time that The Who performed together since 1982. After this, they did not perform together again until 1988!

I love this double pump shot!

The always exciting Carlos Santana was there!

Just to make it even that more interesting, Santana was joined on stage by jazz guitarist extraordinaire Pat Metheny!

SADE!

And.......Sir Elton!

The list of talent goes on and on with names like Elvis Costello, Bryan Ferry, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Tom Petty, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and they raised a lot of money for relief in Africa, but according to Wikipedia, not everything was as rosy as it seemed! You can read the story right here!