documento

‘The day was
characterised by patience
and good humour – not
something you
necessarily associate
with pop music’
12
While Sir Bob gives a pointer
to UK singer Seal (together,
left), Ellie Goulding gets down
to business (above). After a
call from her friend Sir Bob,
Tracey Emin promptly created
the single’s artwork (right),
which comprises the neon
words “Faith” “Love…”
“Trust” “You” “Me” “And”
“The” “World”. It is, he told
HELLO!, “very clear and to
the point”
death in every tear,” and: “No peace
and joy this Christmas in West
Africa/The only hope they’ll have
is being alive.”
Sir Bob describes the atmosphere
in the studio as extraordinary: “The
artists were nervous, because these
are their peers and some of them
sell way more music than others.
But they had all given up so much
to be there.
“Bastille cancelled two stadium
shows in Seattle and Vancouver to
come back. I said, ‘Don’t do that –
look after your careers.’ But they
said, ‘No we’re coming!’ And they
flew back from Dallas, stayed awake
all day and did their two lines.
“And you’ve got to be at the top
of your game. I mean, they were
singing in front of Bono! Rita Ora
had to do her recording at 7am
because she had to be in
Manchester for BBC’s The Voice [the
singer will be a coach on the new
series]. She did an immense
performance and nobody can sing
at seven in the morning.
“Ed Sheeran had done a gig in
Berlin the night before, rushed
back, then left at 2pm to do a gig in
Stuttgart that night. Sinéad
O’Connor waited around the whole
day and her part held so much
passion and rage – she literally
lunged at the microphone, and so
did Bono. It must be an Irish thing.”
One Direction chose to sing the
opening line together.
“They rehearsed it as a whisper,
which is hard to do as a group,” says
Sir Bob. “But it eases you into the
song and then the track just builds
and builds. They gave up the one
day off they’ve had in months to do
it. Harry Styles is a mate of one of my
kids. I talked to him in Los Angeles
and he got the other guys to do it.”
Pop critics have praised the vocal
talents of the artists on the
recording and there are plans to
release different mixes and even
solo versions of the single.
“A lot of the artists sang the
whole track so they could get into it
for their line,” explains Sir Bob. “So
now we can put out some of these
different versions – solos, duets, an
all-girl or all-boy mix.”
THE BIG PICTURE
Celebrated photographer Brian
Aris took shots of the event, as he
did for the original recording.
Also speaking exclusively to
hello!, he recalls how stars
including George Michael, Sting,
Boy George, Status Quo and U2
had gathered at 1984’s recording.
“It was hard to believe that 30
years ago I had walked in the same
doors wondering who would
actually show up at the calling of a
Boomtown Rat to make a record to
raise money for famine victims
in Ethiopia. Of course, all