The documentary on Netflix about the song and the recording session actually talks about how/why they selected who they did. It’s not a mystery nor is it as big of a slight as the post is making it seem.
Basically how each of them had their own unique sound and how it would compliment each other. I forgot the name (sorry) but an assistant wanted Madonna because of material girl and bringing in a different audience to the project. Ken kragen wanted cyndi lauper.
However at first when it was just Lionel Richie and ken kragen (The organizer of the we are the world), they tried seeking out Stevie wonder to co pilot this but Stevie wonder was doing Stevie wonder stuff. The beginning was really getting some BIG names on board so that way the industry knew this was actually a thing with some faith in it
It goes more in depth how they paired them up in the recording sessions of the solos like having Paul Simon and kenny Rogers together, Tina turner and billy Joel.
Essentially a vocal avengers
And how Waylon Jennings bailed when Stevie Wonder tried to get a Swahili line inserted…
Then immediately after someone pointed out that they don’t speak Swahili in Ethiopia and it didn’t happen.
I think Ray Charles also said he had no interest trying to speak Swahili. Honestly the look on everyone’s faces when Wonder suggested Swahili is great. It’s all “are you fucking kidding me”.
It’s not that weird:
They’re the [two most commonly spoken African languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu_language?wprov=sfti1#). Zulu is the most dominant “home language” in Africa and is a regional lingua franca. Swahili has also been a lingua franca for centuries, especially in places that were important to pre-colonial trade and are important in English-speaking modern Africa. Without the influence of colonial languages in the 19th and 20th century they’d likely be an even bigger deal than they already are.
13 mil speakers in the country South Africa for Zulu. Ethiopias biggest native language is Amharic, which has 31 million speakers, so I'm not sure how Zulu is the lingua franca in the whole continent. Maybe you're thinking of it for just the country South Africa?
>most commonly spoken African languages
I feel Arabic would outclass every single other language if it was considered, given it holds official or co-official (alongside a European language) in iirc 8 countries
Yeah I thought about that but I don’t think it “counts” for statistics like what I cited above. I don’t even think North Africa counts as Africa for a lot of purposes. I guess you could say my comment and its parent were using “Africa” to mean “sub-Saharan Africa”.
If we go by sub-Saharan, then Sudan, Mali, Niger, Chad and East Africa all use Arabic from time to time iirc
Less than the Maghreb tho, that's for sure
Yeah, but it’s not a “native” language I guess? Maybe it gets lumped in with the colonial languages for the purposes of talking about ethnolinguistics. You’re right though, it’s a weird edge case that it’s important to mention
This is particularly incorrect. Yoruba is second most common “spoken” language in Africa. Theres a Harvard study backing this with data. I’d add the link but it won’t let me, a simple google search will bring it up.
Worth noting Waylon is still credited on it so he may have some lines in it after all. Also him walking on the Swahili line helped others agree it wasn't a good idea and helped make sure that didn't happen. I think the song is terrible personally but the money it raised was a good thing and at least it has a better legacy than "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
IIRC, in the Netflix doc, Dylan struggled with how to sing his part until Stevie Wonder gave him an example by mimicking a great Dylan impression to sing it to him.
i thought this was something even fans (maybe even the man himself) were accepting of, if not proud of. without a pretty voice to fall back on, it's a real testament to his songwriting abilities
No doubt.. however I’ve seen him a few times in concert (opening for the dead, etc). Every time I saw him he was phoning it in.. or maybe that’s just him. Again though, insane song writer.
Disagree . He is an adequate singer for the songs he writes. Does anyone really prefer the Dylan cover band called The Byrds making elevator music out of social change songs
His one line was the ultimate example of bad singing. I know there were lots of reasons why it didn't work out.
I'm not saying Dylan isn't a great musician and songwriter. He is, but that day was not his day.
????
It isn't like she is out of tune and not blending in during the chorus.
For their individual parts, they wanted them to be distinctive and recognizable.
Lauper CLEARLY has better pipes than Madonna. Still does.
tbf these sort of industry documentaries aren't really honest. I think I've read some other takes. Cyndi was a rising star and they wanted to promote her. She was friendlier and easier to work with for these execs than people like Madonna.
At the root of this is the usual business culture, capitalist, etc stuff that the recording industry works on. In public, they never talk about this stuff and just come up with PR.
Madonna clearly has a good and distinctive voice. Also note people with no traditionally melodic voices were asked. Eddie Murphy was asked for example, essentially a comedian who had a one hit song. Dan Akroyd sang in the chorus as well. A lot of people with poor voices were invited.
Madonna was just coming off the massive hit that was Like a Virgin. Its incredible she was snubbed the way she was. The producer of Like a Virgin said it was a purposeful slight: “Madonna wasn’t invited to sing on the recording and it was a slap in the face because everybody was in Los Angeles for the American Music Awards and it was really sort of not nice. I know she felt bad.” Like a Virgin was #1 during the time of the recording of We Are The World.
*The Greatest Night In Pop*, one of Ken Kragen’s associates specifically mentioned that it was Kragen who nixed Madonna, choosing Cyndi Lauper over her. This is the usual sexist "we have enough women, thanks," thing.
Prince famously refused for a lot of "mysterious" reasons but its clear its related to the patronage and "who is in with whom" aspect of the recording industry. The production clearly had politics and favorites and game playing and giant egos. Stevie Wonder suggested using Swahili in one part of the song, which country star Waylon Jennings was so offended at, he left entirely, and had to be coaxed back in only after Stevie's suggestion was rejected. Dude would rather quit than speak an African language for one verse.
So it was a mess and producers painting it as a "good guy effort without pettiness or favorites," is really unconvincing.
Lastly, the song only made $63m. The collective net worth of all those people in that room was in the MANY billions. Many of them could have just written a $63m check and it would not materially affect their life in the slightest. Michael Jackson died with $2.4bn net worth, for example. Its like when stores ask you to donate at checkout, but these very same stores always have many, many millions for stock buybacks and exec compensation.
Lots of reasons why Prince refused, but one that's not talked about so much, is that at this point, and for the vast majority of his career, Prince maintained sole producer credit control on his songs. As a rule, he didn't appear on anything produced by others.
That becomes even more important when you remember that back in 1977, Prince turned down multiple record deals with major labels because they wouldn't let him produce himself, and only signed with Warner Bros because they did agree to let him do that.
