Live Aid had great sound and an even better conscience

It was the concert that changed the world.

Twenty-five years ago today, the world was focused on Philadelphia and London for Live Aid, the megaconcert for African famine relief.

For 16 hours, the world was a global village, as 1.5 billion TV viewers in 160 countries saw superstars U2, Paul McCartney, Elton John, The Who, Eric Clapton, Madonna and a reunited Led Zeppelin dazzle capacity crowds at Wembley and JFK stadiums. The concert raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia - and it still serves as the model of how musicians can come together in times of need and speak out against injustice.

As a 24-year-old in Mullet Nation who went to Live Aid, it seems like only yesterday to me: The Mick Jagger and Tina Turner duet; Joan Baez telling us that this was our Woodstock; the surprise of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion; Phil Collins jetting across the Atlantic to perform at both venues; fire hoses sprayed on the crowd to ease the sweltering heat; the huge "Feed the World Banner" at the top of one end of the stands; the handful of teen girls like Madonna who were heckled by a mostly hard-rock crowd; the huge reaction to Led Zeppelin; the iconic performances by U2 and Queen in London that we could see on the video screens; the Philly crowd booing the Soviet rock group Autograph as they appeared on huge screens via satellite, not because they represented the evil USSR, but because they were so bad; the pretty English twins who sat next to me.

There were some disappointments. Rumors of surprise appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson in Philadelphia were false. There was no Beatles reunion in London of Paul, George, Ringo, and Julian Lennon.

The video of The Who failed in the middle of their set, as did the audio of McCartney's "Let It Be." The flooded restroom resembled that of a Third World country. (Most of all, I didn't get the twins' phone numbers.)

It was music and fun and a bunch of drugs. (I swear I didn't inhale the secondhand smoke.) But it was music for charity with a social conscience. Interspersed with the great performances were poignant reminders of why the concert was needed, especially the Cars' video of "Drive."

"There was something totally unique, and I am not sure I've ever felt it since," said Francis Rossi of Status Quo, the first act to play at Live Aid in London, to the Observer newspaper in 2004. "They weren't just people paying to see a show. They were part of it. There was such a euphoric feeling in that arena."

The idea for Live Aid was inspired by a 1984 BBC documentary that graphically showed the famine and suffering in Ethiopia. In England, Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?/Feed the World" in November 1984. In the U.S. in January 1985, American musicians recorded "We Are the World," co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

Live Aid inspired many other efforts by musicians to raise social consciousness. There were the Amnesty International concerts of the late 1980s, Farm Aid, Comic Relief, Live 8 in 2005 (to pressure world leaders to forgive African debt), Live Earth in 2007, which raised awareness of environmental issues, and telethons to raise money for victims of the tsunami and Haiti earthquake.

Granted, musicians and grandiose concerts can't bail us out of all our social dilemmas. But events like Live Aid can raise consciousness and money without government involvement or raising taxes. There is a long tradition of musicians speaking out, like Woody Guthrie's political and social songs, Vietnam protest songs, the Concert for Bangladesh, and the No Nukes concerts of the late 1970s. But Live Aid took this tradition to another level. It was the first truly global fund-raising event that simultaneously reached nearly every country in the world.

WHILE WOODSTOCK gets the hype as being the defining cultural and entertainment event, Live Aid deserves its due as well. It set the standard of the concept of the Global Jukebox with

a cause.

Larry Atkins teaches journalism at Temple and Arcadia universities. His Web site is www.professorlarry.com.