In the summer of 1989, rock-stars gathered at London Metropolis Studios to record all-star version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” hit to help Armenia after the Spitak earthquake. Mediamax presents the special project dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Rock Aid Armenia to reveal previously undisclosed details.
Rock Aid Armenia special project is supported by the British Council.
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Rock Aid Armenia founder Jon Dee recalls:
“Back in 1990, we released ‘The Earthquake Album’ which did well in the UK. It sold 100,000 copies and went ‘Gold’. It was the first charity album to do that.
I met the Soviet Ambassador when I co-produced ‘The World Against AIDS’ TV broadcast on December 1st 1988 - that was a global broadcast that launched World AIDS Day.
The Soviet Embassy had really helped us with that broadcast. So when The Earthquake album did well, I spoke to the Soviet Ambasador in 1990 to see if we could have a special event at the Soviet Embassy to celebrate what we had all done.
He very kindly offered to put on a function at the Soviet Embassy where we could give out gold records to the artists who donated tracks to the album.
It was a great day as we were able to thank all the artists who had helped us. As the Cold War was still on, the event was very well received as it played a role in helping to break down the barriers between East and West”.
Read also:
Led Zeppelin, The Who and tennis stars in Rock Aid Armenia
Gilmour, Gillan and Dickinson do a live broadcast for USSR
Ian Gillan, Jon Dee and “the orphans class” in Spitak
The fake Wembley poster and the real meeting with Stas Namin
Roger Taylor takes over as drummer for Rock Aid Armenia
David Gilmour helps put together the constellation of Rock Aid Armenia
“Rock and Mercy”: Komsomolskaya Pravda covers Rock Aid Armenia in 1989
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On 5 June 2019, Yerevan will host a gala night to mark the 30th anniversary of Rock Aid Armenia. Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and organizer of Rock Aid Armenia Jon Dee will attend the gala. The visit and celebration of the anniversary are organized by Mediamax Media Company and DoSomething (Australia).
The sponsor of Rock Aid Armenia’s 30th anniversary celebrations and the rock stars’ visit is IDBank. Koor Wines is the partner of the event.
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