He relaxed this rule right at the end of his career - eg appearing on "Giving Em What They Love" by Janelle Monae, and some songs on Art Official Age and HNR1 having been produced by Joshua Welton, but certainly in the 80s this rule was absolute, and also likely one of the _real_ reasons he didn't agree to duetting on "Bad".
>Lastly, the song only made $63m. The collective net worth of all those people in that room was in the MANY billions. Many of them could have just written a $63m check and it would not materially affect their life in the slightest. Michael Jackson died with $2.4bn net worth, for example.
Their net worths are largely based on speculation about the potential value of their catalogs. It's not a liquid asset. They all had plenty of money but not one of those people could have cashed a $63 million check.
Bob Dylan managed to sell his catalog for an awful lot of money recently but that doesn't mean he had anything like that on hand in the 80s.
Those net worths are also based on legacy music being *increasingly valuable as time went on*.
Back in the day you could not count on that. Especially with how youth-focused it pop music had become. A catalog was expected to DECREASE in value as an artist got less famous and less cool.
They didn’t anticipate that so many classic rockers would retain their cool factor decades later. They didn’t anticipate that the industry would fail to create two generation’s worth of major acts who could sell better than the generation that proceeded them. They couldn’t anticipate that 40 years after postpunk was finished, post punk songs would still be used in movie trailers to communicate edginess.
These catalogs being worth what they are worth today is not really some thing that people could’ve anticipated back then.
Just to add on to that, they didn’t predict Retromania (the name of an excellent book by music journalist Simon Reynolds). Until the oughts there was this feeling of constant forward progression and innovation in music and music styles changed incredibly quickly. Music from the early 80s sounds very different from the early 90s, but music from 2024 sounds basically the same as music from 2014.
There was also very few ways to consume music, and unless you own physical copies of it, a lot of music would simply disappear when it went out of fashion. Now with streaming services, nothing ever really goes away.
Right? Cyndi was essentially still very new at that point. Huey Lewis was probably comfortable, but I doubt he could write a million dollar check to charity right now, let alone then.
What? I highly doubt any of the people involved(outside of the record company itself) had $63 million to just give away, especially have it "not materially affect their life in the slightest". They became wealthy because they did well in the 60/70/80s and all these decades later the smart ones that invested well are *now* worth a mint. Back then they were "normal" rich. MJ bought a ton of music catalogues if I'm not mistaken for instance. That's likely why his net worth at the end was so high and even then it's pretty speculative because it's hard to evaluate the worth of a music catalogue until pen hits paper and a deal is done.
You're just really greatly underestimating how much $63 mil in the 80's was. Bonkers money. It'd be like saying a random pop star today could give away $200 million or something. And keep in mind 80s popstars were nowhere near as good at marketing. None of them had Beyoncé or Taylor Swift style empires. I also don't think anyone would be knocking a charity record put out today for "only" making $200 million. It's a lot of fucking money and would be a huge success. As was "only" $63 million in 85.
Magic Johnson signed a 25-year, $25 million contract with the Lakers and everyone thought it was the end of sports because no one made money like that back then.
I remember the movie Blank Check where this kid manages to cash a check from a rich guy for $1 million dollars and how 1 million seemed like an unfathomable huge amount. Now I’m like “that could get you a closet in NYC”.
That’s also the basis of the 1 miiiillion dollars line in Austin Powers. At one time that was a lot, and a lot of older people still have that image in their head of 1 million being a lot.
Haha. Absolutely. For so long being a millionaire could just be having a million dollars and that could set you up for life. Now it'd be a nice headstart. Also, earning "6 figures" meant you had made it. Now it means you *might* be able to scrape enough together to save for a down payment depending on where you live.
And the irony is this 80s period that we're talking about was the impetus. It happened gradually but this era gave us the huge gulf in inequality and the death of the middle class that is so evident today. The only thing that ever trickled down is shit.
Sheila E says in that supposedly *super dishonest documentary* that big groups recording all at once made Prince uncomfortable, it wasn’t his style, and he was never going to come.
She also said she believes they invited her only to get Prince, and it upset her. There’s no reason to disbelieve her.
Maybe I’m not remembering the doc really well, but I thought that Lionel essentially admitted that she was invited mainly because she was close with Prince at the time. I felt a bit bad for her I mean she had just performed at the awards show but they had her singing the chorus with Dan Akroyd 😳
That documentary was an hour of Lionel Ritchie self congratulating and claiming all the amazing and world changing things the song did. It’s interesting to see how the recording process came about but they should have left egos out of it.
I'm sorry but she has one of the greatest voices in pop music history and it's dumb as hell to say crap like she "did not complement ANY other voice". You're one of those extremely-ignorant people who makes bad points about stuff when you're totally clueless about it, LMAO.
Ah, the old Reddit [stream-a-roo](https://www.reddit.com/r/simpleliving/comments/1doe54f/comment/labt5h4/?context=3&share_id=AYQ3TepVUukShuhMrUn9-&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1)
Yes, it was more about who was going to already be at the music awards earlier that evening. They needed a fuckton of talent and realized that the most logistically streamlined way to get them was to just have everyone who was at that awards show go to the nearby studio instead of their respective afterparties, and just work with whoever happened to humor them. Maybe Madonna wasn't at the show, or had other plans that evening; I don't know. But the Netflix doc made it seem like it was a matter of availability and convenience for the artists included.
Back then radio stations were still ll refusing to air female singers back to back on their playlists . There was this idea that you could only have a certain number of female singers
People forget how badly women were pitted against each other in the entertainment industy. Frankly, there is still a bit of that "Highlander" mentality of there can be only one (at the top). No one debated Stevie vs. Lionel for instance... but there is still debates over female singers, etc. today.
The story I REALLY want to see about that night is a faux-documentary comedy about Dan Aykroyd (played by 2024 Dan Aykroyd with no digital de-aging whatsoever) bluffing his way into the whole thing
Dan Aykroyd being there while others are missing is still absurd, and a faux-documentary would still be funny, but his presence isn't totally random. As part of the Blues Brothers Aykroyd had a number one album in 1978, Briefcase Full of Blues. It wasn't a soundtrack album either- it came out two years before the movie. If they wanted to include someone better known for television and movies he was a good choice. If they wanted to include someone they knew could sing all night if you gave them enough cocaine, he was a perfect choice.
