1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia out the first airdrops from Hercules C-130s delivering food to the starving people. Other countries including Sweden, East and West Germany, Poland, Canada, United States and the Soviet Union were also involved in the international response. Buerk's news piece on the BBC was seen by Irish singer Bob Geldof, who quickly organised the charity supergroup Band Aid, primarily made up of the biggest British and Irish artists of the era. Their single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", was released on 3 December 1984 and became Britain's best-selling single within a few weeks, eventually selling 3.69 million copies domestically. It raised
The Blood Red Tape of Charity Picture News". The official description is as follows: "Charity, through excessive organization, often defeats its own purpose. William Weldon, a telegraph lineman, is the father of a large family, and finds it a hard struggle to make ends meet on his small wages. By a fall from a telegraph pole one afternoon he sustains injuries which force a lay-off for several weeks. His family is left destitute and, after a time, seek aid from various charity organizations. In each case the organization promises to make a full investigation and do what they can, but by the time all the red