Six Weeks

Bob did.

Bob was a music journalist who worked at a free weekly entertainment newspaper in Vancouver, Canada called the Georgia Straight. Bob loved music and hanging out with musicians and eventually became the newspaper’s music editor. But then Bob had his first great idea … maybe he should write his own songs and start a band … so he headed home to Ireland … and ended up with a couple of hit songs. Life was good. But one day Bob and his wife were watching the news .. a shocking tragedy was unfolding half a world away … and that’s when Bob had his second great idea. Together with a friend, in just six weeks, they wrote a song, invited fellow musicians to sing it, convinced newspapers to promote it and retailers to sell it .. and all for free. Originally Bob hoped the effort would raise at least $150,000 for a charity … but he was wrong.

Today, over 35 years later, that song that the former music editor of the Georgia Straight newspaper turned musician Bob Geldof created and promoted in just 6 weeks is one of the most successful selling singles of all time, and together with the follow-on Live Aid concerts has raised more $300 million for Ethiopian famine relief and other charities … plus spurred many like-minded successful efforts. Do They Know Its Christmas?

Do They Know Its Christmas is a great idea because you never know what you can do until you try.