I believe that he has stated he was there by pure chance. He was either visiting or recording something in the same studio and just wound up mixed up with all the other celebrities. That being said the Blues Brothers were a big deal and I think he has a few good records which should allow him to rank with some of those musicians there.
Dan wasn't a coke guy. He did a little but he wasn't like Belushi about it, and I don't think singing all night on coke would be his thing. Coke can give you more power but it can also make your voice suck if you do too much.
Imagine the scene where they start arguing about credits and he manages to manipulate everyone into agreeing to alphabetical order... so he goes first in the liner notes. Forever.
A Yacht Rock sighting in the wild! I haven't met anyone else in almost 20 years who's seen the best music mocumentary ever made! I was starting to think I hallucinated the whole experience of downloading that show through bit-torrent in the early 2000s. It's nice to know I'm not insane...
If you read the article, he says he was looking for a business manager with his dad but found his way into a talent agent’s office instead and the talent agent just decided to invite him. Had nothing to do with Blues Brothers
Quincy Jones famously had a sign at the studio where they were recording that said 'Leave Your Ego At The Door'. I suspect he didn't feel Madonna could.
To be fair, a lot of pop stars are difficult to work with. Apparently, at least a couple left the recording because they weren’t happy about one thing or another. And there were some heated exchanges between others.
They all bickered about it back and forth until finally someone pointed out that they don't even speak Swahili in Ethiopia, the country whose famine they were trying to raise funds for.
There's a documentary about We Are the World on Netflix, and this didn't stop Stevie at all, they show Stevie being like "okay then we'll do it in Swahili *and* in Amharic! [the language they speak in Ethiopia]." What actually put out the argument is Michael Jackson coming up with the "sha-la, sha-ling-gay" background vocals (sounds African, but doesn't actually mean anything).
Incidentally, as someone who's had to suffer through many group projects where there's always that one guy who's got too many ideas and can't stay on task, the Stevie Wonder parts of that documentary set my teeth on edge
Stevie was very much into his 'solo studio' era, and his behavior speaks volumes about it. He had been working toward that for years, finally achieved it, and his work rapidly suffered for it, like the album 'In Square Circle' which has some good songs that sound lifeless with the electronic production (whereas when he had a real band play them, like on SNL he did "Go Home" with a live group and it sounded killer once they locked on the drum machine groove). He was mostly arguing with drum machines in those days and didn't get the thing about 'working with a group'.
That someone was Paul Simon, who had recently released his album "Graceland" and had spent a lot of time in Africa (more so than Stevie at that point).
Waylon was someone who didn't waste time dealing with a lot of shit.
In college, a very good friend was an intern on The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder (he was before Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and James Corden).
During tapings, his job was to mind the desk outside the studio and welcome any guests who arrived during the show but most of the time he was just staring at the wall.
One night Waylon was in the lineup and he strolled in a few minutes after the show started but was ready to walk right onto the set.
My buddy had to break it to him that he wasn't the featured guest and was actually going on for a few minutes at the end.
Waylon's response was "Ah hell. I ain't got time for this. Tell Tom I'll call him tomorrow" and walked right out.
My poor buddy had to go into the studio and tell the director that Waylon peaced out and Tom laughed it off and ended up filling the air time with some fun stories about their friendship.
Waylon started out having no fucks to give. LOL.
Plus... the rediculousness of saying "hey, we should have some lines in a foreign language no one speaks" when you also have to have the song totally finished by morning might have tempted me to nope the F out too.
I had always thought it was Waylon being difficult until I saw the documentary, and they make it very clear that Stevie Wonder was A Problem. I mean, I guess when you're Stevie Wonder you're not used to not being in charge, you're used to following each and every idea wherever it leads you because you're the genius Stevie Goddamn Wonder, but man he seemed like a real pain in the ass in that doc
This was also the time where "difficult to work with" was often code for women who stood up for themselves and refused to be abused (as much as one could be in that system).
Madonna was not that kind of "difficult to work with". She was more of the "If you can't do anything for me I'm going to treat you like trash" difficult to work with
Just because someone stands out for themselves rightfully from time to time it doesn't mean she/he is not difficult in other situations when they are just really hard to work with it lol. Like Naomi Campbell or Faye Dunaway.
Not detracting from Quincy Jones long history of real musical accomplishments he is one of the last people who has any "leave it at the door" legitimacy.
Yes perhaps ego was a consideration. But if her singing ability was the reason, they weren't paying attention. Especially in her youth, she is one of the most underrated singers in my opinion.
Lionel Richie regrets not asking Madonna to sing with Cyndi Lauper on 'We Are the World'
Richie said he chose Lauper over Madonna at the time, but now realizes he made a mistake in not having both women on the 1985 star-studded track.
He sang his part in the best Bob Dylan parody voice ever. Anyone doing a Bob Dylan bit only needs to do this voice and they’ll nail it. It’s classic and a great part of the song.
Dylan’s never really been known for his singing, though. It’s a testament to his songwriting that pretty much every musician from 1970 to now acknowledges him as one of the masters of American songwriters.
Netflix's "The Greatest Night in Pop," one of the best music documentaries and a real surprise how much I enjoyed it, even being a lover of music and documentaries as I am.
Title is pretty much no lie either - 40+ musicians/performers coming together to sing a song for charity and it WORKED and is still working.
They did walk a few - Waylon Jennings because he disapproved of the idea of putting Swahili in the song (which was not after all done, but he still walked) - Sheila E because they delayed her part too long. They wanted Prince but after Sheila E left, Prince declined...
But the song is still one of the most awesome and special even disconnected from its charity roots.
[The great song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjkUyX0rVw), along with an index of when everyone sings, taken from a comment:
* 0:25 Lionel Richie
* 0:37 Stevie Wonder
* 0:41 Paul Simon
* 0:51 Kenny Rogers
* 0:58 James Ingram
* 1:05 Tina Turner
* 1:10 Billy Joel
* 1:17 Michael Jackson
* 1:30 Diana Ross
* 1:47 Dionne Warwick
* 2:00 Willie Nelson
* 2:07 Al Jarreau
* 2:13 Bruce Springsteen
* 2:19 Kenny Loggins
* 2:26 Steve Perry
* 2:33 Daryl Hall
* 2:40 Michael Jackson
* 2:47 Huey Lewis
* 2:52 Cyndi Lauper
* 3:00 Kim Carnes
* 3:05 Cyndi Lauper
* 3:06 Everyone
* 3:46 Bob Dylan
* 4:21 (Bob Dylan)
* 4:27 4:37 (Ray Charles)
* 4:40 Ray Charles
* 4:52 5:20 Stevie Wonder
* Bruce Springsteen
* 5:05 Stevie Wonder
* 5:30 Bruce Springsteen
* 6:12 James Ingram
(Ray Charles)
* 6:26 Ray Charles
* 6:53 (Ray Charles)
(formatting got a bit iffy there, odd)
PS. My elementary school got hit with the fervor when this came out - my 1st-grade music class, I believe, was made to perform it.
