Reuters UK reports that Midge Ure is assembling a group of artists to re-record the song "Do They Know It's Christmas." As most you probably know, the original hit single was released in 1984 by Band Aid, a 40 artist supergroup organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure that raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia. According to the report, Ure has convinced The Darkness and Travis to join this latest effort, and Coldplay has apparently been approached as well.

My initial knee-jerk reaction is to dislike cover songs, especially those of favorite '80s songs, but in this case it might actually not suck. At the very least Midge Ure is still involved, and the artist list so far seems like it could work. I guess we'll see in a couple of months...

Update: CNN has picked up the story, confirming that Noel Gallagher (of Oasis), Damon Albarn (of Blur), and Jamelia (?) have also signed on, with Dido and Robbie Williams (formerly of Take That) supposedly interested. The story also mentions that this latest group will call itself Band Aid III, as apparently Band Aid II was formed in 1989 to re-record the single "with acts like Rick Astley, Luke Goss [of Bros], Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan." I didn't know that, but I think I can say with some degree of confidence that it couldn't have been that good :-p, although I do like Kylie Minogue. :-)