Bob Geldof talks always being bored of Band Aid, the end of rock 'n' roll and Taylor Swift

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

Not many people change the world, but Bob Geldof did. So why is he so ambivalent about his achievements with Live Aid? Geldof and writer Paul Vallely discuss their new book Live Aid: The Definitive 40-Year Story.

Let’s start with you, Bob. Or should we call you Bobsy, or Brother Teresa, as the new Live Aid book reveals you’re sometimes known?

BOB GELDOF No, Bobsy is just something Freddie Mercury used to call me. He’d get on the phone and go, “Well, Bobsy darling…” And Brother Teresa is a joke I made up for the foreword of this book. Normally I’m just called things like “irritating”.

Did you think in 1985 that we’d all still be sitting here talking about Live Aid 40 years later?

BG: No. I mean, after seven years I got these silver models of the Band Aid logo made up and inscribed to say thank you to the guys who’d helped, because I thought, “That’s it, there’s no need for us to exist. We’re not going to be Save the Children and go on for ever.” So we had a dinner – everyone was overwhelmed that I was buying dinner, for a start – and I handed them out, and I gave one to myself, which is in the cupboard somewhere. And that was 33 years ago. But the need for us to press on became apparent. People kept supporting us.

PAUL VALLELY: £2 million still comes in every year [through the Band Aid Trust].

BG: But I get bored so easily. In this case that’s mitigated by the effect Band Aid’s still having – it’s keeping millions of people going – and by the rage I feel when I see injustice. But, being very honest, often this s**t bores me.

You’re bored of Band Aid?

BG: It always bored me. So does making records, so does rehearsing. It bores the arse off me. I only did one day’s rehearsal for the current Boomtown Rats tour. Can’t stand it. If I forget the words, I’ll make them up on the hoof. That’s the way I am.

PV: Let me contradict you, Bob. You are one of the most sustained, resilient, persistent, driven people that I’ve ever come across. You don’t act like you’re bored, mate.

BG: Well I am. I don’t think there’s any more we can do with Band Aid. And I don’t think there’s any more that I can offer, save in the role of chairman or adviser.

It’s hard to imagine a Taylor Swift taking up the mantle…

BG: It’s not that hard; don’t forget her Trump statements.

PV: Bob, you just say what everyone else thinks. You’ve no deference at all, whether to pop stars or presidents. An obvious example is when you told Margaret Thatcher, “Nothing is as simple as dying, Prime Minister.” But you are actually more nervous – and more considered – than you make out sometimes. You rehearsed the quiet tone of voice you’d use to talk to Thatcher, what you wore; it was all very studied. It was the same when you were trying to persuade Paul McCartney to do Live Aid.

BG: Well, that was Linda [McCartney], really. Paul’s kids had been on at him to do it, because they were doing a school project on Live Aid, but he hadn’t played live since before John was murdered, and you lose your confidence. So he’s driving up to Wembley, and the radio’s on, and the excitement of it is growing – and he wants to turn back. He says “Look, I can’t, I just can’t do it.” And Linda just tells him to shut up and get on with it. “You’re headlining. It’s one song [Let It Be]. You know it back to front. It’s just you and the piano. What could go wrong?” Then the microphone breaks…

Can Band Aid go on without Bob?

PV: Now there’s the potential for a new generation – a new Geldof – to galvanise a different group of people in a different way.

BG: It’s always evolved. After Live Aid, we wanted to move from charity to justice, to change the global structures of politics and economics. Luckily, Bono – having been this small oik when we started off in Dublin – had become a global megastar. But he was still my mate, and willing to throw his power into the ring and see what could be done with it. And what could be done was to extend Band Aid into a policy arm.

PV: Maybe rock’n’roll doesn’t work in this age of digital and social media and so forth, but there will be something else.

BG: The age of rock’n’roll is gone. What engages me is what’s coming down the track to replace it. I’m a complete technophobe, but that doesn’t mean I won’t gather people around me who can use tech to make change. It won’t be me because I’m 74. And I don’t want it to be me.

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