Show Notes
It’s a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Live Aid! Live Aid was grand in scope and ambition. It was largely the brainchild of an unlikely hero, Bob Geldof, the Irish singer who fronted The Boomtown Rats, and who had helped assemble the all-star cast of Band Aid. Watched by 1.5 billion people, Live Aid eventually raised $127 US million for famine relief in Africa. But beyond that, Live Aid was also a cultural touchstone that showed the power of pop music and the determination of millions of people to make a difference in the world.
Hours before the event took place, Christopher Ward had a chat with organizer Bob Geldof, who, in his intense way, told of the importance of Live Aid. He disputes the cultural significance in favour of the pragmatic view of delivering much needed aid to African famine relief. It’s an extraordinary interview with a man who is firing on all cylinders, almost to the breaking point.
And of course, we also talk about the music, including: Although Geldof didn’t want them in the lineup, Freddie Mercury and the band provided the most memorable 22 minutes of the day, perhaps the best ever performance in music history. U2 – We have the full story of why they played only two songs that day… and how it became a major moment on their road to superstardom. David Bowie’s set was also memorable. But he almost didn’t play that day. And it was all because of a CBC report on the famine. We have the full story. Duran Duran. Simon LeBon made a considerable gaffe during one of their songs. He considers it the most embarrassing moment of his career. Led Zeppelin - why Jimmy Page blamed Phil Collins for Zeppelin’s less than perfect performance.
There were also a number of artists who chose not to perform that day, including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Prince, Culture Club and Huey Lewis. At least two of those acts regretted that decision.
And we talk about the importance of Live Aid as a cultural milestone. Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.
More from Famous Lost Words
Today, we start something new! It’s called FLW Hits. A series of shorter episodes that focus specifically on the stories behind some of the biggest hit songs ever recorded. For this episode, we start with the most memorable riff and song of George Michael’s career as he tells us about the creation of Careless Whisper. When Christopher interviewed Tina Turner in 1989, she told him how she shaped the sound of one of her biggest hits, “The Best”. Then we have one of the best protest songs ever as Stephen Stills explains to Tom the inspiration of the Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth”.
Christopher and Tom kick off season 12 trying to choose the greatest musician of all time. Names like Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Prince and Robbie Williams (?!) come up, but Christopher has a choice that doesn’t include any of the aforementioned. Then, we feature Christopher’s 1989 interview with Paul McCartney. It’s a great conversation as Paul comes to terms with his back catalogue and gives us the story behind some of his biggest Beatles hits. We will also discuss Macca’s burst of creativity in recent months. Plus Cool Beatles Facts – including the real story behind John & Paul’s supposed "feud". With the recent shocking loss of singer Sass Jordan, we revisit our chat with Sass from 2018 and talk about her career and legacy. Plus we have an excellent interview with David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who passed away recently at the age of 84. Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.
Season 12 of Famous Lost Words is just days away. We’re back with the likes of Elton John, Chicago, Rick James, Pearl Jam, and The Tragically Hip. We start things off with Christopher’s epic 1989 conversation with Paul McCartney, one of the most in depth interviews you’ll ever hear. Plus we have a wildly entertaining visit with the irrepressible Lionel Richie as he shares stories from his entire career. We also have our very first NON-MUSICAL episode – featuring Hugh Grant, Mike Myers, Martin Short and Tom’s interview with Pamela Anderson. Christopher and Tom will argue about the best album from 50 years ago… and the greatest musician of all time. But we also have a big announcement... Coming soon to the Famous Lost Words podcast feed, a brand new series called FLW Hits – where will drill down on the stories behind the greatest songs ever made. Same guys. Same archives. Shorter episodes. And once in awhile we will bring in a special guest to help us out. And of course, we will hear from the artists themselves. That’s FLW Hits And season 12 of Famous Lost Words Just days away
We lost one of the greats with the passing of Neil Sedaka. The songs, like “Calendar Girl”, “Love Will Keep Us Together”, “Oh! Carol” and “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” are so recognizable and the melodies so deceptively simple, it’s like they’ve always been with us. And if you’ve ever heard Sedaka being interviewed, you can’t miss the joy and passion that he had for the work. For this special tribute, we have 3 sets of interview clips from one of the top songwriters of his era. Neil remembers his earliest hits with the late Andy K of 1050 CHUM in Toronto. He also tells CHUM's Roger Ashby about the challenges he faced in his career. And we even hear from Elton John, who helped facilitate Sedaka's comeback with songs like "Bad Blood" and "Laughter In The Rain". Neil Sedaka continued to perform as recently as 2025. His legacy of songs as a writer and performer will always be with us.
For the Season 11 finale, we present part two of our series on the ‘80s. We continue in the alt-rock/indie/new wave vein from our last episode – where we featured the likes of U2, The Cult, Bryan Ferry, Fine Young Cannibals and more. This week, we continue with: Robert Smith of The Cure in conversation with Christopher. Robert is painfully shy and yet quite revealing and is, in Tom’s words, “downright lovable”. The B-52s, who remember their early days and the struggle to continue after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson. Dave Gahan and Martin Gore from Depeche Mode in a short chat with Christopher. Peter Garrett and the late Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil talking about being famous in Australia and trying to win over audiences in the Canada and the U.S. Toronto’s Jane Siberry, who was recently inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, talks about her unique vision for her music – and why she carries around a “very soft bat” to ward off her fans. Christopher’s interview with Annie Lennox of Eurythmics as she talks about fashion and anti fashion. Producers note: The promised interviews with Pet Shop Boys, The Fixx and Thompson Twins will air in Season 12. We promise. 😉 Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.