On this day in 1984: ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ by Band Aid entered the U.K. singles chart at #1 and stayed at the top for five weeks. At the time, it became the biggest selling U.K. single of all time with sales over 3.5 million. Band Aid was masterminded by former Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, who had been moved by a TV news story of famine in Ethiopia. Geldof had the idea of raising funds with a one-off charity single featuring the cream of the current pop world. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo and Bananarama all appeared on the recording.

Here’s what was happening on the U.S. singles chart on this day back in 1984: (Hall & Oates were starting their second of two weeks at #1 with “Out of Touch”)

1 1 OUT OF TOUCH –•– Daryl Hall & John Oates (RCA)-12 (2 Weeks at #1) (1)
2 4 THE WILD BOYS –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-7 (2)
3 11 LIKE A VIRGIN –•– Madonna (Sire)-5 (3)
4 3 I FEEL FOR YOU –•– Chaka Khan (Warner Brothers)-15 (3)
5 7 SEA OF LOVE –•– The Honeydrippers (Es Paranza)-10 (5)
6 6 NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS –•– Paul McCartney (Columbia)-10 (6)
7 9 COOL IT NOW –•– New Edition (MCA)-13 (7)
8 2 WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO –•– Wham! (Columbia)-15 (1)
9 10 WE BELONG –•– Pat Benatar (Chrysalis)-8 (9)
10 5 ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT –•– Cyndi Lauper (Portrait)-11 (5)

11 8 PENNY LOVER –•– Lionel Richie (Motown)-11 (8)
12 16 VALOTTE –•– Julian Lennon (Atlantic)-9 (12)
13 13 I CAN’T HOLD BACK –•– Survivor (Scotti Brothers)-14 (13)
14 20 ALL I NEED –•– Jack Wagner (Qwest)-9 (14)
15 21 BORN IN THE U.S.A. –•– Bruce Springsteen (Columbia)-6 (15)
16 23 RUN TO YOU –•– Bryan Adams (A&M)-7 (16)
17 14 STRUT –•– Sheena Easton (EMI-America)-17 (7)
18 18 WALKING ON A THIN LINE Huey Lewis & The News (Chrysalis)-9 (18)
19 22 DO WHAT YOU DO –•– Jermaine Jackson (Arista)-8 (19)
20 12 BETTER BE GOOD TO ME –•– Tina Turner (Capitol)-14 (5)