It won't be long before all the Christmas classics will be played on a loop – but Bob Geldof says Band Aid's offering drives him "f***ing mad".
The charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? has raised more than £200million to help fight famine in Africa since its release in 1984 and is one of the UK's best-selling Yuletide hits.
But 71-year-old Sir Bob, who founded the supergroup which performed the song, says he's 'irritated' listening to it now.
“The song has a life of its own,” he admitted..
“It raises money every time it’s played in every f***ing supermarket. It’s Mistletoe and Wine at vegetables, Slade at baked beans, Wizzard for tea and coffee and Band Aid at the butcher’s counter.
"I mean… It drives me f***ing mad at Christmas. But there it is.”
“I thought £100,000 would be raised. But it didn’t stop and I thought, ‘Wow, what the hell’s going on?’’’ he told Radio Times.
The original release of Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas? bagged a number one in 1984, featuring the likes of Bono, Boy George and Phil Collins.
It was updated five years later with the likes of Banarama, Kylie Minogue and Sir Cliff Richard, while 2004's effort Band Aid 20 featured The Darkness, Robbie Williams and Busted.
Sir Bob decided to release a fourth version after he was approached by the United Nations, who told him they needed a 20% increase “across the board” in the effort to fight Ebola.
The 2014 reincarnation, Band Aid 30, featuring Chris Martin, One Direction, Seal and Olly Murs, went to number one immediately before quickly dropping down the charts despite its star-studded lineup.
However, One Direction made it to the Houses of Parliament ahead of the song's release when a video of Band Aid 30 was projected onto the side of the landmark to mark the release of the song’s CD single.
The huge image appeared on the side of the iconic building.
In 2014 year all money raised from the single went go towards fighting Ebola in West Africa, 30 years after the original Band Aid line-up sang to abolish famine in Ethiopia.
At the time, Sir Bob said: “This is not about nostalgia. I don’t like doing this stuff, it’s quite boring doing it and organising it, it’s quite embarrassing calling people you don’t know and other artists.”
The ex-husband of the late Paula Yates said the bravery of volunteer health workers persuaded him to agree.
Bob explained that they “needed to be supported across the board, not just the people suffering from this filthy little virus”.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t like this song, it doesn’t matter if you hate the artists. What you have to do is buy this thing," he concluded.
