SIR BOB GELDOF
Vote Bob Geldof 09011 27 27 05
Above all, a politician has to be a persuader. So though Sir Bob Geldof may never have run for elected office, his ability to harang, cajole, sweet talk and pester people - as he demonstrated in making July's Live 8 a reality - makes him a natural fit in this poll of political influencers.
Vote Bob Geldof 09011 27 27 05
Above all, a politician has to be a persuader. So though Sir Bob Geldof may never have run for elected office, his ability to harang, cajole, sweet talk and pester people - as he demonstrated in making July's Live 8 a reality - makes him a natural fit in this poll of political influencers.
His father was a travelling salesman, and one of his early jobs was running a classified advertising newspaper – so his persuasion of one kind or another runs in his blood.
In 1984, harrowing TV images of starvation in Ethiopia shocked the nation. Boomtown Rat Geldof persuaded many of the most popular musicians of the day to record a charity record, 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. It topped the charts.
The success of the record was followed by the massive Live Aid concerts in 1985, in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, where many of the era's most popular musicians, from Queen, U2, and Sting and Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan took the stage to raise money for Africa. The event became one of the most enduring images of the decade.
Since then, Geldof's energy has taken him in many directions. He founded his own television production company, Planet 24, which he sold for a sum thought to be at least £15m. He even had a stint as a dot-com entrepreneur, with his travel site, Deckchair.com. But Geldof continued to lobby for Africa.
Geldof wasn't the first political figure who never said the phrase most often attributed to him - "Give us your f***ing money, now".
His actual words were, "People are dying now. Give us the money now. Give me the money now."
But the misquoted phrase seemed to sum up Geldof's style of humanitarianism - direct, aggressive, and unconventional, with no time for political niceties and an absolute focus on results.
The next 20 years have taught Geldof that simply raising money isn't the answer to Africa's problems. Long hours on Tony Blair's commission for Africa left him exasperated, exclaiming earlier this year that visiting Africa "bores me profoundly".
Never one to give up, he has changed tack. The Live 8 concerts, held 20 years after Live Aid, weren't organised to raise money, but to push Africa up the global agenda, and pressure the leaders of the world's industrialised superpowers into a deal on trade and debt relief.
A member of Tony Blair's commission for Africa, he has signed up as an adviser to David Cameron's Conservative party.
He has attacked the media for confusing celebrities and politicians, and still describes music as his real job.
But while he doesn't sell many records these days, he hasn't lost his power to push the difficult issue of Africa to the top of the international political agenda - something conventional politicians have struggled to achieve.
Related links
>>Re:viewing 2005. Live 8
>>G8 Special Report
In 1984, harrowing TV images of starvation in Ethiopia shocked the nation. Boomtown Rat Geldof persuaded many of the most popular musicians of the day to record a charity record, 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. It topped the charts.
The success of the record was followed by the massive Live Aid concerts in 1985, in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, where many of the era's most popular musicians, from Queen, U2, and Sting and Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan took the stage to raise money for Africa. The event became one of the most enduring images of the decade.
Since then, Geldof's energy has taken him in many directions. He founded his own television production company, Planet 24, which he sold for a sum thought to be at least £15m. He even had a stint as a dot-com entrepreneur, with his travel site, Deckchair.com. But Geldof continued to lobby for Africa.
Geldof wasn't the first political figure who never said the phrase most often attributed to him - "Give us your f***ing money, now".
His actual words were, "People are dying now. Give us the money now. Give me the money now."
But the misquoted phrase seemed to sum up Geldof's style of humanitarianism - direct, aggressive, and unconventional, with no time for political niceties and an absolute focus on results.
The next 20 years have taught Geldof that simply raising money isn't the answer to Africa's problems. Long hours on Tony Blair's commission for Africa left him exasperated, exclaiming earlier this year that visiting Africa "bores me profoundly".
Never one to give up, he has changed tack. The Live 8 concerts, held 20 years after Live Aid, weren't organised to raise money, but to push Africa up the global agenda, and pressure the leaders of the world's industrialised superpowers into a deal on trade and debt relief.
A member of Tony Blair's commission for Africa, he has signed up as an adviser to David Cameron's Conservative party.
He has attacked the media for confusing celebrities and politicians, and still describes music as his real job.
But while he doesn't sell many records these days, he hasn't lost his power to push the difficult issue of Africa to the top of the international political agenda - something conventional politicians have struggled to achieve.
Related links
>>Re:viewing 2005. Live 8
>>G8 Special Report