Javier Pinés

At Live Aid, July 1985, The Cars played “Drive” at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The song was already a hit: No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 in the UK in 1984, from Heartbeat City. The version that defined the day was not the live one. After David Bowie finished “Heroes” at Wembley, he returned to the microphone and said, “Lest we forget why we’re here,” then introduced a CBC film of the Ethiopian famine. He had dropped a planned song to make room for it. The footage was soundtracked by “Drive.” It played on the giant screens at Wembley and JFK and on the global broadcast. Bob Geldof later said more money was pledged after that transmission than at any other point in the concert. The donation lines in the UK overloaded. A breakup ballad about someone disappearing became for a few minutes, the sound of the reason the concert existed.

At Live Aid, on 13 July 1985 at Wembley Stadium, Ultravox played “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” as the second song of a short early-afternoon set: “Reap the Wild Wind,” “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes,” “One Small Day” and “Vienna.” Midge Ure was not only the singer. He had co-organised the concert with Bob Geldof. The band usually took five hours to soundcheck and carried 25 or 26 synthesizers. At Wembley there was no soundcheck so they chose the simplest songs they could play with the least equipment. Ure later said their heads were not full of the size of the audience or the television audience. They were worried the gear would not work.

“Don’t Go” was written by Vince Clarke for Yazoo’s debut album, Upstairs at Eric’s (1982). After leaving Depeche Mode, Clarke answered an ad from Alison Moyet, a blues and soul singer from Basildon, and the two formed the duo. In the United States and Canada they were billed as Yaz, because another act already had the name Yazoo. Released on 5 July 1982 as the second single, after “Only You,” it reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 1 in Belgium and Iceland, and No. 1 on the US Dance chart. The album took its name from the upstairs room at producer Eric Radcliffe’s studio. The partnership was already over by the time the second album, You and Me Both, reached No. 1 in 1983.

“Just Can't Get Enough” was written by Vince Clarke and became one of the defining songs of Depeche Mode's early synth-pop era. Released in September 1981, the song was recorded at Blackwing Studios in London and became the band's first Top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 8. This particular performance comes from the BBC children's programme Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, featuring the band's original four-member lineup: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke. The song was also the final Depeche Mode single written by Clarke, who left the band later that month. Just a few weeks after this Swap Shop appearance, Clarke's final performance with Depeche Mode took place on December 3, 1981.