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A charity record (also known as a charity single) is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. Some of the earliest charity records came from the Music for UNICEF Concert, with ABBA's Chiquitita and the Bee Gees' Too Much Heaven among them released as singles, with all the royalties going to UNICEF. Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? began the revolution of the charity record, which would be popularised throughout the 1980s. In the United States, charity records reached their peak with We are the World in 1985, but then essentially died out afterwards. In the United Kingdom, however, charity singles (especially Comic Relief), have become yearly #1 hits.
[edit] Notable charity singles
| Release Date |
Title |
Artists |
Charity/Cause |
Highest Chart Position |
| December 1984 |
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" |
Band Aid |
famine in Ethiopia |
1 (UK), 1 (Australia) |
| December 1984 |
"Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants" |
Wham! |
Ethiopian famine appeal (not originally a charity record, but George Michael acceded to give royalties to Band Aid) |
2 (UK) |
| April 1985 |
"We Are the World" |
USA for Africa |
famine in Ethiopia |
1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia) |
| June 1985 |
"You'll Never Walk Alone" |
The Crowd |
Bradford City disaster |
1 (UK) |
| November 1985 |
"That's What Friends Are For" |
Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John |
American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) |
1 (US), 16 (UK), 1 (Australia) |
| April 1986 |
"Living Doll" |
Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones |
Comic Relief |
1 (UK), 1 (Australia) |
| April 1986 |
"Heroes/A Long Way To Go" |
The County Line featuring Suzi Quatro, Bronski Beat and Wendy Roberts |
BBC Children In Need |
76 (UK) |
| May 1986 |
"Everybody Wants to Run the World" |
Tears For Fears |
Sport Aid |
5 (UK) |
| March 1987 |
"Let it Be" |
Ferry Aid |
Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge |
1 (UK) |
| November 1987 |
"The Wishing Well" |
G.O.S.H. |
Great Ormond Street Hospital Wishing Well Appeal |
22 (UK) |
| December 1987 |
"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" |
Mel & Kim (Mel Smith and Kim Wilde) |
Comic Relief |
3 (UK) |
| May 1988 |
"With a Little Help from My Friends" |
Wet Wet Wet |
ChildLine |
1 (UK) |
| August 1988 |
"Running All Over The World" |
Status Quo |
Sport Aid |
17 (UK) |
| April 1989 |
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" |
The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman |
Hillsborough disaster |
1 (UK) |
| February 1989 |
"Help!" |
Bananarama & La Na Nee Nee Noo Noo (French and Saunders with Kathy Burke) |
Comic Relief |
3 (UK) |
| December 1989 |
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" |
Band Aid II |
famine in Ethiopia |
1 (UK) |
| Release Date |
Title |
Artists |
Charity/Cause |
Highest Chart Position |
| April 1990 |
"Use it Up and Wear it Out" |
Pat and Mick |
Help a London Child |
22 (UK) |
| June 1990 |
"You've Got a Friend" |
Big Fun, Sonia, featuring Gary Barnacle on saxophone |
ChildLine |
14 (UK) |
| March 1991 |
"The Stonk" |
Hale and Pace (backing band includes David Gilmour) |
Comic Relief |
1 (UK) |
| April 1992 |
"(I Want To Be) Elected" |
Smear Campaign (Bruce Dickinson, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton) |
Comic Relief |
9 (UK) |
| September 1992 |
"Suicide is Painless" |
Manic Street Preachers |
The Spastics Society (now SCOPE) |
7 (UK) |
| February 1993 |
"Stick It Out" |
Right Said Fred and friends |
Comic Relief |
4 (UK) |
| May 1994 |
"Absolutely Fabulous" |
Pet Shop Boys with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (of the television series Absolutely Fabulous) |
Comic Relief |
6 (UK), 2 (Australia) |
| March 1995 |
"Love Can Build a Bridge" |
Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton |
Comic Relief |
1 (UK) |
| December 1996 |
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door / Throw These Guns Away" |
Dunblane, |
aid of Victim of the Dunblane massacre |
1 (UK) |
| March 1997 |
"Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are" |
The Spice Girls |
Comic Relief |
1 (UK), 13 (Australia) |
| September 1997 |
"Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About The Way You Look Tonight" |
Elton John |
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund |
1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia) |
| November 1997 |
"Perfect Day" |
Various Artists, see specific article for full list |
Children in Need |
1 (UK) |
| March 1999 |
"When The Going Gets Tough" |
Boyzone |
Comic Relief |
1 (UK) |
