The Greatest Night in Pop (We Are the World documentary) (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Since the Steve Martin docu got its own thread, i figured this one deserved one as well .




Finished watching the Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in Pop about the making of the We are The World song in 1985… Magnificent… If you enjoy a good nostalgia trip every once in a while, like I do, it’s a pretty extraordinary film… If I could think of any more adjectives, I would use them,… Some of my personal favorite moments:

• Paul Simon, turning to all of the gathered superstars in the room, every big name in the music industry at that time, and saying “holy sheete, if a bomb hits this place tonight, John Denver is back on top”

• Diana Ross walking up to freaking Daryl Hall of all people, and saying “I am your biggest fan, would you mind signing my music sheet?”

• another take away for me is that no human being in the history of mankind has ever looked, or felt, or acted as out of place, as Bob Dylan seem to be in that room on that night .

• Steve Perry giving notes to Huey Lewis on how to hang vocally with Cyndi Lauper

• Huey Lewis has a hairy back… At one point he says, “hearing all of those voices in the room, made the hair stand up on my back”

• Sheila E being used, asked to be a part of it as a conduit to try and get Prince to come to the recording, which he never did.. so Huey Lewis replaced him for that solo line… I was today years old when I learned about this

• Has there ever been a more beautiful woman on earth than Diana Ross in her prime ?

One other thing i found odd is that Dan Ackroyd was included in the recording and is featured a lot in the documentary.. i realize that Ghostbusters was huge at that time- but wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Ray Parker Jr there, who sang the song- rather than Ackroyd who was in the movie ??

 

[sonicboom]

Great song, good memories.

Was this the video?




They did some Banana Boat song in there.

Cyndi Lauper part at the 30 minute mark.

To bad Bob Marley didn't make it to 85.

 

[superchuck500]

Man, I thought we talked about this. Yes, it's awesome - highly recommend watching it.

Mad respect for Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones, those two had unique skill sets that made it all happen.

 

[superchuck500]

A few of my favorite moments:

- It was adorable when Bob Dylan, looking very vulnerable and feeling out of place, softly asked Stevie Wonder to help him work out his part. There were a lot of suggestions being thrown his way and Bob looked confused, then he just goes "Stevie, can you please help me" - and Stevie Wonder (who we all know is a musical genius ) says "just do this" and he mimics a Dylan voice perfectly. Bob then nails his part.

- When Cyndi Lauper sang her part, the production booth says "we're getting a weird noise on the track", I immediately said to my wife "it's her damn jewelry!" . . . and after a few minutes of investigating the noise, they determined that it was indeed her jewelry clanging around when she sang.

- Jeffery Osborne getting too drunk (Lionel says "Jeff wanted to celebrate before we had even done the thing!") and so they get Huey Lewis to pinch-hit Osborne's part, and Huey nails it.

- Stevie Wonder trying to get them to sing Swahili on the track and suggesting some bars . . . prompting Waylon Jennings to walk out saying he isn't going to sing Swahili (although a more complete account of what he says is that he was tired and said "it's 3 in the morning, I can barely sing English at this point"). But it did prompt Quincy Jones to step in an bring greater control to the room - having too many chefs in the kitchen messing with the song was going to be a disaster and this was the pivot point where Jones became more assertive.

 

[efil4stnias]

A few of my favorite moments:

- It was adorable when Bob Dylan, looking very vulnerable and feeling out of place, softly asked Stevie Wonder to help him work out his part. There were a lot of suggestions being thrown his way and Bob looked confused, then he just goes "Stevie, can you please help me" - and Stevie Wonder (who we all know is a musical genius ) says "just do this" and he mimics a Dylan voice perfectly. Bob then nails his part.

- When Cyndi Lauper sang her part, the production booth says "we're getting a weird noise on the track", I immediately said to my wife "it's her damn jewelry!" . . . and after a few minutes of investigating the noise, they determined that it was indeed her jewelry clanging around when she sang.

- Jeffery Osborne getting too drunk (Lionel says "Jeff wanted to celebrate before we had even done the thing!") and so they get Huey Lewis to pinch-hit Osborne's part, and Huey nails it.

- Stevie Wonder trying to get them to sing Swahili on the track and suggesting some bars . . . prompting Waylon Jennings to walk out saying he isn't going to sing Swahili (although a more complete account of what he says is that he was tired and said "it's 3 in the morning, I can barely sing English at this point"). But it did prompt Quincy Jones to step in an bring greater control to the room - having too many chefs in the kitchen messing with the song was going to be a disaster and this was the pivot point where Jones became more assertive.

Diana Ross- crying at the end because she didnt want it all to end ( having all those peers in same room, without the egos, just being people/friends ) was really poignant.

But the whole thing was a fantastic insight into how musical magic happens.

