Charity record
A charity record (also known as a charity single) is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause.
Ex-Beatle George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-made charity single – in this case to help fund relief efforts following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. The money raised was donated to UNICEF, as were takings from Harrison's all-star charity concert (again, the first of its kind) held at Madison Square Garden, New York, and its spin-off live album and concert film.
Some of the other early charity records came from the January 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert, with the likes of ABBA's "Chiquitita" and the Bee Gees' "Too Much Heaven" released as singles, all the royalties from which went to UNICEF. Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in November 1984 began the revolution of the charity record, which would be popularised throughout the 1980s.
In the United States, charity records reached their peak with USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in 1985, but then essentially died out afterwards. In the United Kingdom, however, charity singles (especially Comic Relief), have become annual hits.
Purpose-made "charity singles" however were not the first charity records. As early as 1956, The Lord's Taveners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artists at the time. This was made with the gratitude of The Decca Record Company and the entire profits of the record together with the royalties and fees from artists, publishers, etc., were donated to The National Playing Fields Association. This was the first charity record to make the UK charts and reached Number 2. Due to its success, it was followed by a second compilation in 1957.
Notable charity singles
1970s
| Release Date | Title | Artists | Charity/Cause | Highest Chart Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1971 | "Bangla Desh" | George Harrison | UNICEF fund for Bangladesh refugees | 10 (US), 23 (UK), 2 (Switzerland), 3 (Norway), 7 (Netherlands) |
| February 1975 | "Santa Never Made It Into Darwin" | Bill and Boyd | Rebuilding Darwin after Cyclone Tracy devastation | 1 (Australia) |
| December 1976 | "Si Se Puede" | Los Lobos, Ersie, Raul P. Brambila | "United Farm Workers" |
1980s
| Release Date | Title | Artists | Charity/Cause | Highest Chart Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1984 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | Band Aid | famine in Ethiopia | 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands) |
| December 1984 | "Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants" | Wham! | Ethiopian Famine appeal (not originally a charity record, but George Michael acceded to give royalties to Band Aid) | 2 (UK), 2 (Netherlands) |
| March 1985 | "Tears Are Not Enough" | Northern Lights | famine in Ethiopia | 1 (Canada) |
| March 1985 | "We Are the World" | USA for Africa | famine in Ethiopia | 1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands) |
| May 1985 | "Stars" | Hear 'n Aid | famine in Ethiopia | 26 (UK) |
| June 1985 | "One Big Family" | Heart of Nashville | famine in Ethiopia and Africa | 61 (US Country) |
| June 1985 | "You'll Never Walk Alone" | The Crowd | Bradford City stadium fire | 1 (UK), 1 (Ireland), 30 (Netherlands) |
| October 1985 | "Sun City" | Artists United Against Apartheid | fight against apartheid | 38 (US) |
| November 1985 | "That's What Friends Are For" | Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John | American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) | 1 (US), 16 (UK), 1 (Australia), 13 (Netherlands) |
| April 1986 | "Living Doll" | Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones | Comic Relief | 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands) |
| April 1986 | "Heroes/A Long Way To Go" | The County Line featuring Suzi Quatro, Bronski Beat and Wendy Roberts | Children in Need | 76 (UK) |
| May 1986 | "Everybody Wants to Run the World" | Tears For Fears | Sport Aid | 5 (UK) |
| March 1987 | "Amor & Paz" (Amor E A Paz) | AUA (Artistas Unidos da América) | famine and poverty around the world | 3 (US), 2 (Portugal), 1 (Canada)[citation needed] |
| March 1987 | "Let It Be" | Ferry Aid | Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge | 1 (UK), 4 (Netherlands) |
| November 1987 | "The Wishing Well" | G.O.S.H. | Great Ormond Street Hospital Wishing Well Appeal | 22 (UK) |
| December 1987 | "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" | Mel & Kim (Mel Smith and Kim Wilde) | Comic Relief | 3 (UK) |
