It’s Officially Live Aid Week in Philadelphia

(Photo via Getty Images)

If Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker weren’t so busy worrying about what to do with all the trash amid the massive strike, she would likely have had the thought to declare this Live Aid Week in Philadelphia. Alas, the piles of trash persist. There’s no end in sight for the strike. So we are declaring it Live Aid Week for her. Consider that your official proclamation.

In the brand new issue of Philly Mag, which has Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on the cover, we have a huge feature on Live Aid, the opening spread of which appears above. (God, I love that photo. If you recognize yourself in the crowd, get in touch with me!)

So why are we making such a big deal about Live Aid?

Well, forty years ago this month – this Sunday, July 13th to be specific – the most ambitious concert in the history of the music world (sorry, Woodstock) was staged. In an effort to raise money for starving people in Ethiopia amid the devastating famine of the 1980s, Irish singer Bob Geldof somehow pulled together the biggest stars in music to perform at Live Aid, a two-continent concert broadcast live across the globe via satellite.

This was well before broadcasting events live all over the globe via satellite was commonplace. It was a different world. It was a different time. You just didn’t do things like Live Aid.

Acts including Queen, U2, David Bowie, George Michael, Paul McCartney and the Who appeared at Wembley Stadium for the London edition of Live Aid. The bands in London alternated songs and sets with musicians at South Philly’s storied JFK Stadium. Philly’s performers included a reunited Led Zeppelin, Madonna, hometown heroes the Hooters, and Run-DMC, among many others. It was all a carefully choreographed sequence of performances, from continent to continent and back again. People who weren’t able to attend listened on the radio or watched it on ABC, the BBC or the then-hugely popular MTV. Many at home recorded the show on VHS and cassette tapes.

Imagine persuading all those egomaniacal stars to perform together in this crazy arrangement – for free! And then imagine making it all happen from a technical perspective. They even had one of those stars perform at both stadiums on the same day. You can thank supersonic travel for that last detail, though I’m not necessarily sure that said performer’s involvement in Philadelphia was a good thing. (Looking at you, Phil Collins. More on that later this week.)

It seemed impossible, a pipe dream, something that could never actually happen – but it did. And for one day – July 13, 1985 – the eyes of all the world were on Philadelphia.

So, yes, the 40th anniversary of Live Aid is a big deal. This Sunday, CNN is launching Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took On the World, a four-part docuseries about the spectacle and its aftermath. That same day, 88.5 WXPN-FM in Philadelphia is broadcasting much of the concert on the radio, and I’m producing a Live Aid tribute concert at Union Transfer that day, co-hosted by WMMR legend Pierre Robert, who covered Live Aid for the station. One hundred percent of ticket proceeds from that Live Aid tribute concert will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. (You can buy tickets here.)

In honor of Live Aid Week, we will be running a series of articles each day, from a breakdown of how the Led Zeppelin reunion at JFK Stadium went so wrong (hello again, Phil Collins), to an oral history featuring some of the biggest stars and your favorite Philadelphians who were there, to an exploration of where all the money went, to an examination of the chart-toppers who were conspicuously absent to…well, we can’t give it all away.

Artist Kyle Hilton imagines Madonna and Jerry Blavat chowing down on Italian food in a limo on the day of Live Aid

But if you were wondering what on earth a 20-something Stephen Starr was doing backstage at Live Aid or what happened when Jerry Blavat met Madonna before Live Aid and what South Philly restaurant he took her to for chicken parm or what the lead singer of Judas Priest has to say about the “bit of Caligula” going on in a sauna after the show, we will have it here for you.

So where do we start? Let’s begin with one of the most obvious questions… How the hell did Live Aid even wind up in Philadelphia? The answer is here.

Check back daily for more Live Aid Week stories.