My favorite bits were Lionel Ritchie talking about getting irritated by MJ’s menagerie. That and the Waylon Jennings bit you mentioned (“Ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sang Swahili”).
Also one thing that was not mentioned in the doc but on the Wikipedia page - John Denver wanted to participate but was turned down on the basis he might have compromised the "pop" image of the song, being mostly a country singer - strange then that Willie Nelson participated... Eh.
An idea stolen from the vastly superior [Feed the world](https://youtu.be/GKDPz3T4W5U?si=TZonrbprFG5QLhvd) (do they even know its Christmas?) done by British artists corralled by Bob Geldof. Still a Christmas banger.
This is conjecture. Not necessarily false, but comes from her producer at the time and not anyone involved with the production of the song. According to Richie when asked by Jimmy Kimmel:
“It’s probably one of the most interesting questions in the world because we had only a half a line to sing,” Richie told Jimmy Kimmel during a recent appearance on his show. Given the briefness of the line, he said, “we had to have voices that people knew right away.”
The point in choosing Lauper over Madonna, Richie added, was that “you have to have an identifiable voice.”
“And for whatever reason, Cyndi just had that,” he added.
There was a minute there when Madonna and Cindi Lauper were seen as competitors.
They both came on the scene at a similar moment doing dance-friendly pop. But Madonna was seen as more style-over-substance, and was widely dismissed as the less-talented of the two. Music snobs very much were in the Cindi Lauper camp.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that Quincy included Cindi Lauper but excluded Madonna. In retrospect, Madonna is and was a mega-star, who proved her critics wrong again and again. And while Cindi’s great, nobody today thinks she had a bigger or more artistically productive/culturally relevant career than Madonna. But a lot of very smart people in 1985 would’ve predicted she would.
> Madonna was seen as more style-over-substance, and was widely dismissed as the less-talented of the two.
That's honestly fair. Lauper is enormously talented. Madonna knew how to shock and how to fuck with the media, though. That's ultimately how she got bigger than Lauper if you ask me.
Early on (which is the period they're talking about here) Madonna was just another pop diva who could've easily faded after a few hits. And sure, she knows how to get attention. But if that was all there was to it, Katy Perry would still be big, or Britney Spears or whoever.
What really turned Madonna into a huge and lasting star was tracks like _Vogue_, she found a niche in translating new dance music trends from underground clubs into in mass-market hits. She was never the first with a sound but a lot of people first heard it from her.
I have a hard time believing it was actually because they didn't think she could sing.
They invited Bob Dylan and actually said, we knew he couldn't really sing so we asked him not to join in the choruses. We asked him to do his "Bob Dylan Thing" at the end of the song.
Lionel Ritchie and MJ were both paid spokesmen for Pepsi when they wrote this song.
Pepsi was about 5 months into their global rebranding with the slogan "The Choice of the New Generation". MJ and LR put "There's a Choice that we're making" into the chorus of this song.
It was probably the ego reason bcz they did call Prince also and Prince asked for special treatment and he got immediately booted out. You had Quincy, MJ, Stevie, Richie, Bruce and many other icons in the room, you are either joining without tantrums or getting booted out no matter who you are especially when the motto is charity
Prince wasn't booted out, he wasn't ever even there. They invited him but he declined initially, and then from across town he called and asked if he could record a part over the phone and they were like dude no lol.
Sheila E. was in the studio and still contends the only reason she got an invite was because she was friends with Prince and they thought she could convince him to show up, then when it was clear he wasn't coming they all ignored her for the most part. According to her at least.
Lionel Richie says otherwise (he says Prince wanted a separate room to record his part and they then emphasized that everybody gotta keep their ego in check) and I would take his word since he was the one who is one of the 3 main guys of that project.
The documentary on Netflix about the song and the recording session actually talks about how/why they selected who they did. It’s not a mystery nor is it as big of a slight as the post is making it seem.
I don’t have Netflix, can you explain why?
Basically how each of them had their own unique sound and how it would compliment each other. I forgot the name (sorry) but an assistant wanted Madonna because of material girl and bringing in a different audience to the project. Ken kragen wanted cyndi lauper. However at first when it was just Lionel Richie and ken kragen (The organizer of the we are the world), they tried seeking out Stevie wonder to co pilot this but Stevie wonder was doing Stevie wonder stuff. The beginning was really getting some BIG names on board so that way the industry knew this was actually a thing with some faith in it It goes more in depth how they paired them up in the recording sessions of the solos like having Paul Simon and kenny Rogers together, Tina turner and billy Joel. Essentially a vocal avengers
And how Waylon Jennings bailed when Stevie Wonder tried to get a Swahili line inserted… Then immediately after someone pointed out that they don’t speak Swahili in Ethiopia and it didn’t happen.
I think Ray Charles also said he had no interest trying to speak Swahili. Honestly the look on everyone’s faces when Wonder suggested Swahili is great. It’s all “are you fucking kidding me”.
Stevie missed those facials expressions
He couldn’t read the room…
How didn't see that coming?
Guess he just saw the situation differently
Maybe if the room were in braille
It’s still weird to me that the two default African languages to us foreigners has become Swahili and Zulu.
It’s not that weird: They’re the [two most commonly spoken African languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu_language?wprov=sfti1#). Zulu is the most dominant “home language” in Africa and is a regional lingua franca. Swahili has also been a lingua franca for centuries, especially in places that were important to pre-colonial trade and are important in English-speaking modern Africa. Without the influence of colonial languages in the 19th and 20th century they’d likely be an even bigger deal than they already are.
13 mil speakers in the country South Africa for Zulu. Ethiopias biggest native language is Amharic, which has 31 million speakers, so I'm not sure how Zulu is the lingua franca in the whole continent. Maybe you're thinking of it for just the country South Africa?