| February 1988 | "Man In The Mirror" | Michael Jackson | Michael Jackson Burn Center, Childhelp, United Negro College Fund.[1] | 1 (USA), 1 (UK R&B), 13 (Netherlands), 2 (UK) 2009 |
| April 1988 | "Let's All Chant" | Pat and Mick | Help a London Child | 11 (UK) |
| May 1988 | "With a Little Help from My Friends" | Wet Wet Wet | ChildLine | 1 (UK) |
| July 1988 | "Another Part of Me" | Michael Jackson | Michael Jackson Burn Center, Childhelp | 1 (US R&B), 8 (Netherlands) |
| August 1988 | "Running All Over the World" | Status Quo | Sport Aid | 17 (UK) |
| February 1989 | "Help!" | Bananarama & La na nee nee noo noo (French and Saunders with Kathy Burke) | Comic Relief | 3 (UK), 24 (Netherlands) |
| February 1989 | "Pour toi Arménie" | Charles Aznavour & many other French artists | Earthquake in Armenia | 1 (FR) |
| March 1989 | "I Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet" | Pat and Mick | Help a London Child | 9 (UK) |
| April 1989 | "Ferry Cross the Mersey" | The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman | Hillsborough disaster | 1 (UK), 21 (Netherlands) |
| December 1989 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | Band Aid II | famine in Ethiopia | 1 (UK), 20 (Netherlands) |
1990s
| Release Date | Title | Artists | Charity/Cause | Highest Chart Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1990 | "Use It Up and Wear It Out" | Pat and Mick | Help a London Child | 22 (UK) |
| June 1990 | "You've Got a Friend" | Big Fun, Sonia, featuring Gary Barnacle on saxophone | ChildLine | 14 (UK) |
| February 1991 | "Voices that Care" | Voices that Care | To boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm | 11 (US) |
| March 1991 | "The Stonk" | Hale and Pace (backing band includes David Gilmour) | Comic Relief | 1 (UK) |
| November 1991 | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | George Michael, Elton John | 10 charities for AIDS, children and education | 1 (UK), 1 (US), 1 (Netherlands) |
| March 1992 | "One" | U2 | Proceeds going towards AIDS research | 7 (UK), 1 (Ireland), 10 (US), 4 (Australia) |
| April 1992 | "(I Want To Be) Elected" | Smear Campaign (Bruce Dickinson, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton) | Comic Relief | 9 (UK) |
| September 1992 | "Suicide Is Painless" | Manic Street Preachers | The Spastics Society (now SCOPE) | 7 (UK) |
| November 1992 | "Heal The World" | Michael Jackson | Heal the World Foundation | 1 (Spain), 2 (UK), 2 (Ire), 2 (Aus), 4 (Netherlands) |
| February 1993 | "Stick It Out" | Right Said Fred and friends | Comic Relief | 4 (UK) |
| December 1993 | "Gone Too Soon" | Michael Jackson | Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, AIDS-related research, | 3 (Zimbabwe), 20 (Netherlands) |
| May 1994 | "Absolutely Fabulous" | Pet Shop Boys with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (of the television series Absolutely Fabulous) | Comic Relief | 6 (UK), 2 (Australia) |
| March 1995 | "Love Can Build a Bridge" | Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton | Comic Relief | 1 (UK), 41 (Netherlands) |
| November 1995 | "Earth Song" | Michael Jackson | Heal the World Foundation, Environmental Awareness | 1 (UK), 1 (Spain), 1 (Sweden), 3 (Netherlands) |
| November 1995 | "The Gift Of Christmas" | Child Liners | ChildLine | 9 (UK) |
| December 1996 | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door/Throw These Guns Away" | Ted Christopher (aka Dunblane), Mark Knopfler | Aid of victims of the Dunblane massacre | 1 (UK) |
| March 1997 | "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are" | The Spice Girls | Comic Relief | 1 (UK), 13 (Australia), 3 (Netherlands) |
| September 1997 | "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About The Way You Look Tonight" | Elton John | Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund | 1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands) |
| October 1997 | "Perfect Day" | Various Artists, see specific article for full list | Children in Need | 1 (UK), 6 (Netherlands) |
| April 1998 | "Release" | The Tea Party | White Ribbon Campaign | |
| March 1999 | "When the Going Gets Tough" | Boyzone | Comic Relief | 1 (UK) |
| November 1999 | "Talking in Your Sleep/Love Me" | Martine McCutcheon | Children In Need | 6 (UK) |
| December 1999 | "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" | Various Artists | Children's Promise | 14 (UK) |
2000s
2010s
References
- ↑ Blacks who give back', Ebony, March 1990.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Entertainment News | BreakingNews.ie
- ↑ X Factor Simon Cowell Earthquake Charity Single To Be REM's Everybody Hurts, Sky Sources Say | Showbiz News | Sky News
