Monday, September 25, 2023

Live Aid - JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA, 7-13-1985, Part 5: Neil Young, the Power Station, the Thompson Twins, Eric Clapton, and Phil Collins

This is the fifth part of the Philadelphia portion of the 1985 Live Aid concert. Two more Philadelphia parts will follow.

First up in this part was Neil Young. As I mentioned previously, he would later play a set as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, but first he did this solo set. He did the first couple of songs truly solo, with just his acoustic guitar, but he was in full electric band mode by the last song.

The Power Station was a side band by some members of Duran Duran, with Robert Palmer as the singer. In addition to this set, Duran Duran had their own set later in the concert.

There's not much to say about the Thompson Twins set, except that it's worth noting Madonna joined them on backing vocals on one song, while they also helped with backing vocals on one of the songs in Madonna's set.

Eric Clapton was up next. I watched Live Aid as a kid, and I remember being excited that he played "White Room," which he originally did as part of Cream in the 1960s. He almost never played the song as a solo artist until earlier in 1985.

The final artist on this album was Phil Collins. He played a set early in the Live Aid concert in London, then rushed to a helicopter, flew a Concorde to the U.S., then took another helicopter to the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, where he played this set. That made him the only person to play both Live Aid shows. He was a busy guy, because he also played drums for Eric Clapton in the set before this one, then later played drums as part of the Led Zeppelin reunion. Unfortunately though, the two songs he played in his solo set in Philadelphia were the same ones he played in London. Apparently this was because he played alone on piano, and those were the only two songs he knew in that format.

Once again, I was able to find some introductions, and only missed the intro for Neil Young this time. Actor Don Johnson introduced the Power Station. Actress and singer Bette Midler introduced the Thoimpson Twins. Music promoter Bill Graham introduced Eric Clapton. Actor Jack Nicholson assisted Midler in introducing Phil Collins.

This album is an hour and eleven minutes long.

097 Sugar Mountain (Neil Young)
098 The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young)
099 Helpless (Neil Young)
100 Nothing Is Perfect (Neil Young)
101 Powderfinger (Neil Young)
102 talk (Bill Graham)
103 talk (Don Johnson)
104 Murderess (Power Station)
105 talk (Power Station)
106 Get It On [Bang a Gong] (Power Station)
107 talk (Bill Graham)
108 talk (Bette Midler)
109 Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins)
110 talk (Thompson Twins)
111 Revolution (Thompson Twins with Madonna, Steve Stevens & Nile Rodgers)
112 talk (Bill Graham)
113 White Room (Eric Clapton)
114 She's Waiting (Eric Clapton)
115 Layla (Eric Clapton)
116 talk (Jack Nicholson & Bette Midler)
117 Against All Odds [Take a Look at Me Now] (Phil Collins)
118 talk (Phil Collins)
119 In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15724528/LveAidJFKStdiumPhladlphiaPA__7-13-1985_Part5.zip.html

As with most of the other parts in this series, I divided the cover art into four photos taken at the concert. Neil Young is on the top left, the Thompson Twins are on the top right, Eric Clapton is on the bottom left, and Phil Collins is on the bottom right.

1 comment:

  1. You mention that Robert Palmer was the lead singer of The Power Station, but he wasn't at Live Aid. He didn't agree to tour after recording the album, and was replaced by Michael Des Barres.

    ReplyDelete