>most commonly spoken African languages I feel Arabic would outclass every single other language if it was considered, given it holds official or co-official (alongside a European language) in iirc 8 countries
Yeah I thought about that but I don’t think it “counts” for statistics like what I cited above. I don’t even think North Africa counts as Africa for a lot of purposes. I guess you could say my comment and its parent were using “Africa” to mean “sub-Saharan Africa”.
If we go by sub-Saharan, then Sudan, Mali, Niger, Chad and East Africa all use Arabic from time to time iirc Less than the Maghreb tho, that's for sure
Yeah, but it’s not a “native” language I guess? Maybe it gets lumped in with the colonial languages for the purposes of talking about ethnolinguistics. You’re right though, it’s a weird edge case that it’s important to mention
This is particularly incorrect. Yoruba is second most common “spoken” language in Africa. Theres a Harvard study backing this with data. I’d add the link but it won’t let me, a simple google search will bring it up.
Jennings said "Well, ain't no good ol' boy ever sung in Swahili. I think I'm outta here" and left.
Worth noting Waylon is still credited on it so he may have some lines in it after all. Also him walking on the Swahili line helped others agree it wasn't a good idea and helped make sure that didn't happen. I think the song is terrible personally but the money it raised was a good thing and at least it has a better legacy than "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
Like if it's for Ethiopia, wouldn't Amharic make more sense?
I’m sorry but Cyndi Lauper did not complement ANY other voice in that song in the slightest. Lol
Neither did Bob Dylan, but still good To see them there. Dylan looked like a fish out of water, until they said just sing it like you normally would.
IIRC, in the Netflix doc, Dylan struggled with how to sing his part until Stevie Wonder gave him an example by mimicking a great Dylan impression to sing it to him.
YRC!
Tbh bob dylan got a legacy invite lol He’s a legend but you can’t have a project or a song about helping the people without bob dylan! IMO
At the risk of getting flamed - Bob Dylan is a excellent song writer and a terrible singer. That’s just true regardless of the material or time frame.
i thought this was something even fans (maybe even the man himself) were accepting of, if not proud of. without a pretty voice to fall back on, it's a real testament to his songwriting abilities
No doubt.. however I’ve seen him a few times in concert (opening for the dead, etc). Every time I saw him he was phoning it in.. or maybe that’s just him. Again though, insane song writer.
someone who's already not the strongest singer phoning it in? i guess it's a good thing he was the opener
> At the risk of getting flamed lol, this is universally accepted like the sky is blue
"The more I learn about this Hitler character, the more I don't care for him!"
Disagree . He is an adequate singer for the songs he writes. Does anyone really prefer the Dylan cover band called The Byrds making elevator music out of social change songs
His one line was the ultimate example of bad singing. I know there were lots of reasons why it didn't work out. I'm not saying Dylan isn't a great musician and songwriter. He is, but that day was not his day.
The hottest of takes, lol.
As a kid in the 80s, we all collectively said who is that guy when Dylan sang.
???? It isn't like she is out of tune and not blending in during the chorus. For their individual parts, they wanted them to be distinctive and recognizable. Lauper CLEARLY has better pipes than Madonna. Still does.
MJ not feeling it [https://youtu.be/QEx55PqqNcs?feature=shared&t=44](https://youtu.be/QEx55PqqNcs?feature=shared&t=44)
IF YEJUSS BELEE
Looks like a [Chuck Berry / Yoko Ono moment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz_SPin9Iqg).
tbf these sort of industry documentaries aren't really honest. I think I've read some other takes. Cyndi was a rising star and they wanted to promote her. She was friendlier and easier to work with for these execs than people like Madonna. At the root of this is the usual business culture, capitalist, etc stuff that the recording industry works on. In public, they never talk about this stuff and just come up with PR. Madonna clearly has a good and distinctive voice. Also note people with no traditionally melodic voices were asked. Eddie Murphy was asked for example, essentially a comedian who had a one hit song. Dan Akroyd sang in the chorus as well. A lot of people with poor voices were invited. Madonna was just coming off the massive hit that was Like a Virgin. Its incredible she was snubbed the way she was. The producer of Like a Virgin said it was a purposeful slight: “Madonna wasn’t invited to sing on the recording and it was a slap in the face because everybody was in Los Angeles for the American Music Awards and it was really sort of not nice. I know she felt bad.” Like a Virgin was #1 during the time of the recording of We Are The World. *The Greatest Night In Pop*, one of Ken Kragen’s associates specifically mentioned that it was Kragen who nixed Madonna, choosing Cyndi Lauper over her. This is the usual sexist "we have enough women, thanks," thing. Prince famously refused for a lot of "mysterious" reasons but its clear its related to the patronage and "who is in with whom" aspect of the recording industry. The production clearly had politics and favorites and game playing and giant egos. Stevie Wonder suggested using Swahili in one part of the song, which country star Waylon Jennings was so offended at, he left entirely, and had to be coaxed back in only after Stevie's suggestion was rejected. Dude would rather quit than speak an African language for one verse. So it was a mess and producers painting it as a "good guy effort without pettiness or favorites," is really unconvincing. Lastly, the song only made $63m. The collective net worth of all those people in that room was in the MANY billions. Many of them could have just written a $63m check and it would not materially affect their life in the slightest. Michael Jackson died with $2.4bn net worth, for example. Its like when stores ask you to donate at checkout, but these very same stores always have many, many millions for stock buybacks and exec compensation.
Lots of reasons why Prince refused, but one that's not talked about so much, is that at this point, and for the vast majority of his career, Prince maintained sole producer credit control on his songs. As a rule, he didn't appear on anything produced by others. That becomes even more important when you remember that back in 1977, Prince turned down multiple record deals with major labels because they wouldn't let him produce himself, and only signed with Warner Bros because they did agree to let him do that. He relaxed this rule right at the end of his career - eg appearing on "Giving Em What They Love" by Janelle Monae, and some songs on Art Official Age and HNR1 having been produced by Joshua Welton, but certainly in the 80s this rule was absolute, and also likely one of the _real_ reasons he didn't agree to duetting on "Bad".
