Bob Geldof's Live Aid Vision Turned Into TV Film

Posted on Jul 15th 2010 8:15AM by Chris Mugan
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A TV film is being made that dramatises Bob Geldof's relationship with promoter Harvey Goldsmith and how the pair developed the vision for Live Aid.

'When Bob Met Harvey' stars Ian Hart, who played John Lennon in 'Backbeat,' as Goldsmith, while Domhnall Gleeson, son of Irish actor Brendan, takes the role of Geldof.

The Boomtown Rats frontman had already been inspired to put out the charity single 'Do They Know it's Christmas?' and came up with the idea for a concert broadcast across the world, but needed professional help to make it happen.

The drama portrays the pair compiling the line-ups that played across two continents, while facing resistance from acts, their managers and record companies. In The Guardian, the BBC is quoted as describing the film as a "hilarious and ultimately deeply moving story of the relationship between a musical odd couple."

Geldof was the scruffy rocker who had used the punk bandwagon to achieve international fame, especially with the massive hit 'I Don't Like Mondays,' while Goldsmith was a powerful pop entrepreneur who had established London's Wembley Stadium as a music venue and taken Wham! to China.

In 1985, the BBC screened the entire 16 hours of Live Aid from Wembley and J.F.K. Stadium, Philadelphia, events that broke viewing records and raised of tens of millions of pounds.