Live Aid

I was just a young pup with barely enough allowance to cover a movie. I never could have bought the pay per view. Now that I'm an adult I'm paying a fortune for bootlegs and authorized versions.

That's the thing about nostalgia, what seemed unimportant as a child becomes the stuff that dreams are made of sitting in a cubicle all day. Still, the official release is worth picking up.

I'm disappointed some acts chose not to participate in the re-release. I guess Led Zepplin doesn't need any new publicity but if I was the Hooters I'd be begging for a chance to get back into daylight, never mind the spotlight.

This was probably the greatest gathering of rock talent since the halcyon days of pop festivals in the 1960's. Just imagine a bill featuring everyone from Run D.M.C. to Led Zeppelin. This was perhaps the greatest show in the history of popular music and all the musicians played pretty much for free and made it one of the most memorable events not only in music history, but in the history of the world. Too bad that spirit didn't carry over into the 90's. Maybe the world would be a better place.

I happened to be in England at the time of this concert and was able to buy a ticket. I got there early and took a place on the field. The crowd was different than at an American concert -- mellower and nicer overall. Once U2 came onstage, though, things changed. The crowd started to move toward the stage in massive wave-like surges. It was a little anxiety-provoking, but nobody got hurt that I could see.

The line-up was nothing short of spectacular and I was particularly happy to see The Who, David Bowie, Sting, Queen and Paul McCartney. This was in Paul's anxious phase, after John was killed; Paul only did one song and seemed to be hiding behind the piano. The surprise stand-out act of the day for me was Queen. Freddy Mercury really knew how to work the crowd and he had 50,000 people (or whatever) in the palm of his hand.

Finally, we got the DVD! I bought it 2 days ago and watched it almost the whole Sunday. I was turning 19 that year and the event meant nothing but the brightest gem on the gleamy crown of the 80's optimism, happiness, joy, global spirit and most of all - search for ultimate humanity. There's no need to emphasize that LIVE AID (and everything else connected to it) is the singular event of the rock'n'roll history, greater then anything seen before or after. Not only for the plead of the spectacular names that joined the effort, but mainly for the cause and the relevance of it. It's probably the only time in our history when people joined hands globally to help people in need. Thank Sir Bob for the good you brought us and unforgettable moments of our lives.

I say with great certainty that this was the greatest musical event of my lifetime. Yet there seem to be no video or audio copy that is available. This Live Aid album would have brought in Millions of Dollars in relief aid. Think about the cassette, album, CD, & DVD money we would have all paid? I am lucky enough to have a scratchy cassette recording off of the radio from that day. Long live Freddy!!!!