Do They Know It's Halloween?

Two years ago, a motley group of indie musicians, comedians and general layabouts collaborated on a spoof Halloween song, parodying Bob Geldof's awful "Do They Know It's Christmas?" brand. Calling themselves The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative, this group recorded "Do They Know It's Halloween?", a fantastic shambling whoop of a tune which trumps Geldof on a number of points. Firstly, this song is actually great. There's no patronising lyrics or downright insulting bits (um, "Well tonight, thank God it's them instead of you"). Secondly, who would you rather be locked in a room with: Phil Collins, Paul Weller and Boy George, or Beck, Karen O and The Arcade Fire? I rest my case.

Read the full story of how this project came into being here and then watch the video below. It's fun to identify the different voices. I'm pretty sure of Karen O, Buck 65, Malcolm McLaren, the gals from Smoosh and David Cross.




More information and full lyrics can be found here.

On an unrelated, but amusing, note; while researching who exactly was in Band Aid, I came across a quote given by Morrissey on the very subject. I'd read it before, but it bears repeating:

'I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.'