Do they know it'll be No.1?

Music fans today clamoured to buy a piece of pop history as the new Band Aid single went on sale.

HMV opened its Oxford Street store early, at 8am, so commuters could grab a copy of the revived Do They Know It's Christmas? on the way to work.

There were queues outside before the shop opened, with Nathan Denham, 20, among the first. "It's a big thing," he said. "I want to get it early. I'll probably buy a few copies."

HMV bosses today received a phone order from an anonymous caller for 130 copies of the single, at £518.70.

Record stores predicted huge sales for the track, a remake of the 1984 original, which will raise money for the Darfur region of Sudan.

It is expected to reach No1 spot in the charts and stay there throughout Christmas.

Hundreds of customers had snapped up the single at Oxford Street HMV by lunchtime. An HMV spokesman said: "In 1984 there was a huge swoop on the shops but I think people will be buying the single now as part of their daily shopping in the run-up to Christmas.

"Band Aid 20 is easily the biggest release since Elton John's Candle In The Wind tribute to Princess Diana. It should be a million-seller if it captures the public's imagination like the original. In 1984, people bought multiple copies to give to family and friends. If the same happens this year, sales could exceed two million."

The first Band Aid single sold three and a half million copies and raised £8 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. It is hoped the 2004 version will raise £20 million for the Sudan appeal.