Do they know it’s char-it-y at all?

So, it is that time of year again. The decorations start to go up, the shops begin to entice customers with ridiculous deals on items no-one ever really needs, and the lovably cheesy songs we hear every year return without losing any of the magic that made them what they are in the first place.

It is also around this time of year that the charity singles begin to appear on shop shelves, raising money and awareness for many worthy causes, from cancer research to helping the poor.

Many of these singles are released due to a band being affected by something personally.

Canadian band Simple Plan recently released the single Save You, the proceeds of which go to cancer research charities around the world, after lead singer Pierre Bouvier’s brother Jay was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Sometimes, the least likely of songs are charity singles. Babyshambles’ cover of The Clash’s Janie Jones was a charity single used to raise money for late former Clash guitarist Joe Strummer’s charity Strummerville, which aims to give recording time to musicians who would normally be unable to get it because of a lack of funds. While the cause may not seem as ‘noble’ as some other causes, it is still a cause. Who would ever imagine Pete Doherty contributing to society?

But do charity singles really do any good? Does the money raised by them actually make a difference to the causes they are advocating, or is it all just a way of ‘raising the performers’ ‘halo’; a way of promoting the artist above the cause?

One of the most popular charity singles since its first Christmas release twenty four years ago is, of course, Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Bob Geldof brought together a group of the biggest musicians of the time, including Freddie Mercury, Boy George and Bono, and, in less than a day, recorded what has become an essential Christmas anthem. But did it make much difference to the poor in Africa?

At the time, Geldolf, the musicians and the population of Britain certainly felt it could. When Geldolf promised that every penny raised from sales of the single would go straight to the cause, the government’s initial stance was to refuse to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldolf publicly stood up to then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing how strong the public feeling surrounding the issue was, the government backed down and donated the tax straight to the charity.

It sold over three million copies and, at the time, was the biggest selling single ever in the United Kingdom, taking in $144 million. But did it actually do any good to the starving in Ethiopia?

I suppose the best way to see if it did actually help, would be to take a look at Ethiopia before the release of Band Aid 20 - the 2004 commemoration re-recording of Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Siruti Mahotra of Oxfam, who at the time ran a camp in Chad for refugees fleeing violence in Darfur, told the BBC in 2004: “Truthfully, I believe all efforts to raise money for the aid work that we are doing here on the ground are excellent and essential. We on the ground use that money very much, in order to implement the work that we do… it is these types of events that allow us to be as flexible as possible in implementing our work.”

However, at the time the Ethiopian economy was picking up and the infrastructure they had in place, allowing food to be transported freely around the country, meant that when the 2003 drought occurred the country was in a much better position to deal with it. Despite the fact that the 2003 drought was far worse, there were fewer deaths than there had been in 1984.

Speaking to the BBC before Band Aid 20 was released, a person working in the tourist section at the time said the 20th anniversary of Band Aid was bad news, as the memories it invoked of mid-80s Ethiopia portrayed the country in a bad light to those around the world just as it had begun to establish itself as a holiday destination for tourists.

He went on to say: “Perhaps they feel they always have to talk up the crisis in order to get attention…on our side we feel we’ve got to talk up the positive side”.

When Midge Ure - co-founder and producer of the original Band Aid - returned to the country, he was surprised by the changed country. He said: “I’d seen some horrible stuff back in 1985 when I went out with the initial Band Aid shipments [to Ethiopia], so going back to be subjected to that again I was really wary of.

“But going there, I saw that it was completely different - I saw smiling kids, people working, this beautiful country that is completely untouched.”

The Ethiopian ambassador to London at the time, Fisseha Adunga, made the point that: “Live Aid’s humanitarian assistance is not our destiny. Our destiny is economic growth. This will grow if investment and trade come to our country”. He goes on to highlight the changes the government had made with regards to primary school provisions, hospitals, and measures taken to prevent negative effects caused by drought.

Yes, it could be argued that the contribution of the original Band Aid helped the country become what it was in 2003. But, if the country is happy without the lyrical aid offered by Geldof, why get together again to provide it?

The proceeds went to famine relief in the Darfur region of Sudan, but it could be said that the revival of memories of mid-80s Ethiopia was the last thing the Ethiopians needed at a time when the country was turning itself around.

This could be seen instead then, as the Band Aid 20 artists taking advantage of the anniversary to ‘up their profile’. A lot of big artists worked on Band Aid 20, such as Chris Martin, Robbie Williams and Rachel Stevens. Many others worked on it that, arguably, would have far less celebrity status than these. James Bourne from Busted, anyone?

It is a harsh thing to say that some artists may only have participated in Band Aid 20 to enhance their own reputation, and of course, if the artists were ever confronted with this allegation they would deny it vehemently - that is the way celebrity works. But it cannot be denied that when they were approached to participate in Band Aid 20, one of the thoughts to cross each artist’s mind was: how could participation benefit them?

This is not meant in a selfish sense. People must consider what is best for themselves in any decision making process, regardless of whether it is benefiting a charity or not. After all, there were obviously people who chose not to participate in Band Aid 20 for one reason or another.

At the end of the day, it has to be remembered that a lot of celebrities - see Jodie Marsh for an example - regard any publicity as good publicity. Being associated with charity is always a good thing, as you are seen to be helping someone less fortunate than your rich self. Now it is just a question of which celebrities are more conscious of this than others when deciding to record a charity single.