In 1985, dozens of singers held a vigil in California while recording a charity single for famine relief in Ethiopia.Or as Lionel Richie would say great night of popNetflix's Nostalgia Trip Documentary About the Making of We Are the World: “The greatest artists of a generation come together, putting all their egos and talents on the line, and some… It saved my life.”
This huge musical collaboration, produced by Quincy Jones and written by Richie and Michael Jackson, was still being written ten days before the recording session. However, the schedules of artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Harry Belafonte, Bette Midler, Tina Turner, and Billy Joel were only compatible for short periods due to the American Music Awards. Ta. There was little time to make much history.Here are some of the best stories great night of popinvolving everything from the King of Pop's pet snake to Stevie Wonder's Bob Dylan impression.
When Lionel Richie visited Michael Jackson's house to work on a song, Richie declined his invitation to hold his chimpanzee Bubbles. One day he was surprised to find a big fight going on between the talking bird and the dog downstairs. But when Richie turned around, he saw the “biggest fucking snake.” Mr. Jackson was excited because his pet seemed to have gotten lost in the room. “He heard us singing and came out,” he told Richie. “He wanted to meet you. He wants to say hello to you.” But Richie was too busy shouting. “I had seen this horror movie and it didn't end well for the brothers,” Ritchie recalls.
“We Are the World'' brought together music's biggest stars, many of them from the American Music Awards ceremony. After everyone was in position, Kenny Loggins remembers Paul Simon joking, “Wow, if a bomb drops here, John Denver will be back on top.”
At one point during recording, Stevie Wonder suddenly requested that some of the lyrics be sung in Swahili, but this late-night suggestion was too much for Jennings. One cameraman remembers hearing Jennings say: I think he can get out of here,” he said, heading for the door. Wonder was later informed that Ethiopians did not speak Swahili, and Bob Geldof also personally persuaded him to drop the idea. (Michael Jackson's suggestion to coin the words “Sha La'' and “Sha Lin Gay'' to get “a cultural thing in there'' was also later abandoned.)
During a break between takes, Ray Charles told Stevie Wonder that he needed to go to the bathroom. As Wonder grabbed Charles by the arm and led him there, the rest of the room began to murmur at the irony of the blind man really leading the blind man. This wasn't the first Vision-related joke of the night. Earlier, during an impromptu cover of “Day-O” dedicated to Harry Belafonte, Wonder drew laughs by changing some of the lyrics and singing about “being sent home.” Me or Ray? ”
At one point in the evening, Ross walked up to Darryl Hall and declared that she was his “biggest fan.”she asked him to sign I picked up the sheet music and suddenly everyone was walking around asking for autographs, like I had a yearbook on the last day of school.
Prince's collaborator and on-and-off girlfriend called him during the recording to tell him they were all having a good time. (Prince had told Richie on the phone that he would do the guitar solo in another room.) But while Sheila E. was waiting for her turn to sing the verse, she became disillusioned with the fact that she kept being asked about Prince. I had doubts. That they had kept her there just to see if he would show up. “I already knew he wouldn't come because there would be too many people and he would feel uncomfortable. I said to Lionel, 'I'm going,'” she recalls. “They weren't going to let me sing the verses, so it was a little heartbreaking.”
Roper was rarely seen. She told Richie backstage at the AMAs that her boyfriend didn't think “We Are the World” would be a hit. And once the recording started, her microphone kept picking up strange background noises like people talking. “Well, I don't think it's funny. You better stop laughing when I'm singing,” Lauper recalled saying, but Quincy Jones later said that the cause was actually that she was wearing I noticed that all of the gems that I bought had it. “Oh, I'm sorry… oh, I'm in trouble,” she said, quickly starting to take off her necklace and bracelet. “So much for the costume,” Jones joked to the amused room.
Lewis was asked to sing the part originally written for Prince, but recalls being “insanely nervous” about playing the role. There were many singers around her that she respected, so she was nervous when she was asked on the spot to play a three-part harmony part that wasn't in the demo. But with a little patience and humor (“I sang it off-key to see if anyone would notice”), he made it.
According to Richie, Jarreau kept asking for more wine because he wanted to celebrate before the song ended. Richie smoothly steals the bottle and carries it out of the room, suggesting that enough damage has already been done. “We had to work hard to get Al's girlfriend role before Al could no longer remember her own role,” he says.
During most of the recording session, Dylan seemed overwhelmed by the crowd. His eyes flicked awkwardly from side to side over and over again, and when it was his turn to sing alone, his voice came out weakly. But he finally started grinning after Stevie Wonder imitated him and sang his part. Eventually, without a packed room and able to sing with Wonder on the piano and Quincy Jones on the podium, Dylan felt more confident in delivering his lyrics.
Vocal arranger Tom Baylor remembers hearing her crying after the other artists left. The reason: “Quincy said, “Diana, are you okay?'' And she said, “I don't want it to end like this.'' ”