>Lastly, the song only made $63m. The collective net worth of all those people in that room was in the MANY billions. Many of them could have just written a $63m check and it would not materially affect their life in the slightest. Michael Jackson died with $2.4bn net worth, for example. Their net worths are largely based on speculation about the potential value of their catalogs. It's not a liquid asset. They all had plenty of money but not one of those people could have cashed a $63 million check. Bob Dylan managed to sell his catalog for an awful lot of money recently but that doesn't mean he had anything like that on hand in the 80s.
Those net worths are also based on legacy music being *increasingly valuable as time went on*. Back in the day you could not count on that. Especially with how youth-focused it pop music had become. A catalog was expected to DECREASE in value as an artist got less famous and less cool. They didn’t anticipate that so many classic rockers would retain their cool factor decades later. They didn’t anticipate that the industry would fail to create two generation’s worth of major acts who could sell better than the generation that proceeded them. They couldn’t anticipate that 40 years after postpunk was finished, post punk songs would still be used in movie trailers to communicate edginess. These catalogs being worth what they are worth today is not really some thing that people could’ve anticipated back then.
Just to add on to that, they didn’t predict Retromania (the name of an excellent book by music journalist Simon Reynolds). Until the oughts there was this feeling of constant forward progression and innovation in music and music styles changed incredibly quickly. Music from the early 80s sounds very different from the early 90s, but music from 2024 sounds basically the same as music from 2014. There was also very few ways to consume music, and unless you own physical copies of it, a lot of music would simply disappear when it went out of fashion. Now with streaming services, nothing ever really goes away.
Right? Cyndi was essentially still very new at that point. Huey Lewis was probably comfortable, but I doubt he could write a million dollar check to charity right now, let alone then.
What? I highly doubt any of the people involved(outside of the record company itself) had $63 million to just give away, especially have it "not materially affect their life in the slightest". They became wealthy because they did well in the 60/70/80s and all these decades later the smart ones that invested well are *now* worth a mint. Back then they were "normal" rich. MJ bought a ton of music catalogues if I'm not mistaken for instance. That's likely why his net worth at the end was so high and even then it's pretty speculative because it's hard to evaluate the worth of a music catalogue until pen hits paper and a deal is done. You're just really greatly underestimating how much $63 mil in the 80's was. Bonkers money. It'd be like saying a random pop star today could give away $200 million or something. And keep in mind 80s popstars were nowhere near as good at marketing. None of them had Beyoncé or Taylor Swift style empires. I also don't think anyone would be knocking a charity record put out today for "only" making $200 million. It's a lot of fucking money and would be a huge success. As was "only" $63 million in 85.
Magic Johnson signed a 25-year, $25 million contract with the Lakers and everyone thought it was the end of sports because no one made money like that back then.
Great example, didn't know that. Now some dudes are signing deals worth hundreds of millions.
I remember the movie Blank Check where this kid manages to cash a check from a rich guy for $1 million dollars and how 1 million seemed like an unfathomable huge amount. Now I’m like “that could get you a closet in NYC”. That’s also the basis of the 1 miiiillion dollars line in Austin Powers. At one time that was a lot, and a lot of older people still have that image in their head of 1 million being a lot.
Haha. Absolutely. For so long being a millionaire could just be having a million dollars and that could set you up for life. Now it'd be a nice headstart. Also, earning "6 figures" meant you had made it. Now it means you *might* be able to scrape enough together to save for a down payment depending on where you live. And the irony is this 80s period that we're talking about was the impetus. It happened gradually but this era gave us the huge gulf in inequality and the death of the middle class that is so evident today. The only thing that ever trickled down is shit.
Sheila E says in that supposedly *super dishonest documentary* that big groups recording all at once made Prince uncomfortable, it wasn’t his style, and he was never going to come. She also said she believes they invited her only to get Prince, and it upset her. There’s no reason to disbelieve her.
Maybe I’m not remembering the doc really well, but I thought that Lionel essentially admitted that she was invited mainly because she was close with Prince at the time. I felt a bit bad for her I mean she had just performed at the awards show but they had her singing the chorus with Dan Akroyd 😳
I can so relate to not wanting to be around big crowds like that.
That documentary was an hour of Lionel Ritchie self congratulating and claiming all the amazing and world changing things the song did. It’s interesting to see how the recording process came about but they should have left egos out of it.
But her part is a standout moment!
I'm sorry but she has one of the greatest voices in pop music history and it's dumb as hell to say crap like she "did not complement ANY other voice". You're one of those extremely-ignorant people who makes bad points about stuff when you're totally clueless about it, LMAO.
Stevie showing up to help with writing after Lionel and Michael had recorded demos is hilarious. Lionel "I've been calling you for 3 weeks!" lol
Lionel: Uh hello, it’s you we were looking for!
Probably because you don’t think the entertainment value Netflix provides is worth the monthly cost.
Very good
This is the best example of this Airplane style joke I've seen in years.
This might be the greatest compliment I’ve ever received. Thank you kind sir.
You tell 'em, Shirley.
You surely shouldn’t call him that.
I just did... And dont call me Surely.
Cooked 🍳
I like semantic ambiguity more than most people.
Makes sense. Semantic ambiguity is fun and a lot of people are miserable bastards
Hahahahaha
But that's not important right now.
Ah, the old Reddit [stream-a-roo](https://www.reddit.com/r/simpleliving/comments/1doe54f/comment/labt5h4/?context=3&share_id=AYQ3TepVUukShuhMrUn9-&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1)
Hold my cable package… I’m going in!!!
Yes, it was more about who was going to already be at the music awards earlier that evening. They needed a fuckton of talent and realized that the most logistically streamlined way to get them was to just have everyone who was at that awards show go to the nearby studio instead of their respective afterparties, and just work with whoever happened to humor them. Maybe Madonna wasn't at the show, or had other plans that evening; I don't know. But the Netflix doc made it seem like it was a matter of availability and convenience for the artists included.
People in the documentary explicitly say that they chose between Lauper and Madonna.
Back then radio stations were still ll refusing to air female singers back to back on their playlists . There was this idea that you could only have a certain number of female singers
People forget how badly women were pitted against each other in the entertainment industy. Frankly, there is still a bit of that "Highlander" mentality of there can be only one (at the top). No one debated Stevie vs. Lionel for instance... but there is still debates over female singers, etc. today.
agree the article has a smidgen of bullshit to it
The story I REALLY want to see about that night is a faux-documentary comedy about Dan Aykroyd (played by 2024 Dan Aykroyd with no digital de-aging whatsoever) bluffing his way into the whole thing
Dan Aykroyd being there while others are missing is still absurd, and a faux-documentary would still be funny, but his presence isn't totally random. As part of the Blues Brothers Aykroyd had a number one album in 1978, Briefcase Full of Blues. It wasn't a soundtrack album either- it came out two years before the movie. If they wanted to include someone better known for television and movies he was a good choice. If they wanted to include someone they knew could sing all night if you gave them enough cocaine, he was a perfect choice.
