Without a doubt, the yardstick for charity songs is based around Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" [1984] and USA For Africa's "We Are The World" [1985]. What do they have in common? Like all of the best songs, they have simple chord structures and memorable melodies. These songs would have been major hits even without the advertisement of a star-studded vocal group.
What's even better, the royalties for both of these songs were distributed to a worthy cause.
Problem: nobody has written a decent charity song since.
I vaguely recall 1991's "Voices That Care", a song recorded for the US Troops in Iraq. The song charted AFTER the Iraq War was over!!
In 1989 & 2004, the best of the current breed of British popstars re-recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" for charity purposes. Can anybody recall who was in the vocal group for these versions?
I now read that "We Are The World" was re-recorded earlier this week, in order to raise money for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.
This is a for a good cause, albeit a very safe option. Why can't today's breed of talented songwriters pull out a classic, moving new song for this purpose?
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