MissEliza, I was 18 in 1984 and I agree that the impact the whole thing had was cataclysmic and defining of our generation.
I have recently done a few lessons in class with my teens on the massive difference between 1984 and Band Aid and the poverty porn shoots by Ed Sheeran and co.
Of course the song is trite, and naff, and perpetuates cultural stereotypes. (I can also recommend the spoof Africa for Norway where radiators and warm clothes are sent to poor cold Norwegians which highlights the cultural bias) Or Saviour Barbie, the pneumatic Trumpette who goes to Africa half naked to save the babies. All very sharp and valid parodies of the (current) fetish for famous people having their photographs taken with those less fortunate.
Bob Geldof is as irritating as fuck. Bono unspeakably so. (Less so back then maybe, as he hadn't yet realised he was Bono) Paula Yates was a drug addict who smacked herself up with her baby in the house. Midge Ure (who???, exactly...) was another one whose day had been and gone.
Did they change the world? Allbeit with a crap song? You bet your cosy little life they did.
Band Aid/Live Aid had its faults. I'm sure Saint Bob (the other one, Dylan) would have penned a laureate worthy ditty had he been asked, or indeed offered. But no, he chose to pitch up in the States and ask onstage that some of the money be given to poor American farmers)
Bob G is an interesting person I think. He liked Mrs Thatcher. That made me wonder about her. Welcoming PY and MH's child into his family was another interesting thing. I remember Michael Parkinson asking him if it had been a difficult decision to make, and how long BG had thought about it before deciding and he replied "not even a nanosecond". I have always found it interesting on MN that BG gets sidelined or criticised (annually) for writing a shit song whilst his drug addict daughter was lauded simply by virtue of being a mother, and dying young.
Funny old world.
There are 2 parts to it, it's very long!