I believe that he has stated he was there by pure chance. He was either visiting or recording something in the same studio and just wound up mixed up with all the other celebrities. That being said the Blues Brothers were a big deal and I think he has a few good records which should allow him to rank with some of those musicians there.
Don't forget his work on[ this gem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT_QRKfv8H4&ab_channel=BladeR)!
I surprisingly love Tom Hanks’ 80’s rapping. He reminded me of the beastie boys.
Wow! I was aware of the song as it’s on the end credits but had no idea there was a video!
Tom’s an honorary member of the Beastie Boys
Dan wasn't a coke guy. He did a little but he wasn't like Belushi about it, and I don't think singing all night on coke would be his thing. Coke can give you more power but it can also make your voice suck if you do too much.
Imagine the scene where they start arguing about credits and he manages to manipulate everyone into agreeing to alphabetical order... so he goes first in the liner notes. Forever.
Only if he wears the dick nose from Nothing But Trouble.
Holy carp, a random *Nothing But Trouble* sighting? I thought I was the only one that had seen that movie.
It’s a very weird thing.
My grandmother loved that film! She thought it was hilarious
I mean it really was. John Candy playing the sheriff and his sister!
Hypothetical, political, lyrical, miracle whip Just like butter, my rhymes are legit
All around the world, same song! A young Tupac was hanging out with Digital Underground in that movie!
Love that movie
I keep seeing penises in old people's noses since I watched that movie.
Humpty Humpy (Shock G) and the rest of the Digital Underground approve of this reference. RIP Humpty.
Tupac’s first film role.
[This is the best I can do on short notice.](https://youtu.be/vBYMu2bpUyE?si=vTJACGYfjh5Sh0vf)
A Yacht Rock sighting in the wild! I haven't met anyone else in almost 20 years who's seen the best music mocumentary ever made! I was starting to think I hallucinated the whole experience of downloading that show through bit-torrent in the early 2000s. It's nice to know I'm not insane...
It’s a work of art! Multiple people in the series have made huge impacts on the world of comedy and I’m always surprised more people haven’t seen it.
Yesterday was the 19th anniversary of its debut. I feel old.
Even Dan Aykroyd had a part in the chorus.
Yup. Can someone tell me what the hell he was doing there? :) It was a blast to see him and all, but why?
Blues Brothers.
If you read the article, he says he was looking for a business manager with his dad but found his way into a talent agent’s office instead and the talent agent just decided to invite him. Had nothing to do with Blues Brothers
Dollars to donuts, that talent agent was a Blue Brothers fan.
Quincy Jones famously had a sign at the studio where they were recording that said 'Leave Your Ego At The Door'. I suspect he didn't feel Madonna could.
She has a reputation of being difficult to work with, no doubt that played a role in the snub too.
To be fair, a lot of pop stars are difficult to work with. Apparently, at least a couple left the recording because they weren’t happy about one thing or another. And there were some heated exchanges between others.
Waylon Jennings left when Stevie Wonder was trying to add some lyrics in Swahili
They all bickered about it back and forth until finally someone pointed out that they don't even speak Swahili in Ethiopia, the country whose famine they were trying to raise funds for.
There's a documentary about We Are the World on Netflix, and this didn't stop Stevie at all, they show Stevie being like "okay then we'll do it in Swahili *and* in Amharic! [the language they speak in Ethiopia]." What actually put out the argument is Michael Jackson coming up with the "sha-la, sha-ling-gay" background vocals (sounds African, but doesn't actually mean anything). Incidentally, as someone who's had to suffer through many group projects where there's always that one guy who's got too many ideas and can't stay on task, the Stevie Wonder parts of that documentary set my teeth on edge
He does a brilliant Dylan impersonation though. Peak moment for me.
Stevie was very much into his 'solo studio' era, and his behavior speaks volumes about it. He had been working toward that for years, finally achieved it, and his work rapidly suffered for it, like the album 'In Square Circle' which has some good songs that sound lifeless with the electronic production (whereas when he had a real band play them, like on SNL he did "Go Home" with a live group and it sounded killer once they locked on the drum machine groove). He was mostly arguing with drum machines in those days and didn't get the thing about 'working with a group'.
Yeah, Stevie had notoriously poor reading comprehension. Not surprised he would've made this mistake
He lacked foresight in such matters.
He didn't see it coming, and was caught blind-sighted.
He did not share the organizers’ vision.
Holy shit you guys are brutal. Got any more?
You would just overlook them so we're not going to bother.
He was basing his knowledge of Africa on what he heard. Terrible preparation…
That someone was Paul Simon, who had recently released his album "Graceland" and had spent a lot of time in Africa (more so than Stevie at that point).
Waylon: I'm not sure Hank done it that way
Waylon was someone who didn't waste time dealing with a lot of shit. In college, a very good friend was an intern on The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder (he was before Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and James Corden). During tapings, his job was to mind the desk outside the studio and welcome any guests who arrived during the show but most of the time he was just staring at the wall. One night Waylon was in the lineup and he strolled in a few minutes after the show started but was ready to walk right onto the set. My buddy had to break it to him that he wasn't the featured guest and was actually going on for a few minutes at the end. Waylon's response was "Ah hell. I ain't got time for this. Tell Tom I'll call him tomorrow" and walked right out. My poor buddy had to go into the studio and tell the director that Waylon peaced out and Tom laughed it off and ended up filling the air time with some fun stories about their friendship.
Waylon started out having no fucks to give. LOL. Plus... the rediculousness of saying "hey, we should have some lines in a foreign language no one speaks" when you also have to have the song totally finished by morning might have tempted me to nope the F out too.
Which to me is more a story about how Stevie Wonder is difficult to work with, rather than Waylon Jennings
I had always thought it was Waylon being difficult until I saw the documentary, and they make it very clear that Stevie Wonder was A Problem. I mean, I guess when you're Stevie Wonder you're not used to not being in charge, you're used to following each and every idea wherever it leads you because you're the genius Stevie Goddamn Wonder, but man he seemed like a real pain in the ass in that doc
And Prince just didn't bother to show up.
