HISTORY IN THE MAKING

To mark the 40th anniversary of Do They Know It's Christmas?, the BBC is airing behind-the-scenes footage of the recording

- JEN PHARO

Forty years ago, Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure OBE convinced the biggest pop stars of the day to put their egos aside and come together to record Do They Know It's Christmas?. With just 24 hours of free studio time, they pulled off the impossible by uniting stars such as George Michael, Bono, Boy George, Sting, Paul Weller, Bananarama, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Kool and The Gang, Marilyn, Paul Young and Phil Collins to produce the charity single. It became the Christmas No 1 and, in the first year alone, raised £8 million to ease the famine in Ethiopia - smashing their target of £1 million.

Now the BBC has uncovered unseen footage from the recording day - Sunday 25 November 1984 - which shows the pop stars put aside their showbiz feuds to lay down their vocals at the SARM Studios in Notting Hill. The late TV presenter Paula Yates, who was then married to Bob Geldof, was there to interview the collaborators.

As they wait for the talent to arrive, Bob and Midge tell the cameras they fear clashing superstar egos will be their biggest problem. "A lot of the people in the bands actually can't stand each other," says Bob. "But it doesn't matter because Paul Weller is here at the moment and he was saying earlier this is above individual pettiness and I think that's the spirit of the thing."

Boy George, who is seen asking Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon to put his arm around him to get some gossip going, puts things more bluntly when he gleefully tells cameras, "Every band who ever slagged each other off is here today!"