Anglia for Africa: Norwich's 'Live Aid' remembered

A mid-shot of three women performing on an open-air stage in bright sunshine. One woman to the right of frame is slightly closer to the camera, wearing a glamorous, silver-gold sparkling dress, and singing into a handheld microphone held in her right hand. She is about 40 and has slightly ginger-tinged dark hair in a large bouffant. To the left of frame and slightly behind on stage are two other singers in black dresses and with black hair, both slightly younger-looking, singing into microphones on stands.Mark Hodgson

The Supremes, with original member Mary Wilson, performed at the 1985 Anglia for Africa concert in Norwich

Paul Hayes
BBC Radio Norfolk

A Live Aid-inspired charity concert which drew thousands of people to a city park 40 years ago has been remembered for a BBC programme.

Anglia for Africa was a 12-hour gig held at Earlham Park in Norwich on 31 August 1985.

Artists who performed to help raise money to fight famine in Africa included rock band Hawkwind, pop group Amazulu and Motown stars The Supremes.

Chris Dawes, who was one of the organisers, told a special feature for BBC Radio Norfolk's Thordis Fridriksson programme that the concert had been "probably one of the biggest" of the Live Aid "copycat" events to be held.

He said there was a lot of support from people in Norwich in the five weeks leading up to the gig, evident at the free office space they were given in the city's Charing Cross Centre.

"Once people knew it was happening, we had quite a lot of people passing who would come up and chuck money into the donation buckets and say 'good luck'," he said.

"There was a lot of goodwill in Norwich for the event."

A colour shot of a large crowd of people, mostly young in their teens and 20s, with 1980s clothing and hairstyles. It is an outdoor concert in daylight, and they are all looking towards the stage which is out of picture to the right of frame. Behind the crowd in the background are two scaffolding towers, and a line of trees.Mark Hodgson

About 9,000 people packed into Earlham park for the 12-hour Anglia for Africa event in 1985

The main organiser of Anglia for Africa was Mark Foster, who told BBC Look East two days before the event in August 1985 that he had been inspired by watching the Live Aid concert on TV the previous month.

"I thought it was very very important to continue [fundraising]," he said.

"So, first thing Monday morning, nine o'clock, I went to the council to organise a venue, and it went from there."

A colour mid-shot side view of a camera operator and a television camera, outside in daylight just in front of a large stage. The cameraman appears to be approximately in his 30s, has dark hair, and is seen left of frame wearing red headphones and a pale blue rain jacket. He is holding the operating handles of his large television camera and looking into its viewfinder. The camera is fixed onto a mounting and has an Anglia Television logo on its side.Mark Hodgson

Anglia Television recorded the concert and broadcast a 40-minute highlights programme on ITV the following afternoon

Local bands from Norwich and across Norfolk formed much of the day's line-up.

Among them was "space rock" group Underground Zero, whose bass player Andrew Rix recalled they were also instrumental in helping get one of the big acts to come to Norwich.

"We'd been in contact with Hawkwind quite a lot, so we told them we could get Hawkwind to headline," he said.

"And, of course, once Hawkwind agreed to headline, other bands were more happy to join in, so it grew quite rapidly from then."

An outdoor stage with a large logo at the back of the stage reading 'Anglia for Africa', over a shape of Africa inside an outline shape of Norfolk and Suffolk. Performing on the stage is a pop group comprised of four young men, two playing guitars, one standing at a microphone while also playing a keyboard, and another man standing turned away from the camera. A few members of the audience are partly visible at the bottom right and bottom centre of the image, and a television camera pointing at the stage is visible bottom left.Mark Hodgson

The Farmer's Boys were one of several local Norfolk bands who took part in the concert

One of the most popular Norwich acts of the 1980s had been indie band The Farmer's Boys.

They had a strong local following, but had split up in March 1985.

Singer Chris Basford explained that they were persuaded to reform specially for the event.

