BEGINNINGS OF BAND AID

In October 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired in the UK, which highlighted the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject. Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading British and Irish musicians who were among the most popular of the era. On 25^th November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released four days later

A DAY FOR DE GAULLE

On 23 November 1959, in a speech in Strasbourg, General Charles de Gaulle, President of France, (born 22^nd November 1890) announced his vision for Europe:

Oui, c’est l’Europe, depuis l’Atlantique jusqu’à l’Oural, c’est toute l’Europe, qui décidera du destin du monde. ("Yes, it is Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, it is the whole of Europe, that will decide the destiny of the world.")

De Gaulle in 1961 at the

Köln/Bonn, airport.

In the November 1958 elections (which took place on the 23^rd and 30^th November 1958), de Gaulle and his supporters (initially organised in the Union pour la Nouvelle République-Union Démocratique du Travail, then the Union des Démocrates pour la Vème République, and later still the Union des Démocrates pour la République, UDR) won a comfortable majority. In December, de Gaulle was elected President by the electoral college with 78% of the vote, and inaugurated in January 1959.

He oversaw tough economic measures to revitalise the country, including the issuing of a new franc (worth 100 old francs). Internationally, he rebuffed both the United States and the Soviet Union, pushing for an independent France with its own nuclear weapons, and strongly encouraged a "Free Europe", believing that a confederation of all European nations would restore the past glories of the great European empires.

He set about building Franco German cooperation as the cornerstone of the European Economic Community (EEC), paying the first state visit to Germany by a French head of state since Napoleon. In January 1963, Germany and France signed a treaty of friendship, the Élysée Treaty. France also reduced its dollar reserves, trading them for gold from the U.S. government, thereby reducing the US' economic influence abroad.
This video biography has a strange start, but worth a look if only to brush up your French. There are no subtitles.

BEYOND CONSPIRACY AND BALLET

Olivier Todd

Where were you on the 22nd November 1963? This was a question that we used to ask each other. So much has happened in the last 49 years. I was 21 back then and was working in a book shop in West Los Angeles. I was chatting to a lad named Bob (?) Kerr and a french journalist and writer Olivier Todd.

A woman came into the shop and told us to turn on a radio. The President had been shot. The days that followed were extraordinary. 

Another event took place a mere 35 years before that:

Nijinska

Boléro a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel was a sensational success when it was premiered at the Paris Opera on 22^nd November, 1928, with choreography by Bronisslava Nijinska and designs by Alexandre Benois. The orchestra of the Opéra was conducted by Walther Straram; Ernest Ansermet had originally been engaged to conduct during the entire ballet season, but the musicians refused to play under him.A scenario by Rubinstein and Nijinska was printed in the program for the premiere:

Inside a tavern inn, people dance beneath the brass lamp hung from the ceiling. [In response] to the cheers to join in, the female dancer has leapt onto the long table and her steps become more and more animated.

Ida Rubenstein, the inspiration behind Boléro

Portrait by Valentin Serov..

It was originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubenstein