‘The Greatest Night in Pop’: The Wild Stories Behind the Recording of ‘We Are the World’

Bob Dylan looks so lost.

Kenny Loggins looks and sounds great. Steve Perry, too -- what a voice.

Is that Toyota Jackson? LOL. Not a peep out of her!

This makes me miss a time when there was a more common culture.

It also makes me nostalgic for pop stars with distinctive, instantly recognizable voices.

Where was Donna Summer??

There's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives!

At least We Are The World remembered women actually exist beyond Jody Watley and Bananarama.

But, is it greater than Broadway for Orlando ?

Or the Broadway " We Are the World", which ( at least) gave us Derek Klena to drool over.

Where was Laura Branigan? The Pointer Sisters? Irene Cara? Bob Seger? Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, so many that were coming off stellar 1984s could have been included instead of the extended Springsteen/Ray Charles volley.

Sheena, in fact the entire Do They Know It’s Christmas? choir could have been termed Do They Know There Are Female British Pop Stars? instead.

Do they know its Christmas

The sad thing was that I was in West Africa in 1988 and according to an aid worker, the money raised by the songs was still caught in a bottleneck of bureaucracy.

Do They Know was 1984

We Are the 🌍 1985

R9, the pulled a lot of the crowd from the American Music Awards that happened that day.

The song is dogshit

I preferred the Canadian song.

R9, please review the video for the Pointer Sisters and Hall and Oates. Present!

I remember Carly Simon feeling resentful that she wasn’t invited. It was part of a thread here, maybe on her autobiography, but now I can’t locate it.

None of these are up to the level of Gal Gadot's "Imagine."

"There's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives!"

What the fuck does that even mean, Miss Ross?

10 of the singers are now dead.

40 years on and, lo and behold, Africa is an even worse shithole.

- D. Downer

This was a bad copycat song. Do They Know It's Christmas was much much better.

Of course MJ would say "we are the children" - yeah, dude, we get it. "I'm a little child"

The lyrics were stupid.

WHEN WE…..

Look at Diana Ross preening for the cameras like she's the reigning Queen of Pop. Next year, Whitney Houston debuts. Watch out for that hussy, Miss Ross.

[quote] the money raised by the songs was still caught in a bottleneck of bureaucracy.

Nearly all do-gooder money sent to Africa gets eaten by the bureaucracy or pocketed by the corrupt local governments.

I thought that everyone performed, sounded and behaved so great doing all those backgrounds on that single of mine. It was really, really special!

Being from the US and only 13 at the time, I thought it was the better song. Now I think “Christmas” definitely is.

I never heard the Canadian one, “Tears Are Not Enough” but I heard at the time it was terrible.

If they’d fucking invited me, I would have only kept them waiting 2.5 hours.

We're Sending Our Love Down the Well!

Kim Carnes' solo really held the song together.

10 are dead.

So R28 you're saying nothing has changed since R18?

Cyndi Lauper was the only artist to perform on We Are the World AND the superior Kidney Now.

Do They Know it's Christmas was by far the better song.

I'm surprised Bono didn't nudge himself into this

Show me the money!

The studio couldn't accommodate the egos of both Bono AND Miss Ross

That song was such a piece of shit.

“Do they know it’s Christmas” would be canceled today as colonialist.

We got the 45 for Easter 1985. We played it over and over and over again.

It’s a really bad song.

80s cringe to the max

It was a terrible song. But the sentiment behind it was well meaning.

Horrible song.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

Legendary music manager Ken Kragen today relives the pressure of putting together the supergroup, telling how Prince failed to turn up to record the song because he was scared of being around people; Bob Dylan got stage fright and Michael Jackson was so intimidated, he hid in the toilets.

Ken says: “One of the reasons Prince didn’t turn up, and Prince later recorded a song for the We Are The World album, is because he always recorded alone and not with an engineer.

“He would go into the studio, do his own engineering and record every instrument and sing and no one else would be there. All of a sudden, he couldn’t be in a room with his peers.

“He knew it was a mistake. It was unfortunate that he didn’t show.”

But Ken was most surprised that Bob Dylan struggled with stage fright.

“I’m a huge fan of his, and when he had to record his part of the song it just didn’t sound like Bob,” he says.

“Quincy and Lionel cleared the studio, and they had him go up to the microphone, they sat down at the piano, did his part and imitated what he should sound like, then he went up to the microphone and did it.

Ken still had an enormous amount of talent on the track - but there were some stars that Ken, who now teaches at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA, still wishes were on it.

“Barbra Streisand,” he exclaims. “She originally agreed, but then one of her advisors talked her out of it. She always regretted it.

“Like a number of artists they start worrying if they should do it or not. Remember, nobody knew We Are The World was going to be a success.”

Shocked to see no love for the Operation Desert Storm dedicated Voices That Care.

Shit shit shit

Ken Kragen lies about Prince who often had an engineer such as Susan Rogers

The author of the article seems to question why Dan Ackroyd was there.

There was a mini documentary about the recording of the song after it came out…MTV IIRC. The camera was on Tina Turner and she was talking to Lionel or Quincy. In the background was DL fave Dionne Warwick who for some reason was giving Tina the side eye.

R4 It's been said over the years that Summer had such a horrible time working with Quincy Jones and James Ingram on her 1982 "Donna Summer" album, that she promised herself she would never work with them again - and declined QJ's invite to join the recording. (Summer had addressed this more 'eloquently' in the past, saying Jones and Ingram were not the ideal match for her, but never addressed this recording directly. For his part, Jones had said Summer never wanted to work with him again.)

BTW, it was the recording of Summer's "State of Independence" in 1982 where producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson (who sang background on the song) got the idea of bringing a group of celebrities together on a larger scale for a 'charity' recording (long before 1984's 'Do They Know It's Christmas ?'). SOI was the inspiration for this project.

Kenny Loggins , Bruce Springsteen and John Oates were totally fuckable back then. Totally.

I love the contrast between blue collar Bruce and his gravely tones and Stevie Wonder who runs took everybody to church.

Whose runs*

Stevie Wonder had the runs that night ? Poor guy - how embarrassing.

52 No wonder her moved his head all weird

I loved the Tina and Dionne parts.

Bob Dylan privately told Quincy Jones that it wasn’t stage fright that put him off from performing with the group, but rather Stevie Wonder’s diarrhea and the accompanying toxic sharts.

THis song is utter dogshit and did nothing to actually help Africa. Why make a documentary about it?

The Christmas song was way better. Not to mention the fact that they did something first. The USA version clearly showed that they were playing catch-up to the efforts by the Brits.

Why do people keep saying the Christmas song is better as of either is at all good. They're both terrible songs with overwrought lyrics.

Well, the Christmas song IS better. It doesn't mean either was good. Both can suck, but DTKIC sucked much less than WATW.

[quote]It's been said over the years that Summer had such a horrible time working with Quincy Jones and James Ingram on her 1982 "Donna Summer" album, that she promised herself she would never work with them again

Ironically that was her best album in the 80s.

Best? It was her only good album in the '80s.

[quote]Kenny Loggins , Bruce Springsteen and John Oates were totally fuckable back then. Totally.

Bruce Springsteen is still totally fuckable TODAY and he's old enough to be my father.

R60 I like 'The Wanderer' much better. I think she resented working with Jones and Ingram after Geffen fired Moroder and Bellotte. She felt a sense of loyalty to them.

Why’d Quincy let Donna do that ghastly cover of LUSH LIFE?

Donna was no picnic to work with. I'd back Quincy Jones before her.

R65 And you say this with experience ?

R66, it's been well documented. You can climb off Donna's cock. She's been dead for a while now.

R67 I'll get off Donna's cock when you provide the links to the 'well documented' documents.

That's right - you can't.

[quote] I think she resented working with Jones and Ingram after Geffen fired Moroder and Bellotte. She felt a sense of loyalty to them.

She became a Jesus freak and drove Moroder crazy. He was very frustrated with her religious bullshit.

[quote] “David Geffen pushed her to make music that wasn’t right for her. It was a big mistake in my opinion,” says Moroder, who produced two slightly commercially disappointing Geffen albums for Summer before Quincy Jones took control on 1982’s Donna Summer.

[quote]Divergent personal beliefs turned that professional fissure into a fault. “Donna became quite religious,” says Moroder, as he strides past a wall of gold and platinum records. “She made me record a dance song about Jesus, dear God. And she really did not like gays — her attitude was sometimes difficult in the ’80s.” (Summer has denied ever making anti-gay statements.) “We were never ‘estranged,’ but for a long time we did not have the relationship we once did.”

While we're sidetracked on Donna, that HBO doc last year was such a snoozefest disappointment. I was hoping for better.

I thought WATW was overwrought, bombastic crap back then and I still think it is. I much preferred DTKIC?, but then again, I was into that whole British "new wave" scene back then and was excited to see Bob Geldof, Paul Weller, Midge Ure, Bananarama, etc.

I love the video for Do They Know It's Christmas because everybody looks hungover AF and like they've just rolled out of bed. They really looked rough.

[quote] [R67] I'll get off Donna's cock when you provide the links to the 'well documented' documents.

Looks like your ride is over, cunt.

I thought this song was hideous. I was also more into British pop at the time.

Seeing all my favorites in the video was a treat. Boy George, for sure. And Paul Weller at peak hotness.....I wanted him inside me quite deeply.

R73 Still waiting for the 'well documented' documents. If Summer was so 'difficult' to work with and she was driving him crazy with her religion, why didn't he quit ? Why did he wait to get fired ? A one-sided interview with Moroder (still distraught of being fired by Geffen 40 years later) isn't well-documented documents, cunt. Try harder.

r75 an interview with Moroder is linked in this thread.

the best moment was Boy George on George Michael:

"Sounds camp.....but that's because he is!"

R76 Miss R75 doesn't believe that interview, apparently.

The Kim Carnes/Huey Lewis/Cyndi Lauper segment was the highlight for me.

I think it's very conceivable that Moroder was hugely tolerant of Donna's bullshit. He had incentive, and also Europeans are generally far less judgey as long as certain lines aren't crossed.

Cyndi is tiresome.

She was 32 at the time of that recording but behaving like the high schooler who has just discovered the performing arts department.

And we didn't see one brass nickel!

R1, that is because he has never had any talent whatsoever and was surrounded by many exceptional musicians. I would have also felt intimidated if I had been in his place. I mean, just watch him tunelessly braying away in the video below, and you'll realize that he's one of the worst "singers" in the world.

The story for the song is quite interesting, R48. Thanks for sharing it.

Donna turned into a real religious nutter. My favourite story is her turning down It’s Raining Men which was written for her. She told the guy who wrote it that the song was blasphemous, and the next day sent him a bible.

That is a crazy story, R84. Still, I don't think that Paul Jabara minded at all: that song became a huge hit and it was already considered a classic by the late 80s. If anything, I think that Donna ended up kicking herself for turning it down.

R85, Liz Smith wrote in her column that Donna hounded Paul Jabara on his deathbed while he was dying of AIDS over some money.

If you watch the HBO Max documentary on her, she clearly had serious mental health issues. Her home videos show someone who's lost touch with reality. She even tried to commit suicide by jumping out of a hotel window, but was stopped at the last second by a maid. She was also molested as a girl and had a major drug problem.

Her hugely expensive Donna Summer album with Quincy almost bankrupted Geffen Records when it flopped. Geffen lost a fortune on it. That's why they never wanted to work together again.

Bruce Sudano was very gracious about Quincy Jones when Donna and Jones were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. Bruce said later on that he wasn’t particularly religious but it stabilized donna.

Cyndi said she thinks Quincy jones probably hated her from the start because Cyndi’s manager told jones she hated the song before recording began.

I get people's annoyance, but I find Cyndi's chutzpah admirable... especially given how much music likes to make women invisible.

[quote]“Barbra Streisand,” he exclaims. “She originally agreed, but then one of her advisors talked her out of it. She always regretted it.

BWAAAAH. Sure, she regretted it. BWAAAAH.

Madge wasn't invited because they didn't think she could sing. And yet they invited Latoya??

For those who don't know, Dan Aykroyd is there because he's representing the American movie industry, since Ghostbusters was such a big hit. You'd think they could have had similar courtesy towards TV and cause us all to wonder "Joan Collins ... WTF?"

I'm thinking that someone's been having fun editing the Voices That Care Wikipedia page, since I had no idea about the inolvement of at least half of those choir members.

Al Jarreau was shitfaced drunk!

No one really cared about the kids. It was all self-serving preening to make themselves look good. And they didn't even let the Commodores participate; they were forced to sit with families and hangers-one while their former bandmate Lionel Richie didn't offer them a spot.

Is there a chart or anywhere listing which of them f***** each other even before or after this?

R47, Tina's career was white hot at the time and Dionne's was inconsistent at best because she thought too highly of herself. She was probably a bit jelly.

While we're on the subject of "We Are the World," we have to acknoweldge how "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson wanted SO badly to be the "We Are the World" of the '90s. Way to rip yourself off, Michael!

R83 He sho is ugly and so is his voice! I don’t get it. My parents worshiped him.

[quote]Of course MJ would say "we are the children" - yeah, dude, we get it. "I'm a little child"

This was right before he REALLY got weird and the public found out what a freak he was. The plastic surgery, the little boys everywhere, etc. A couple of years later it was all over the media and people's perception of him really changed. And then of course it got really dark with the abuse lawsuits.

R65=Barbra Streisand

“We Are The World” was stupid and bombastic at the time; “Do They Know” was a decent piece of mid-80s pop. Though now dated, and not a great Christmas song, it still gets airplay each year all these decades later.

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” sounds like an actual 80’s pop song that might be written and performed by any of the artists that who participated in it, it has a nice hook, and a cool vibe, with the synths and horns the bells and all.

“We Are The World” sounds like a bad, ham-fisted bank or grocery store jingle. It’s so corny it’s almost parody-proof. It’s obnoxious.

Plus “Do They Know It’s Christmas” did it first.

Prince was asked to participate but declined because he thought the song was shit. It wasn't because he "worked alone" as Quincy Jones said.

If you were watching MTV in 1985, WATW was on CONSTANTLY. The song debuted in the Billboard top 20 on its way to number one, and then it cleaned up at the Grammys winning record and song of the year in 1986. The lyrics are shit, but the melody is great, so a mixed bag of 80s kitsch. It has a sentimental value to me as a teen in that era. But I recognize the song for bombastic half mess it is.

The song actually sounds like something John Tesh would have written if he did lyrics.

The choral singing is nice.

Any thoughts on "Sun City"?

Sun City is a decent song

R103 Good for Prince, he was right. The song is shit.

Do They Know it' Christmas? was a much better song and is still played a Xmas now.

Yes R22. That was it. The corruption was a big issue. Getting aid into the right hands was a major concern.

Prince didn't want to be involved with that shiteous tune but he did contribute a song for the We Are The World album.

The song he contributed

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is miles better. "We Are The World" is passable but borders on cheesy. I'd advise that you pop a couple of Zofran before listening to the God awful remake they did for Haiti. As if they didn't already have problems with earthquakes, France and the Dominican Republic.

^ Do Africans know it’s Christmas?

How fucking stupid and condescending can Bob Geldof get?

What have you done to combat world hunger R115? Anything?

Personally I love all of these. Voices That Care really gives us more than we could’ve ever deserved.

Zamfir covered " We Are the World" on the pan flute. He didn't do the Christmas song.

People who complain about Do They Know It's Christmas can get fucked and roll in broken glass.

along wi t

Along with Carly Simon, John Denver also was pissed to have been passed over...... I'm sure there were others.

MTV was kind of the new arbiter of hip...... you didn't get more unhip than John Denver in 1984. Carly Simon's comeback was about a year or so later.

R3: Were you awake in the 80? It was not a decade to get warm and fuzzy about esp. if you were gay.

And this stuff built and built and a year later we got “Hands Across America.”

r121 he's nostalgic for common culture and pop stars of the 80s.

And so am I. It was a great time to be a kid.

Steve Perry sang his line the most beautifully.

"Musicians for Free-Range Chickens" was the best of the lot

[quote] Al Jarreau was shitfaced drunk!

I get Jarreau confused with the other black guy.

1986's "Hands Across America" by 'Voices of America was far better than any of the others. How can it not be with Streisand, Oprah, Kenny Rogers, Don Johnson, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin...and some sexy guy at 4:24.

Hands Across America...Hands Across This Land I Love...Divided We Fall (Stand UP!)...United we stand...Hands Across America...

Dionne wasn't part of 'Voices of America' so she decided to go it alone...

Dionne also redid WATW for a concert, all by herself.

Michael Jackson had to have his family in it, so they took up spots. They thought Madonna was a flash in the pan so they instead went with Cyndi Lauper.

As for the songs "Do they know it's Christmas?" is better. I always wondered what the deal was with Sting's floppy hair.

I stood next to LaToya. She wore a headband. I felt naked.

They could have thrown Smokey Robinson a bone and gave him a line, also Lindsey Buckingham was there and Jeffrey Osbourne. Too much Bruce Springsteen but I know 'Born in the USA' was huge at the time.

La Toyah stuck to Michael like glue at this time. He was unbelievably mega famous in the mid 80’s and La Toyah was hoping some of that would rub off on her.

Dan Aykroyd was there, mumbling the song.

Michael Jackson had footage of himself re-shot singing into a microphone with the same outfit so it could be inserted into the video. With proper make-up and lighting. He didn’t like the way he looked in the original footage. There ended up being footage of both in the final cut. I remember this being a mini-scandal at the time because it was a video for charity and people thought it was distasteful (but he probably paid for it himself?) This was the beginnings of his crazy plastic surgery years so clearly he was nuts about his appearance.

Randy Jackson (not the American Idol guy) has a big zit on his cheek and looks like he was trying to show off

Cyndi Lauper saved that song for me. She was the only part of it that was somewhat interesting.

"Common culture" - "I never had to think about anyone else but myself"

[quote] La Toyah

LaToya. One word, no H.

I read Ruth Pointer's biography "Still So Excited", which is a fun short read, with lots of T.

In it, she points out that June's husband, William Whitmore, was also acting as June's agent, and was making a real stink about not being allowed in to the venue where all the celebs were gathering to rehearse and sing, that he was stuck outside with all the significant others. He felt he was too good for that, and then started threatening to pull June away from the whole thing.

Because of that drama, the Pointer Sisters did NOT have a line to sing in the song, and they were just about to be given one. But Whitmore messed it all up.

is Waylon Jennings in there?

Bette Midler jokes about how she was snubbed at the recording session and stuck in the back with LaToya at the 15:00 mark. This was back when Bette was still hilarious. This was just before her career really took off with a string of film hits. When she did WATW, her career was at its lowest point.

R129 here again, rewatching that Dionne clip again. She sang the hell out of that song, and made it sound way better than it should. Go D.

Bette in good humor in that clip...

Hands Across America... damn talk about overwrought. I can remember in the '80s seeing commercials from the '50s and thinking "this seems so corny now. How did anyone take this seriously?" And I thought nothing that was coming out at the time could ever seem that corny and out of date. Hands Across America is just as bad as any '50s television ad.

^^^Thqt Bette Clip is classic Bette. If you want to remember what she was like in the old days, you should watch it

R116 I contributed by not having more Africans. They should try to do the same.

Notice in the 'Hands Across America' video, Streisand is the only one who sings without someone near her - she has the whole camera shot to herself. She's not holding hands with people next to her (yuck!). And ten she swings her head and shows us her left profile in the sunlight.

I wonder how long that took to shoot - a week or so ?

We had to sing "Hands Across America" in our music class in elementary school. Total trainwreck.

R127, that sexy guy is Jeff Bridges.

R94 "No one really cared about the kids."

A strange blanket statement to make. You have no idea who cared about what in 1985.

Lucy was going to sing a solo part but Gary talked her out of it.

I would've loved to see Lucy there, chain-smoking and bossing everybody around.

“Light the candles… get the ice outtttt…”

I eat refugee excrement

R148's the only one in all creation who watched that video.

I'd forgotten all about Hands Across America until whatsisname did that movie a few years ago that I've forgotten the title of.

Us. Speaking of movies, note that in the video for "Hands Across America," Jeff Bridges, Jane Fonda and Raul Julia apparently are on a break from filming The Morning After.

The Morning After is craptastic fun.

I preferred when they did Clits Across America.

R142, speaking of Bette, she joked about WATW in her comedy show, Mud Will Be Flung Tonight!, and took a shot at LaToya, starting at 3:35.

The heavy metal version was Hear 'n Aid. Seriously.

The presence of Michael Jackson stinks up this video.

That really was better R160. Do you remember who was in it?

Agreed R163. It's like seeing something with Bill Cosby or Jimmy Savile in it now. Repulsive.

R161 meet R131.

I got tired of the Michael Jackson adoration. I remember how they used to introduce him as the King of Pop, I didn't realize at the time that it was in his contract that they had to call him that.

Jeff Bridges was so damn hot and sexy back in the 80s. He was ok in the 90s. WTF happened to him as he got older ? He aged terribly.

Jackson is still wildly popular. In the US, if you like a person, any accusations will be dismissed. A perfect example is the Orange Turd.

Bridges is at his peak in the 1984 film “Against All Odds.” All tan and half naked.

You're both wrong. This was peak Jeff Bridges. 1993's American Heart.

Watching it now, Cyndi Lauper was a pain in the ass. Too bad Ken Kragen didn't listen to his assistant and put in Madonna instead.

Lionel Richie seems like a decent guy. Except for when his wife caught him in bed with another woman...

Huey Lewis was the hottest guy there.

Paul Simon said if a bomb dropped on that place John Denver would be back on top of the charts. :)

I'd love to sit down with Quincy Jones and hear his stories.

It's on Netflix now btw

I'm assuming Liza rejected her invitation.

Anyone who's wearing sunglasses indoors is automatically obnoxious. Sorry, Cindy.

Huey Lewis seems down to earth. It really shows Stevie Wonder is a musical genius.

Springsteen seems decent too.

Waylon Jennings peaced out.

Lives. Be. Stronger and free.

I wrote it and sang, but was uncredited.

They are all middle aged, if it was made today they sadly be considered too old

"But they don't even speak Swahili in Ethiopia, Stevie."

Funniest moment in the film.

I thought the greatest night in pop was Live Aid 1985.

This "documentary" is a complete money grab. A People Magazine story turned into a documentary? Gen Z are idiots.

I watched it and I am still waiting for the "wild stories"

R188 = The saddest untold story is that Michael Jackson didn't live long enough to meet and mentor Justin Bieber. And you know he would have. Oh, the slumber parties they could have had!! But then again Bieber might have aged out of MJs interest. Ironically if MJ had been convicted, he would probably still be alive today (in prison).

The Idiot OP linked to a paywalled site. And was too damned lazy to post the article.

That was the last time Michael Jackson looked attractive. After that he started going overboard with his plastic surgery, skin whitening, had longer hair, etc.

Busking Bieber would have been just fine for Jackson.

When weeeeee

Billy Joel seemed grumpy, he brought Christy she must have had to sit and wait for him in another room

I never knew they recorded that single/video the same night as the AMAs. That's a loooooong day for those pampered egos. I never had a thing for Huey Lewis but he was incredibly charming and handsome that night. I still think the bridge is the best part of the song (even Kim Carne's "When Weeeee" solo). Cyndi Lauper really did have the best part IMO. Madonna should have been there but after watching how they put the song/solos together, I can't imagine where she'd have been plugged in.

My favorite part of the doc was Kenny Loggins recalling Paul Simon's deeply bitchy dig at John Denver.

R192 If I had my way artists like Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish wouldn't have record contracts and would be spending the rest of lives unsuccessfully busking. Anything to spare people from their god awful music.

*their

To add to R195, it was funny how Kim Carnes managed to end up just singing "when we". The full phrase was originally ALL for Kim to sing "When we stand together as one".

She sang it nicely in the rehearsals, and then someone had the idea that Huey and Cyndi should join her. It was kind of brilliant in that it sounded better with the three of them joining together, but it kind of did Kim dirty.

I liked how Dionne talked about being in Vegas, and gladly got on a plane to LA that day for this event. "If Quincy Jones tells me to be there, I'm there." She said.

I did wonder why Bruce sounded so terrible in the recording. Turns out he had just wrapped up his Born in the USA tour in Buffalo, and needed vocal rest. If that's the case, I think they didn't need Bruce to have so many featured vocals on that recording.

I like how they deliberately put Kenny Loggins after Bruce, to soften the proceedings. Nice transitions that were pretty well thought out for being such a rush job.

What a night Lionel Richie had. He hosted the AMAs, won 6 awards, and then lead that effort "All Night Long", going home to a family that had no idea where he had gone after the ceremony.

Al Jarreau was a mess, especially when getting all handsy with Bob Dylan at Stevie's piano at the end. Damn, put down the Jesus Juice.

Interesting that some label assistant had a hand in deciding to throw Dan Aykroyd into that. She's even quoted "Oh, and I had to add Dan Aykroyd to this list". WHY?? Why not just add Andy Griffith while you're at it.

I wonder if the whole experience inspired Dionne to concoct her "That's What Friends Are For" scam.

Steve Perry into Daryl Hall was always my favorite part

It was an Oates-less Hall event.

Bump

Oates was relegated to the chorus

I don’t think they would be able to pull that off today. Can you imagine a pop star without their entourage and no guarantee of a solo? No approval of the final cut or video?

I loved how Diana Ross wore her cheesy T shirt over her clothes. She seemed like she enjoyed it the most.

It was crap then and it's crap now. A schlocky uncreative pop dirge.

All those do-good songs are pretty awful. I am sick of “Imagine”. John was such a hypocrite but he didn’t get a chance to grow and admit it so I give him a pass.

John would have grown onto a larger asshole than he was. Fucking fraud.

FYI------>>CANADA FOR AFRICA.........not a joke....1985!!....Corey Hart!! Anne Murray!! Joni Mitchell!! Bryan Adams (in his prime HOT days)!! Neil Young!! David Foster!!

Huey Lewis hugged Billy Joel and Billy didn't look happy

Canadians are so polite that even Geddy Lee didn't say no to that 80's sitcom theme song. And Corey Hart sings like he's straining to have a poo at all times.

R213 = Cory Hart was barely a star then. He did look uncomfortable..The list of "chorus" members at the end is good. I don't know who some of them are. Eugene Levy AND Catherine O'Hara! John Candy. Paul Shaffer...etc etc..

i haven't seen the Netflix special.....but I'm hoping Harry Chapin's memory is invoked. Clip below insightful.

I remember a teacher of mine saying that the Canadian song was awful.

But they did get Joni Mitchell.

According to Carole Bayer Sager, in her deliciously dishy autobiography, Dionne asked to be paid for That’s What Friends Are For because she just did WATW and didn’t get paid for that.

Dionne is so dumb and greedy at the same time.

WO WO WO WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! 🎶

Dionne overspent all her life, without any royalty agreements regarding use of Bacharach songs. She had really poor management. I don't blame her for needing to negotiate $$ but yeah when it's for charity that's pretty shady.

Dionne is in her 80s and is on tour this year. Good for her but sad that she has to.

Carole Bayer Sager's side of things is what it is - dish.

But I think what actually happened, from Dionne's very honest admission is - she didn't want to be paid directly, she just wanted to be flown to these charity events in the style she was accustomed to. First Class. I think there was an issue when she wasn't flown that way, and then they finally did agree to fly her in First, and stay in nice hotels, and that's part of the reason that the charity only really netted $3MM after all.

The afore mentioned Sun City song.

Farm Aid.

Wow. I remember as a little gayling thinking Canadian production values were lacking. Growing up in Detroit you always got cheesy Canadian channels from across the river. That Canada for Africa song/video was tragic but I remember singing along with it.

Fun Trivia = In the Canada for Africa video = David Fosters FIFTH wife couldn't be there since she hadn't been born yet.

R226 apparently it’s not only the Brits who have shitty dental work.

When they played the whole song at the end I broke down in tears.

I have no idea why.

Bruce Springsteen was a fucking snack.

It's the rousing choral backdrop to us growing old, r228.

I wonder if those who participated in the event but not the documentary have watched it. I wonder if Paul Simon regrets his snarky comment about John Denver.

Lionel had some great work done. He looks so much better than he did in the 80s.

John Denver, by all accounts, was an asshole drunk.

[quote] Lionel had some great work done. He looks so much better than he did in the 80s.

When I was stationed in Japan, the barmaids would say, “Heem, hav-a long-u face-u, nay?”.

R233 John Denver had DUIs and then splattered himself in the Pacific Ocean. Idiot.

A friend of mine who grew up in Colorado and whose parents knew John Denver told me that he was a drunken asshole. He had a really shitty reputation in the area.

R236 = I believe it. Denver also called a former Jewish co-worker a Nazi. so classy.

R228, me too! R230, you are so coreect.

***correct***

While we are shitting on John Denver, have a read of his Wiki. He was a charitable soul and fought for gay rights as well.

People are complicated...

Prince disliked the song and offered to write something else. Prince would not even lip sync the tune.

[quote]Cyndi is tiresome. She was 32 at the time of that recording but behaving like the high schooler who has just discovered the performing arts department.

Did you ever watch Cyndi's reality show? I attempted to but had to stop because she was so damn whiney and negative the entire time. It was a huge mistake for her to do that reality show IMO because it showed her for what she is which is--as you said--tiresome.

In the doc they show that Cyndi nearly backed out because her boyfriend at the time didn't like it the song. I lost a lot of respect for her for that. I think she's one of many celebs who do great work, but aren't very easy people to be around. I think she knows it. I've seen clips where she seems to be apologizing for herself a lot.

Cyndi was throwing lots of attitude in the documentary. Rolling her eyes at Stevie and Lionel. She really let 1984 get to her head.

Her whole look in those years showed that there was something wrong with her.

Really, the more I think about it, Live Aid 1985 was stupendous.

Live Aid was fantastic, the lineup of artists was excellent.

R29 that was such a cuntilicious response! I literally (yes, LITERALLY) laughed out loud! Well done.

Willie Nelson gave Al Jarreau stink eye when everyone realized Al was fucking blotto. LOL

How did a roomful of African Americans NOT know that Swahili is not spoken in Ethiopia? How?

I wonder if Quincy Jones was that cool, calm and collected throughout the recording. Or they edited out his (justifiable) frustrations. He does strike me as a very cool cat. I never realized how good looking he was/is.

Did Quincy avoid appearing on the doc or is he too frail these days?

Do They Know It's Christmas? Probably not. It was Eastern Ethiopia that was severely impacted by the drought and famine. It's also where all the Muslims lived. Muslims don't celebrate Christmas and being it was a poor, largely agrarian population that lived there, no they likely didn't know it was Christmas after all.

It's not a great song.

Camp WATW

The PUPPETS version....

When they show current Cyndi, it's soft focus, right?

R251, the famine largely affected the regions of Tigray, Gondar, and Wollo. While Wollo is predominantly Muslim, Tigray and Gondar are 80% to 95% Orthodox Christian, and they celebrate Christmas on January 7.

I’m still surprised about the lack of female soul singers like Aretha, Patti, Chaka, Gladys

I'm surprised that Linda Lavin wasn't invited, I know she wasn't a pop singer, but she had a rich musical pedigree and was one of the biggest stars in the world at the time thanks to Alice.

I don’t care if John Denver’s neighbors didn’t like him. I love his music. His death was sad. Big musical loss.

r256 lolz at Linda Lavin

Bonnie Franklin tried to get past security by lying that she was asked to participate. When she was asked what her part was she said:

Bonnie Bellend...kiki

Who was the person who pointed out that they don’t speak Swahili in Ethiopia? Steve Perry, maybe?

The contemporary equivalent of WATW would be Gadot and Co's lockdown version of 'Imagine'. Smug, tone deaf, out of touch.

R261, I believe it was Bob Geldof, a white man who had actually been to Africa!

3 year-old Prince William met Bob Geldof at Buckingham Palace and William asked his father (Charles) why Geldof was "so dirty."

[quote]They thought Madonna was a flash in the pan so they instead went with Cyndi Lauper.

Then 'Crazy For You' knocked WATW out of the top of the Billboard chart.

[quote]In the doc they show that Cyndi nearly backed out because her boyfriend at the time didn't like it the song.

Is this the same boyfriend who influenced her to hook her stardom to the World Federation Wrestling shit? That dick must have been mesmerizing to her.

[quote]I'm surprised that Linda Lavin wasn't invited, I know she wasn't a pop singer, but she had a rich musical pedigree and was one of the biggest stars in the world at the time thanks to Alice.

The sign said: CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. For Lavin this would have been impossible.

Why no Cher? Elton?? Stevie Wonder came across as a real handful. He really didn't seem to add anything but was more than willing to sabotage the project.

Dan Akroyd was there because he and his father were interviewing business managers and Ken Kragen’s name was in the mix despite Kragen being a personal manager and not a business one. At the time Kragen managed Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes. Kragen invited Akroyd to be a part of the song not realizing he was Canadian.

Jackson had to invite his family members, Jarreau and Ingram were favorites of Quincy Jones and Kragen had his clients there. Jones wanted to dump Lauper during the recording and still holds a grudge.

Waylon Jennings and Ray Charles were the ones that didn’t want to add the additional “sha lam sha Lin gay”

I’m curious why more performers didn’t show up in this doc for commentary. The one who almost backed out, Lauper, was one of the few who was interviewed for the doc.

No, Kragen's secretary said she was the one who decided on Aykroyd.

R268 And she got Bette in as well.

Bette Midler is a singer. Can Dan Ackroyd sing?

[quote]I’m curious why more performers didn’t show up in this doc for commentary

Too embarrassed to be associated with such schlock.

[quote] Can Dan Ackroyd sing?

You mean like with The Blues Brothers?

[quote]Watching it now, Cyndi Lauper was a pain in the ass. Too bad Ken Kragen didn't listen to his assistant and put in Madonna instead.

She wouldn’t have been any better pain the ass wise.

R272 the Blues Brothers was performance not singing. Neither Aykroyd or Belushi were known for their vocal talents.

[quote]She wouldn’t have been any better pain the ass wise.

Madge would've complained about the unbearable heat, demanded that somebody bring her a fan, stepped on Latoya's toe, and behaved rudely to Diana's children, prompting Michael to protest "You're a mean lady, Madonna!"

[quote] the Blues Brothers was performance not singing.

Like Bob Dylan on this song?

The doc is really interesting with Bob Dylan. He was totally out of it and was tanking when he tried to do his solo. Stevie Wonder was a positive ball of energy, and sat down with Dylan at a piano and jammed it out until the solo took it's final form. Basically, Stevie was completely gracious and wrote the ever-overrated Dylan's performance.

[quote] [R261], I believe it was Bob Geldof, a white man who had actually been to Africa!

Many of the people assembled had been to Africa, in particular, Harry Belafonte who'd been a regular visitor to Africa since the 60s. Belafonte was the catalyst for "We Are The World."

I'm kind of shocked that Bonnie Franklin (may she RIP) was not invited. I know she wasn't a pop star, but she was HUUUUGE at the time of the recording. Also, her singing the title song to Applause at the Tony awards a few years previous knocked the roof off the place! Surely she could have taken Tina Turner's part, as I'm sure like Madonna, most people would have thought Tina a flash in the pan.

R275 I doubt she would have agreed to participate tbh. She is not one to share the spotlight. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked and she turned it down.

Idiot R276 clearly doesn’t know shit about Bob Dylan.

R278, no, many of the people assembled had not been to Africa. Where are you pulling that from?

Show me where Stevie's many tours brought him over there to Ethiopia, where he could claim to be an expert in what they need to hear and in what language. He clearly didn't know, and was just sympathizing like he knew, and trying to force everyone deeper into patronizing schmaltz.

Harry Belafonte, and the Pointer Sisters, had to have been among the very few that had every gone over there. It's not like american artists were known for routinely doing this back then, indy war torn countries. Harry was unique in this way by being an activist. WATW wasn't an assembly of African experts. These were some celebrities that were at the AMAs to get awards.

I think it was early enough in Madonna's career that she wouldn't act as much of a diva

This took place in January, 1985. Diana Ross turned to Daryl Hall, and said "Mr. Hall, I'm a big fan of yours. Will you sign my music ?"

Didn't Daryl Hall work with Ross the year before when he co-produced her album "Swept Away" and even sang background on the title track ? Why did she act like this was her first time meeting him?

It was interesting to see that she started that, in which everyone autographed each other's sheet music.

Shocked Bono didn't join both. Geldof is an udder piece of shit.

Even Griselda Blanco couldn't keep up with their demand for coke.

[quote] Geldof is an udder piece of shit.

He's a cow?

R285, U2 didn't become huge in the U.S. until The Joshua Tree album which was 1987/88

Lionel was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel last night, promoting this special. When pushed about Madonna being passed over for Cyndi, LR said the reason they went with Cyndi was because she had a very distinctive voice that stood out (it was all about distinctive voices on the recording), and there really wasn't a lot of verses to sing among the participants. 39 years later, LR admitted last night they should have had both singers participate.

They also discussed Waylon Jennings leaving (I don't think anyone cared) and Al Jarreau being drunk.

R288 Not exactly right. I was in high school and college in the 80s.

U2 had a large underground following in punk and new wave scenes in the US from their first two albums, Boy and October.

Then their classic album War broke really big and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Two Hearts Beat As One” were relatively big singles on mainstream radio. They were very popular but not by mainstream standards.

The Unforgettable Fire album kind of kept their popularity afloat and they did a very successful US tour but seem to get bigger and bigger (mainly based on War).

The Joshua Tree was big and the damn finally broke and exploded their popularity in the US to megastardom and they were everywhere and Bono started opening his mouth a lot in interviews and started to get kind of annoying.

Bono wasn’t happy with SOUTH PARK’S depiction of him. #2 🤭🤭🤭🤭

Agree with r246 and r247. Still a great concert, hardly any bad performances. Everyone at both concerts seemed so invested and happy to just be there.

Agree also with r290, U2 was already very popular in the US by 1985, at least on the East/West coasts, after War and TUF. Huge with the high school and college sets, they also had huge rotation on MTV all through the early 80s. They regularly sold out arenas on the East Coast by '84/85. The Joshua Tree put them into superstardom, but they were an A-list band even before that.

To add to r292, it's like the trajectory of the Police in the US: huge radio play and radio hits from Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost in the Machine (Don't Stand So Close to Me), also lots of MTV airplay throughout 1979 and the very early 80s. Large tours. Synchronicity of course put them over the top into superstar status, in 1983-84.

R290, that is exactly what I said, they didn't become huge in the U.S. until The Joshua Tree...

[quote]Madge wasn't invited because they didn't think she could sing. And yet they invited Latoya??

Latoya was the "nepo hire" of the group, obviously. Madonna wasn't MADONNA then; "Like a Virgin" album had just been released three months earlier, and this was before her iconic MTV Video Awards performance. If WATW had been recorded in 1986 rather than 1985, they'd have been creaming themselves if she'd done it.

[quote]For those who don't know, Dan Aykroyd is there because he's representing the American movie industry, since Ghostbusters was such a big hit. You'd think they could have had similar courtesy towards TV and cause us all to wonder "Joan Collins ... WTF?"

Sure, "Ghostbusters" was a huge hit, but the primary reason Dan Aykroyd was there was because his manager, Ken Kragen, basically made the whole thing happen. The secondary reason was that Aykroyd was one of the Blues Brothers, and that kinda counted.

Ken Kragen was also the manager of Lindsey Buckingham and I think Huey Lewis and the News.

I finally watched it last night. Loved it. Nostalgia overload. Bob Dylan seemed on the spectrum.

A&M was Janet’s label at the time. She would’ve been there, but she was doing Fame at the time. The great Humberto Gatica mixed her first album.

R284 I wouldn’t read too much into it. It’s perfectly plausible that Diana could’ve told Daryl this and still he produced Swept Away for her. I doubt she was focusing on autographs when they worked together previously.

The British Christmas one has a fun chorus, but with the exception of Boy George and George Michael’s parts, the performance and production on We Are The World is superior in every possible way.

Who will be the last survivor? And when will s(he) die?

There’s not a song in the Lionel Ritchie/Commodores catalogue that I like. Including this one.

^ Richie.

R302 lacks soul.

I grew up a huge Motown fan, R304; Soul Town is one of my pre-select channels on Sirius. Just not a fan of Lionel Richie’s work.

Lionel Richie is a schlock meister, R304. Some of the classic Commodores songs are good, but most of his catalogue is dull and sentimental.

Everybody loves Brick House

^ Meh.

Not even Machine Gun r305/r306? Funk on a stick.

That's why I'm easy.... I'm easy like Sunday morning.

This was a great documentary. Some people sounded amazing.. MJ, Stevie Wonder, Dionne, Willie Nelson while others sounded horrible. You could see who the pains in the asses were too.

R295 Madonna sang Like A Virgin at the MTV Awards in September 1984 and the Like A Virgin album was released November 1984

At that point Lionel Ritchie’s music was bland.

I prefer the funkier sound of The Commodores in songs like ‘Brick House’ and ‘Too Hot ta Trot’

Waylon Jennings' "Irish goodbye" the minute Stevie broke out the Swahili.

R314 far from an Irish goodbye, lol.

R315, LOL, you're right. He did say why he "noped" on out of there. When I first caught a glimpse of him early in this program I thought, "that's odd I think I am seeing Waylon Jennings in this group... I don't remember him being in this."

What is R295 even talking about? Madonna released True Blue in 1986 and she was already a superstar by then.

I watched it this weekend. What I learned was that Waylon Jennings is a racist, no surprise there. Sheila E. thinks that the only reason that they invited her was because they thought that she could get Prince to show up and she left halfway through. And if you weren’t sick of this song before you will absolutely hate it after watching the documentary. Madonna could very well participated because she was at the awards show that night, there’s footage of her with someone who actually participated but I don’t remember who. There is one very funny part where everyone sings Harry Belafonte‘s Dayo.

[quote] What I learned was that Waylon Jennings is a racist

You would think that Jennings would have learned to stop saying bad things after this:

[quote] When Holly learned that his bandmates had given up their seats on the plane and had chosen to take the bus rather than fly, a friendly banter between Holly and Jennings ensued, and it would come back to haunt Jennings for decades to follow: Holly jokingly told Jennings, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up!" Jennings jokingly replied, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes!"

[quote]there’s footage of her with someone who actually participated but I don’t remember who.

