The Stage

TV review

Published Tuesday 28 June 2005 at 10:25 by Harry Venning

The announcer warned of strong language throughout Live Aid Remembered but the first profanity came from a very unexpected source. “Bollocks,” declared veteran correspondent Michael Buerke, sharing his first reaction to the news that a collection of pop stars were making a Christmas record to help relieve the famine in Ethiopa. It was Buerke’s harrowing TV news report in October 1983 that brought the “suffering on a biblical scale” into the homes of the British public. Bob Geldof, fading pop star, was watching with his family and felt compelled to do something. And he’s still doing it to this day.

Controversy continues to rage over how effective the Band Aid and Live Aid fundraisers were upon Ethiopia’s sufferings, but they made an indelible impression upon contemporary British history. Live Aid Remembered took almost three hours to chronicle the phenomenon, and was fascinating for its entire length. It was a fabulous story, well told, with twists, surprises and suspense galore. Needless to say, the quality of the contributors was impressive, glamorous and occasionally unexpected. Most had survived the ravages of time quite well, but then everyone looks better without a mullett. The exception was Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler who, if the royalties ever dry up, could easily find gainful employment as a Keith Harris lookalike.

Apart from the reminiscences of the artists who took part, there were unexpected luminaries like Tony Blair and Norman Tebbitt to help place the concert in its historical and social context, while a fan’s perspective was provided by a ragged arsed student from 1984 called JK Rowling.

In retrospect it is hard to appreciate how precarious and ambitious an enterprise Live Aid was. Beset by technical problems, logistical nightmares, professional jealousies and star tantrums, it was met with suspicion and hostility by the superstars it courted. But Geldof was an irresistible force.

“If the poetry fails to convince you, a barrage of spittle is bound to follow,” was Bono’s take on Geldof’s persuasiveness. “You don’t say no to Bob,” concurred Elton John. Artists reluctant to commit were publicly announced by Geldof and subsequently dared to withdraw.

Midge Ure, Geldof’s collaborator, is still clearly aggrieved at the way Geldof hogged the limelight, and the programme did not baulk at suggesting that Live Aid fed Geldof’s ego as much as it did the victims of famine. But the man came across as a true star. Stubborn, obnoxious, single minded and inspiring, Geldof was the heart of Live Aid.

My favourite Geldof anecdote concerned his meeting with Mengistu Haile Mariam, whose brutal and corrupt regime played a major part in causing the Ethiopian crisis. Not one for the diplomatic niceties, Geldof shared his thoughts with the president. “You’re a cunt,” he observed.

The sun shone down on Live Aid in 1984. Glastonbury 2005 was greeted with a tempest and flash floods. For armchair curmudgeons who delight in watching young campers discomfited this had to be the best year ever. There were the obligatory shots of devil-may-care festivalgoers enjoying a good natured wrestling in the mud, but to all intents and purposes 150,000 people may as well have pitched their tents in a river. It looked horrendous.

It was good to see my all time musical hero Elvis Costello can still deliver the goods live. I also noticed that one of the smaller stages had been named after the late John Peel, which I thought was rather a nice touch. I refused to watch Norman Cook playing his records on principle.

Star Scandals with Johnny Vaughan was yet another tedious top ten countdown compilation show, slightly redeemed by an imaginative approach in which each star’s fall from grace was calculated by a pseudo-mathematical equation (fame multiplied by ability over career recovery, multiplied by public gloat quotient), qualified by various paradigms and theorems.

The top ten miscreants were totally predictable, and I learnt nothing new about them or their scandals. Hugh Grant, Frank Bough, Jeffrey Archer and Gary Glitter were among the usual suspects. Surprisingly, Jonathan Aitken and Michael Barrymore were game enough to be interviewed for the programme. Less surprisingly, clips from the Paris Hilton and Abi Titmuss home sex videos also found their way into the programme. OJ Simpson came in at number one.

Vaughan’s script was quite sharp and his delivery slick, but I am immune to whatever charms he may possess. He had the humility to make a passing reference to his own disreputable past, residing at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, but Vaughan’s greatest scandal went unmentioned - trying to pass his show ‘Orrible off as a comedy.

DETAILS

Live Aid Remembered - BBC2, Saturday, June 18, 9.25pm

Glastonbury 2005 - BBC2 and BBC3, from Friday, June 24, 7pm

Star Scandals with Johnny Vaughan - C4, Thursday, June 23, 10.50pm