Geldof bored with 'Mr Africa' tag
Bob Geldof is bored with visiting Africa and being called upon to raise money whenever the troubled continent faces a crisis - he would much rather be associated with his music.
The Band Aid campaigner confesses he wouldn't have worked so hard on charitable causes if he had been more successful as a solo artist after The Boomtown Rats split, but he accepts the responsibility he has to the developing world.
The 50-year-old says: "Who's interested if the leader of Niger goes on Newsnight (BBC political programme)? It's: 'get Geldof'. I'm Mr Bloody Africa.
"I'd dearly love not to have to go there the day after tomorrow. More often than not, it bores me profoundly - the pace of change is far too slow, and Africans excuse their own complicity in exactly the same way as our politicians.
"Bizarrely in our society, there's confusion between politicians and celebrities. We have an ability to articulate the great wound of the 21st Century, and have access to politicians. But would Bono prefer to do this or be in U2? Hello?
"Business I need to do, and the political stuff I have to do. What I want comes first, but I'm not successful enough."
