As Brandon Herman ‘16 finished editing his nine-hour long special program on the 1985 benefit concert Live Aid, his six-month vision of the project that would cover the largest global musical effort in history had finally come to fruition.

Live Aid was a global concert on July 13, 1985, featuring over 70 different bands and artists. It was one of the biggest undertakings in music history. Herman first became fascinated with the massive event freshman year. He researched it personally, and his dad provided details for him as well.

“I didn’t really know about a lot of those artists back then,” Herman said, “but I realized that it was something hugely important.”

After being acquainted with the event for two years and having a thorough involvement in WLTL, Herman decided in June 2015 that he wanted to create a remembrance program for the event.

“I reached out to every artist, broadcaster and photographer; I tried to get everyone who was involved with the event to appear on my show,” Herman said.

Herman, who has had a music radio show on WLTL since sophomore year, has always had a personal trademark on his show.

“My music show includes a lot of interviews with well-known radio personnel, musicians and different community figures, so it’s not just a music show; it really varies,” Herman said.

This component of Herman’s show is a rarity at WLTL, and Herman used this ingenuity for his LiveAid production.

“He does great interviews for his regular music show, so for him to take on this challenge was not a big shock, and I had confidence it would go over well,” WLTL General Manager Chris Thomas said.

The LiveAid program featured 16 of the famous musicians who performed at Live Aid in 1985, including Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

“Obviously all of the artists he interviewed were exciting,” Thomas said, “but when he told me he got an interview with Graham Nash I was very surprised and impressed.”

Many of the artists Herman interviewed live in the UK, other parts of Europe and even Australia, so one of his biggest challenges was organizing interviews with them.

“There were a lot of time zone restrictions, and there was a lot of time put into scheduling,” Herman said.

After six months of planning, recording, interviewing and editing, the Live Aid special program aired over winter break as well as over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Jan. 16-18.

“It ended up going over really well,” Thomas said. “I think better than even he expected it to go.”

The program was very much Herman’s personal project, and he wanted to have creative control so that he had full responsibility of his work.

“He asked us for some help and we supported him throughout, but all the credit certainly goes to him,” Thomas said.

According to Thomas, Herman’s Live Aid program was the largest scale music show in WLTL history, and it will definitely be aired more times in the future.

“I think this is the best and most encapsulating Live Aid remembrance broadcast ever,” Herman said. “I wanted it to be as good as possible for the listeners and all of the musicians who participated.”