Huey Lewis

Those egos were not checked at the door. Doesn’t sound like it at all.

R318, Madonna presented at the American Music Awards that night, with Huey Lewis and lost the Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist award to Cyndi Lauper. According to Nile Rodgers, who produced the "Like a Virgin" album, Madonna was deeply hurt that she wasn't invited to the WATW recording session, and while he went to off to join Michael, Quincy, and the gang, Madonna went to his girlfriend's house with Sean Penn.

Months later, she was invited to sing at Live Aid and even joined the Thompson Twins for stretch. But when she was asked to join the all-star finale of WATW, her attitude was, "I wasn't good enough to sing on the record, so I'm not singing in the finale!" and left beforehand.

Madonna looks fantastic in the pic at r322.

There's another ongoing thread here about Madonna and her spate of plastic surgery in recent years. The photo above proves that with good skincare, diet/exercise, and a slight nip/tuck when needed she could have continued to look fantastic into her 50s and beyond. Not the horror show she's become.

I'd seen clips before of Dylan standing among all the "stars", looking uncomfortable and lost, not singing... and was always curious. He seemed stoned, or fish-out-of-water, or bored, or mentally ill...

But the documentary explained: Quincy Jones had asked the group to sing the chorus again (all being filmed, the assembled on risers) but wanted them to sing in unison in the same octave... so Jones asked those singers who could not hit the higher notes of the chores just simply not to sing. Dylan, whose range is certainly limited, did not sing. I suppose some singers might have chosen to lip-synch, but Dylan just stood there... not playing to the cameras.

I did love that Wonder needed to imitate Dylan's voice and give him a clue as to how to sing that small section. Dylan had likely never had to sing, impromptu, with other singers on a song unknown to him. And certainly, he didn't "fit" into pop music well (witness some of his silliest albums, Infidels et. al. of the 80s). Some don't "get" Dylan... but he won the Nobel Prize for literature and his "music" was primarily folk/American songbook melodies. Not really attracting interest of pop music fans... even today, or especially today.

I liked Lauper at the time, but here she was horrid. Bleating like a goat unwillingly receiving anal sex. I hated Journey at the time, but Steve Perry certainly had chops... beautiful clear tone. Springsteen did sort of take over the song... and delivered the Springsteen product on command. Hard to see into the decade from this vantage point with success/notoriety record sales (MJ, Prince) in the rest of the decade and the 90s, but he was the biggest music star of the time.

Cyndi, Dionne, and Bruce are my favorite parts of that song.

"The Greatest Night in Pop." SO embarrassing--does anyone on earth (except the late MJ) refer to "Pop"????

And the song is not even a song. It's a shitty jingle. I admire Prince for refusing to participate.

Madonna stole the show at Live Aid. She's was the center of media attention in all the press coverage.

Why Cyndi over Madonna?

We're they hoping she'd show up with Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man??

[quote]John Denver, by all accounts, was an asshole drunk.

I waited on him about 4 months before he was killed. Very drunk, very fun, easy to wait on, extremely good tipper, over 35 %.

How about some hands across America?

R327 that was right after Penthouse published her nudes. I remember that when she performed there she said, I ain't taking off shit today. That performance made her white hot.

There were dueling nudie pictorials of Madonna in Penthouse and Playboy, so she was at the center of a media frenzy, which landed the young upstart front and center on People magazine's coverage of Live Aid.

Madonna got all the attention.

Ok Madonna fangurls, enough. She's not in this thing. Let's discuss those who were THERE. I'm surprised Smokey didn't get a solo. Or did he?

No solo for Smokey, I thought the same thing r334

They could have given one of Michael's lines to Smokey

Michael's part in the song is iconic. He's the only one who should've sung that part.

Janet should've been there over La Toya.

That is a great photo linked at r332. Seeing Mick and his good friend Tina makes me sentimental. When will we ever see Bob Dylan with his arms wrapped around Madonna again? Never. Hall & Oates clearly having a moment, actually their biggest moment, posing with all of these pop music giants.

r338 Janet was not pretentious enough to claim she spoke for the world. And it was a lousy song.

The transition from Steve Perry to Darryl Hall, documented here.

Steve: yes, he's talented, but his voice was extra hot that night. He sang so effortlessly. Take after take, due to Darryl Hall not getting his part right. (He had to keep repeating his part because of Darryl.)

Darryl: intimidated by Steve, I think. Had to bring his sheet music to remember his one line of lyrics. Going way overboard. Looking and sounding ridiculous.

The comments in the video I posted at R341 are hilarious.

Bruce Springsteen admiring Steve Perry's voice.

Huey Lewis laughing during Kenny Loggins, but then serious during Steve Perry.

Steve was hot that night!!!

I like Bruce and Tina but they had some of their worst music in the 80's. I hated 'Born in the USA' and 'Private Dancer' and 'You Better Be Good To Me' which were played constantly.

Does anyone remember Sun City, with a glowering Bono?

I'll have you all know that the greatest night in pop history was when my dear Alfred proposed and I became Mrs. Pepsi Cola!

^Don’t fuck with her, fellas!

Then there's this version. I wonder how many people ( other than Tony Bennett) Barbra actually knew.

And this one from Broadway. It's a good thing the singers were identified, because, otherwise, most would not know who they were.

Bump. I just watched this last night. Quick takes: Lionel Richie seems like a talented cheeseball, but affable. Quincy Jones is a genius. Sad to see Michael Jackson right before he became a total wacko. Bruce Springsteen's voice was horrible! He seemed exhausted. But still managed to perform on command. Poor Bob Dylan looked like he wanted to hide under a rock. Waylon Jennings just walking away when they began to talk about singing in Swahili Dionne Warwick yelling for a fishburger! Huey Lewis seemed like a nice guy and down to earth. Steve Perry has a great voice. LOL at the anecdote about people confiscating wine from Al Jarreau. They had to record him before he passed out. Oh dear. Cyndi Lauper seemed like an arrogant buffoon. Was Billy Joel almost crying when Bob Geldof was discussing the reason for the recording? FISHBURGER!!

Why was one hit wonder Kim Carnes there?

Bob Dylan looked demented!

Bump

BUMP

Barbra doing Diana Ross’ lines in that remake. I always wondered if Ross reveled in Babs covering her for a change.