Oh and Lionel at MJs house with the python hissing in his ear. lolol. MJ was an eccentric fella even early in his career.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Dan Ackroyd being there has to be one of music's greatest mysteries

I've never heard any real explanation about how it happened

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

A few of my favorite moments:

- It was adorable when Bob Dylan, looking very vulnerable and feeling out of place, softly asked Stevie Wonder to help him work out his part. There were a lot of suggestions being thrown his way and Bob looked confused, then he just goes "Stevie, can you please help me" - and Stevie Wonder (who we all know is a musical genius ) says "just do this" and he mimics a Dylan voice perfectly. Bob then nails his part.

- When Cyndi Lauper sang her part, the production booth says "we're getting a weird noise on the track", I immediately said to my wife "it's her damn jewelry!" . . . and after a few minutes of investigating the noise, they determined that it was indeed her jewelry clanging around when she sang.

- Jeffery Osborne getting too drunk (Lionel says "Jeff wanted to celebrate before we had even done the thing!") and so they get Huey Lewis to pinch-hit Osborne's part, and Huey nails it.

- Stevie Wonder trying to get them to sing Swahili on the track and suggesting some bars . . . prompting Waylon Jennings to walk out saying he isn't going to sing Swahili (although a more complete account of what he says is that he was tired and said "it's 3 in the morning, I can barely sing English at this point"). But it did prompt Quincy Jones to step in an bring greater control to the room - having too many chefs in the kitchen messing with the song was going to be a disaster and this was the pivot point where Jones became more assertive.

Great stuff.. in re to the Jeffrey Osborne thing- i thought that was Al Jarreau ? They were both there , and i know Jarreau got really drunk to where it was kinda a problem- but it’s possible that the Osborne thing happened as well.. otherwise totally en pointe, and really interesting to see all the musical geniuses along with their various quirks and idiosyncrasies .

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Dan Ackroyd being there has to be one of music's greatest mysteries

I've never heard any real explanation about how it happened

I saw somehting recently that might help explain Ackroyd’s presence, kinda.. in an interview i saw with Lionel Ritchie where he was promoting the docu, he mentioned how “cool” Ackroyd was at the time with Ghostbusters being a relatively new movie.. but someone else mentioned what i had forgot- which is that Ackroyd and Belushi had a hit song a few years earlier with the cover they did (Soul Man , i think ?) in the Blues Brothers.. so ‘technically’, Ackroyd would have qualified as a singer for purposes of that evening .

 

[BarBar]

Oh yeah it was awesome!!! I don't even like the song but it was a real logistical feat. Musically, it was really interesting how they spent a lot of time assigning vocal parts to each singer according to their range and skillset, too.

All the parts mentioned above were great plus the part where Michael tracked some solo vocals. He may have been a creep, but what a voice. Really a special talent.

The Doc is just really well done and goes by really quick.

I also recommend the Quincy Jones doc. I learned a lot about him that I didn't know. All his work with Jazz and Sinatra....etc.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

As far as Ackroyd, I recently read this.
Never been to that site before, so I don’t know how credible it is.

The Story Of How Dan Aykroyd Ended Up In The 'We Are The World' Video Has A NH Connection

I've always wondered how Dan Aykroyd ended up in that video. I found out by reading New Hampshire magazine. The night 'We Are The World' was released and

shark1053.com

 

[Zack Lee]

Has there ever been a more beautiful woman on earth than Diana Ross in her prime ?

I had a huge crush on her when I was a kid. She had me ready to come out by the time I was nine (although I’m sure I thought that meant turning off Pac-Man on the 2600 and going to play kickball).

 

[Optimus Prime]

• Has there ever been a more beautiful woman on earth than Diana Ross in her prime ?

It's funny you posted this. I have just recently been re-evaluating my opinion of Ms. Ross

I didn't use to think that she was beautiful

To be clear, I never thought she was unattractive, she obviously wasn't. But to me Mary Wilson was clearly the 'hot one' (to this day, to me I think Mary Wilson is one most beautiful women I've ever seen)

But not long ago I've come across some pictures of Diana in the 80s and it's like a switch went off

For some reason, she's now gone to 'not unattractive' to smokin' hot

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

It's funny you posted this. I have just recently been re-evaluating my opinion of Ms. Ross

I didn't use to think that she was beautiful

To be clear, I never thought she was unattractive, she obviously wasn't. But to me Mary Wilson was clearly the 'hot one' (to this day, to me I think Mary Wilson is one most beautiful women I've ever seen)

But not long ago I've come across some pictures of Diana in the 80s and it's like a switch went off

For some reason, she's now gone to 'not unattractive' to smokin' hot

.




I believe she just celebrated her 80th bday, like yesterday .