Live Aid - Bands that should have played

I must confess I liked the Bands that should have played Woodstock thread, so that's where I got the idea.

Number one band that should have been at Live Aid but wasn't is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Where were they that night in July 1985?

What others should have played either Wembley or Philadelphia that day?

 

Crass.

 

CHUMBAWAMBA

 

Paul Simon would have been good, preferably with Artie, and also Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

 

George Harrison would have been perfect.

 

Good God, Daryl Hall had a big enough sulk on with Queen on the bill, (although for some reason he never mentioned Status Quo, Elton John, Black Sabbath & Tina Turner, but then again no one else does, either) if Paul Simon had appeared too, the poor soul would have been in tears.

 

Hüsker Dü

 

The reason Julian Lennon didn't show up on the day was all the talk in the U.K. press about a 'Beatles reunion' including Julian the week before the concert.

 

That's too bad and I'm sure that talk also kept the surviving Beatles away.

 

No question.

 

On a more serious note Talking Heads. David was apparently too wound up in True Stories at the time.

 

I think the then-recently reunited Aerosmith would have killed with a short set of "Let The Music Do The Talking" and 2 or 3 classics.

 

Graham Parker, who was supporting Eric Clapton that year.

 

I would have liked to see Meat Puppets, Dream Syndicate, The Smiths, Los Lobos, Public Image Limited, Black Flag, and Defunkt, but needless to say, I doubt they were invited.

 

There is a British TV movie called "When Harvey Met Bob" about Geldof organizing Live Aid, and his efforts to get Bruce was a major plot point. According to the movie, the concert was originally intended to be held a week earlier and was delayed a week to wait for Springsteen, who ended up passing anyway. Bruce did agree, though, to leave his setup at Wembley for Live Aid to use, which they did.

 

The Monkees
ABBA

Here's a good list:
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/yellowbrick/the_alternate_live_aid/

 

The Replacements-Sire missed a huge opportunity to launch them.

 

Jon Landau was convinced that Live Aid wasn't going to be as big as it was.

 

Phil Collins... two concerts wasn't enough..

 

They were on a break of almost a month between the European leg of the 'Born in the USA' tour and the final American leg of that tour, so presumably they were available?

 

The Clash should have reformed a la The Who.

 

It would have been fun to see a few more artists:

Level 42

George Harrison

Stevie Wonder

Michael Jackson w/ Eddie Van Halen soloing?

 

It may not seem like a huge omission today, but Tears for Fears were huge right at that time. They were supposed to be in the show but cancelled at the last minute.

If it had been a year or two later I'm sure Peter Gabriel would have been part of it but this was pre-So and he would have probably been seen as too culty, plus he hadn't been around for a while.

Tony Banks has said he wishes it had happened during a year Genesis was active, rather than during a solo Phil period.

 

Hopefully with better results.

 

Bands reformed for the day

• The Clash
• The Faces
• Graham Parker and the Rumour
• Squeeze
• The Band
• Chic

Solo acts

• Gordon Lightfoot
• Al Stewart