[Vmax]

Just watched a docu on ( on the Bio Channel) this event held in July 85. Looking at Africa now, can you honestly say it achieved anything ? Either then or for now ?

[Vmax]

I did give a lot of millionaire performers ,whose careers were flagging, a much needed boost, but IMO it achieved fuck all.

[Douglas]

It was never meant to save Africa, it had very limited aims. The Ethiopia had a massive famine and the government there didn't give a shit, and in fact blocked aid entering via it's ports. The aim of the concerts was to raise enough money to get the aid into the country. It actually succeeded in that aim, aid did arrive.

[Vmax]

So a symbol of Ethiopia should have should have been used instead of Africa then.

[Douglas]

Maybe though most people wouldn't recognise it and some money did go elsewhere in Africa like Eritrea.

[Donna]

Ethiopia and Eritrea were hit extremely hard with famine in the summers of 1984 and 1985. Live Aid and the "We Are the World" single managed to raise multiple millions of dollars that did go into both countries, and on some level, probably did alleviate a great deal of suffering in the region. Obviously, the goal wasn't to turn Ethiopia into a developed country, but to remedy an urgent humanitarian situation. Also, very few people in the West were really conscious of African poverty until the early 1980's when pictures of children with swollen abdomens became iconographic to extreme poverty.

[Igor Antunov]

It raised some money, raised awareness of the disaster, but it's main impact was on the careers of artists who participated, giving them prestige and additional fame points.

[Nandi]

It's hard to help a country deal with famine when it's dictatorial regime refuses to recognise it has a full-blown famine on it's hands. Much of the aid was stalled for a long time till Mengistu eventually succumbed to international pressure and decided to let in a limited amount of aid. Much of it ended up padding the wallets of his army though.

[R_G]

[youtube]D9ZKyYFyiFA[/youtube]

A top ten hit?

I don't know, most music initiates are for publicity.