Tim Roxborogh: Band Aid missed golden opportunity

Bono arrives to record the latest version of the Band Aid hit, Do They Know It's Christmas?

I think it's great - indeed vital - that good folks like Bob Geldof are galvanizing some of the biggest names in music to raise funds in the fight against Ebola. It just bums me out that given it's 20 years since a new Christmas song got substantial radio play beyond its year of release that Band Aid 30's Do They Know It's Christmas is such a wasted opportunity. Don't they know it's the fourth version already?

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I wrote a couple of years back how not since Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas (1994) has a new Christmas song actually taken hold. There have been plenty of major artist Christmas albums and songs since, including some substantial sellers from the likes of Josh Groban and Michael Buble. Other artists like Hall & Oates and Colbie Caillat have also released surprisingly rewarding seasonal offerings.

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But as far as widespread radio play beyond the Christmas of issue, Mariah's perky ditty was the last new song to embed itself in popular culture. Add to that the little mentioned point that this isn't the first all-star Band Aid remake. Don't forget (though it's evidently easy to because they've never been played nor talked about since) the 1989 and 2004 editions.

Maybe it doesn't matter. The 2014 Do They Know It's Christmas, like '89 and '04 before it, will get exposure for three weeks this year, will raise a chunk of money for an urgent cause and will then fail to grace an airwave ever again. If that's all is being aimed for, fine.

However, do we really have so little faith in the creative abilities of Bono, Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles etc? Some people might, but not me. Given Chris Martin is the heir apparent to Bono in melody and social conscience, why didn't the mightily persuasive Geldof get those two to write a new song for the 2014 batch of stars to sing?

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Coldplay already has a very good (and now forgotten) Christmas hit under its belt with 2010's Christmas Lights (UK top 20, US top 30) and U2's maligned 2014 LP Songs Of Innocence (maligned as far as PR goes, considerably better appraised musically) shows there's still decent creative juice flowing for Ireland's biggest music export.

More than that, Band Aid 30 could generate royalties for future Elbola flare-ups if the song broke the 20-year drought and got airplay next year and beyond.

The Bee Gees timeless Too Much Heaven is a case in point: The 1979 US #1 has raised well over US $10 million for Unicef over the last 35 years due to the Gibbs donating all future publishing royalties at the time of release.

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Instead, Band Aid 2014 will serve it's purpose purely for this Christmas and not beyond. Geldof is a genius, but this is an opportunity missed.

Afterword: Credit where due, the fourth incarnation of this most charitable of songs sounds necessarily commercial in a modern sense as well as being noteworthy for an important lyrical change.

The hastily written Bob Geldof / Midge Ure original had Bono infamously grappling with the moral conundrum of his designated line, "tonight thank God it's them instead of you."

Is it right for the fortunate of the human race to be thankful it's others who are suffering rather than them? Shouldn't gratitude be irrespective of the pain of others? Or is our appreciation of life dependent on knowing things are worse for many of our fellow men?

• Tim Roxborogh is presenter for Newstalk ZB and author of the travel and music blog, The Roxborogh Report.