"We'd all moved on – three or four months is a long time when you're younger, it seemed like ancient history to us," he said.

"So when we were asked to play, our immediate reaction was 'we're no longer doing that'. Somebody was clearly very persuasive."

They ended up as the top local act on the bill, playing in the evening just before the main headliners.

"It would have been the biggest audience we ever played to anywhere," Mr Basford added.

Helicopter arrival

A wide shot of an outdoor concert stage seen in daylight, with a large logo at the back of the stage reading 'Anglia for Africa', over a shape of Africa inside an outline shape of Norfolk and Suffolk. Performing on the stage are three women in glamorous dresses. The backs of the heads of some of the crowd can be seen at the bottom of the frame, as can a camera operator looking into his camera as he focuses it on the group.Mark Hodgson

Although featuring only one original member, The Supremes were one of the biggest names to take part in the event

At its height, it was estimated that about 9,000 people packed into Earlham Park for the charity gig. In terms of money raised, BBC Look East at the time reported a figure of £17,000 – which would be about £50,000 in 2025.

One of those in the crowd was Mark Hodgson, who particularly remembered the arrival of The Supremes, led by original member Mary Wilson.

"A helicopter flew over, and I wondered what that was," he said.

"A friend of mine said that he'd seen The Supremes arrive by helicopter. So after they'd been on, I legged it to the landing site. They'd transferred from the helicopter to the stage in an open-topped Rolls-Royce."

A colour shot of a green field with trees in the background in daylight, with to the left of frame a black helicopter with its rotors moving having either just landed or preparing for take-off. To the right of frame is an open-topped Rolls-Royce, with three women being driven in it as passengers. Next to the helicopter slightly to the foreground appears to be a large white 'x' shape marked out with sheets or boards.Mark Hodgson

The Supremes arrived and departed by helicopter, and were driven to and from the stage in an open-topped Rolls Royce

Chris Dawes also remembers the arrival of the group very well.

"They paid for the helicopter. I remember going to get them in, so their car followed my 14-year-old Avenger, a really battered horrible old yellow car, to get them backstage.

"They all had their frocks on, they got out of the car, got on stage and started.

"It was quite incredible. And then they came off, got back in the car, went back to the helicopter and they were off and they were gone.

"It was real showbiz."

Diverse line-up

A black-and-white mid-shot of a group of approximately a dozen children, clapping and singing. One child, a girl slightly taller than the rest, is roughly central to the image, with a hand-held microphone in her right hand. The girls wear pale dresses with a floral pattern, while the boys wear dark jackets.Mark Hodgson

The African Children's Choir were among the groups performing at the concert

The Supremes were among several black performers on the bill, which Chris says was a deliberate attempt to assemble a more diverse line-up than was common at the time.

"We did make a conscious effort to get particularly the African Children's Choir," he said.

"We had Eek-a-Mouse as well, the Jamaican reggae guy, he was second top of the bill. We had another reggae band from Ipswich called Jah Warrior.

"Amazulu as well."

A black-and-white shot of a large crowd of people, mostly young in their teens and 20s, with 1980s clothing and hairstyles. It is an outdoor concert in daylight, and they are all looking towards the stage which is out of shot to the left of frame. Behind them in the background are two scaffolding towers, and a line of trees.Mark Hodgson

The concert raised £17,000 - equivalent to about £50,000 today

More than 20 acts played over the 12 hours, with highlights broadcast on BBC Local Radio stations across the East of England.

Anglia Television also recorded the gig, showing a 40-minute compilation programme the following afternoon.

Despite this coverage, however, Anglia for Africa is little-remembered today.

Paul Holden, one of the guitarists with Underground Zero, has a possible explanation for the relative obscurity of the event.

"Anglia is a bit of an outlier as far as the nation is concerned, so things that happen here don't tend to get reported as much," he said.

"If it had happened closer to London or closer to the Midlands there probably would be more memories of it."

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