Live Aid

[Misdee]

7 hours ago, Linus27 said:

 

It sure is and I will admit that I am a big U2 fan, or at least up until Achtung Baby. Certainly the music they were releasing throughout the 80's is for me absolutely incredible. There was also a bunch of bands that were universally liked at the time by young people. We all had our favorites but bands like U2, Simple Minds, The Alarm, Big Country were grouped together and then there were others like Echo and The Bunnymen, The Cure, INXS, Tears For Fears and to some extent The Mission were also very much liked by the same groups.

 

Being a huge U2 fan, I was fortunate enough to work with the producer, Mark Wallis when we signed our record deal. He was chosen to produce our debut album and he was the mix engineer on U2's Joshua Tree album. He also produced the B sides on the album. I would spend many an hour discussing U2 with him which was also interesting. The one thing he told me which really stuck with me is something he said about Adam that sadly Adam is criticized for by other bassists. We were talking about Adam just playing 8's on a lot of track but he said there is no other bass player who can do that in time with as much consistency and drive that Adam. If you analyse each note, it is spot on in perfect time. Most other bass players waver in time but Adam is so accurate with his timing, which is why he does it so well. He is the same when playing 16's, for example on Where The Streets Have No Name. He said no other bass player he has worked with is as accurate or in time as Adam Clayton.

 

 

I've never understood why some folks see Adam Clayton as an inferior bass player. To anyone who understands the subtleties of the instrument he's a very good bass player. He knows how to create a hook with his bass parts- something that eludes a lot of virtuoso players- and when U2 were at their best his bass lines and gritty tone used to really drive the songs. There's an awful lot to like about how he plays the bass.

[NancyJohnson]

I've been watching the BBC iPlayer.  Observations?  Lots of mullets.  Quite a few performers long dead.  US show was a shambles.  U2 and Queen were great.  Elton John on for too long.

 

We were talking about the bands that didn't play (Geldolf, for instance, believed Big Country had split up).  

[kodiakblair]

For such a huge event I don't remember too much.

 

I remember my pal telling we were going as The Who were playing. Mind being broke and selling some golf clubs my old man had in the shed for the ticket.

Don't recall the trip down from Falkirk or how it took to get inside Wembley , I do remember we'd been inside 20 minutes and telling my pal to wait "Right here" as I joined a queue to buy smokes; never saw him again until the following week 🤣

 

I mind it was bloody hot and London prices shocked me, everything was £1.50 ; Can of beer back home was 20p.

 

At some point I ventured off the pitch and found a bar selling draught, again £1.50. It was there I saw the full horror of Bono's ego and Queen steal the show. Never was a fan of the band but the way they controlled the crowd was a wonder to behold 😎

 

Queues leaving the stadium were a nightmare, queue into tube station was the same.  Those queues meant I missed my train but luckily the Glasgow train was an hour late so got that instead.

Train was mobbed, parked my arse on the floor in-between carriages for 8 hours; tapping smokes of boy scouts heading to the lavvy for a sly puff 😀

[Misdee]

Talking of Elton John, it was great to see David Paton in the band. Looked like a vintage P Bass he was playing. Another great unsung bass player. So clever, so tasteful, so inventive.

 

It must have been around that time that he was playing on tracks for Elton's Ice On Fire album, including Nikita which was a classic example of an ,'80s big hit where the bass guitar is so prominent like you seldom hear on pop records nowadays. 

 

Fair play to the BBC for putting all this footage on again. I've really enjoyed watching some of it. If so had the time I'd probably sit down and watch it all.

Edited 1 hour ago by Misdee

[StingRayBoy42]

Live Aid was on my eleventh birthday.

I remember watching it and thinking "They're going to have to do something BLOODY spectacular for my twelfth..."