Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?

"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?"
"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?"
Single by The North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative
Released	October 11, 2005
Length	18:21
Label	Vice Records
Composer(s)	Nick Diamonds; Adam Gollner;
Producer(s)	Danny Kalb

"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" is a charity record inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas?". It was released on October 11, 2005, in Canada on Vice Records by a cast of rock artists and other performers under the name "North American Halloween Prevention Initiative" (NAHPI). It reached number four on the Canadian Singles Chart.^[1]

It was written by Nick Diamonds and Adam Gollner.^[2] Like its inspiration, it is a charity song, with all proceeds being donated to UNICEF.^[3]^[4] According to the official press release, the song "stems from a frustration with other benefit songs' misguided, somewhat patronizing attitude, and Western-centric worldview."^[5]

Contributors

Win Butler & Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire
Beck
Buck 65
David Cross
Liane Balaban of Dessert
Devendra Banhart (with Noah Georgeson, Jona Bechtolt & Luckey Remington)
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Feist
Gino Washington
Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav
J'aime Tambeur of Islands
Malcolm McLaren
Nardwuar the Human Serviette
Peaches
Dntel
Jenny Lewis & Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley
Roky Erickson
Chris Murphy of Sloan
Asya & Chloe of Chaos Chaos
Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields
Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
Russell Mael of Sparks
Subtitle
Steve Jocz of Sum 41
Tanya Tagaq
Anna Waronker of That Dog
Dan Boeckner & Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade
Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs

NAHPI band

Adam Gollner of We Are Molecules - guitar
Nick Diamonds of Islands - keyboards
Steve McDonald of Redd Kross - bass
Joey Waronker - drums
music & words by Nick Diamonds and Adam Gollner
produced by Steven "Deadd Kross" McDonald, Adam "Ghoulner" Gollner, & Nick "Diamonds" Thorburn
mixed by Danny Kalb at The Boat, Los Angeles, CA
NAHPI band recorded by Steve McDonald at his studio in Los Angeles, California

Additional vocal engineers: Jamie Thompson (Gino's kitchen, Detroit), Cornelius Rapp (Studio Rapp, Berlin), Raf Katigbak (Studio 264, Manila), Greig Nori (bunkrock, Toronto), John Collins (JCDC, Vancouver), Russell Mael (Sparks' studio, Los Angeles), Danny Kalb (The Boat, Los Angeles), Mark Lawson (the White House, Casablanca), Stuart Sullivan (Wire Studios, Austin), Donn Devore (Avast! II, Seattle), Jona Becholt (VW camper, Estonia), Jay Ferguson (Jay's basement, Halifax), Matthew Illachewizch (Cambridge Bay Radio Station, Nunavut)

choral leader: Anna Waronker
additional throat singing: Tagaq
additional sound effects: Régine Chassagne
artwork & design by Nick Diamonds

track 3 remixed by Disco D at the Booty Barn, Brasil.

track 4 remixed by Th' Corn Gangg at Jamie's, Montreal.

Track listing

"Do They Know It's Halloween?" - (5:58)
"Do They Know It's Halloween? (Radio Edit)" - (3:35)
"Do They Know It's Halloween? (Disco D Remix)" - (3:48)
"Do They Know It's Halloween? (Th' Corn Gangg Remix)" - (4:54) [listed as "6:66" on the back of the case]

References

^ "Canadian Digital Song Sales". Billboard. October 29, 2005. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
^ "Indie All-Stars Cut Charity Single". Rolling Stone. No. 986. November 3, 2005. p. 20.
^ Deziel, Shanda (October 3, 2005). "Brave men dare to ask, Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?". Maclean's. 118 (40): 85. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
^ Ward, Bruce (October 23, 2005). "Do they know it's Halloween?: Indie artists send up Band Aid in smirky fundraiser for Unicef". Ottawa Citizen. p. B8.
^ Fox Mayshark, Jesse (October 5, 2005). "A Remake of a Charity Song, by the Elite of Indie Rock". New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2016.