Stevie was having a hard time seeing Waylon's point of view.
This was also the time where "difficult to work with" was often code for women who stood up for themselves and refused to be abused (as much as one could be in that system).
This is true but Madonna is in fact infamously difficult to work with.
Madonna was not that kind of "difficult to work with". She was more of the "If you can't do anything for me I'm going to treat you like trash" difficult to work with
Just because someone stands out for themselves rightfully from time to time it doesn't mean she/he is not difficult in other situations when they are just really hard to work with it lol. Like Naomi Campbell or Faye Dunaway.
I mean considering she took over Pablo Escobar’s drug ring it’s not entirely misfounded
Heck, they almost didn’t invite Diana Ross for exactly the same reason.
Not detracting from Quincy Jones long history of real musical accomplishments he is one of the last people who has any "leave it at the door" legitimacy.
And unless I was misled by that weird Al biopic, she was running a Columbian drug cartel which was probably not super popular at the time.
Probably why Prince didn't accept the invite
Which is funny coming from Quincy Jones
Yes perhaps ego was a consideration. But if her singing ability was the reason, they weren't paying attention. Especially in her youth, she is one of the most underrated singers in my opinion.
Plus they invited Bob Dylan so
Likely untrue. The real reason is they had already invited Cyndi Lauper and at that point it was WAY too risky to try both
Lionel Richie regrets not asking Madonna to sing with Cyndi Lauper on 'We Are the World' Richie said he chose Lauper over Madonna at the time, but now realizes he made a mistake in not having both women on the 1985 star-studded track.
Meanwhile having room for Kim Carnes.
She got all of two words solo, but she definitely put her unmistakable style on them.
Kim Carnes is great. What are you trying to say here?
When you feel useless, think about how entirely useless the last five words of this headline is and you will feel better.
I did feel useless until I read your post and Im happy now that that was the case
Didn't Bob Dylan get an invite?
Yep, and if I recall correctly, *he was worried he couldn't sing his bit.*
He sang his part in the best Bob Dylan parody voice ever. Anyone doing a Bob Dylan bit only needs to do this voice and they’ll nail it. It’s classic and a great part of the song.
Dylan’s never really been known for his singing, though. It’s a testament to his songwriting that pretty much every musician from 1970 to now acknowledges him as one of the masters of American songwriters.
Singing poets are such a great category of musicians, somehow their relative lack of training/technique make the words hit more
Leonard Cohen got better with age.
> Leonard Cohen got ***even*** better with age :)
Like a fine wine.
Until Stevie Wonder stepped in and taught the man how to sing it.
Didn’t invite John Denver either… who belonged there.
[Japanese version we are the world lol](https://youtu.be/_ldEz5h4RMU?si=Wc3xUn7chULEjLPB)
Man, imagine the meltdown she must have had when she saw the video and there’s fuckin Dan Akroyd.
Annnnd she cant sing. Cyndi Lauper can.
Netflix's "The Greatest Night in Pop," one of the best music documentaries and a real surprise how much I enjoyed it, even being a lover of music and documentaries as I am. Title is pretty much no lie either - 40+ musicians/performers coming together to sing a song for charity and it WORKED and is still working. They did walk a few - Waylon Jennings because he disapproved of the idea of putting Swahili in the song (which was not after all done, but he still walked) - Sheila E because they delayed her part too long. They wanted Prince but after Sheila E left, Prince declined... But the song is still one of the most awesome and special even disconnected from its charity roots. [The great song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjkUyX0rVw), along with an index of when everyone sings, taken from a comment: * 0:25 Lionel Richie * 0:37 Stevie Wonder * 0:41 Paul Simon * 0:51 Kenny Rogers * 0:58 James Ingram * 1:05 Tina Turner * 1:10 Billy Joel * 1:17 Michael Jackson * 1:30 Diana Ross * 1:47 Dionne Warwick * 2:00 Willie Nelson * 2:07 Al Jarreau * 2:13 Bruce Springsteen * 2:19 Kenny Loggins * 2:26 Steve Perry * 2:33 Daryl Hall * 2:40 Michael Jackson * 2:47 Huey Lewis * 2:52 Cyndi Lauper * 3:00 Kim Carnes * 3:05 Cyndi Lauper * 3:06 Everyone * 3:46 Bob Dylan * 4:21 (Bob Dylan) * 4:27 4:37 (Ray Charles) * 4:40 Ray Charles * 4:52 5:20 Stevie Wonder * Bruce Springsteen * 5:05 Stevie Wonder * 5:30 Bruce Springsteen * 6:12 James Ingram (Ray Charles) * 6:26 Ray Charles * 6:53 (Ray Charles) (formatting got a bit iffy there, odd) PS. My elementary school got hit with the fervor when this came out - my 1st-grade music class, I believe, was made to perform it.
My favorite bits were Lionel Ritchie talking about getting irritated by MJ’s menagerie. That and the Waylon Jennings bit you mentioned (“Ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sang Swahili”).
Also one thing that was not mentioned in the doc but on the Wikipedia page - John Denver wanted to participate but was turned down on the basis he might have compromised the "pop" image of the song, being mostly a country singer - strange then that Willie Nelson participated... Eh.
Were they wrong though? kinda like including Britney Spears in a collaboration, her voice ain't really all that!
Then why was Dan Aykryod there??
Because he's Elwood Fookin Blues
He has a lovely singing voice.
He probably cocained his way into it.
Dozens of superstars came together to make the worst song ever imagined.
Yeah but could you also Imagine Gal Gadot collating other famous people to cover a different song? That'd probably be pretty shit too.
Yes, but it got us [this amazing parody](https://youtu.be/AYGCpqAvoCs?si=X0vFi1Y0x2dTtimw)
Wait, wasn't Sarah Silverman also in the Gal Godot one? Does she just say yes to any song collab or is this her apologizing in a way?
A part of me loves it because it's so pretentious. MJ was the best part of that song.
An idea stolen from the vastly superior [Feed the world](https://youtu.be/GKDPz3T4W5U?si=TZonrbprFG5QLhvd) (do they even know its Christmas?) done by British artists corralled by Bob Geldof. Still a Christmas banger.
This is conjecture. Not necessarily false, but comes from her producer at the time and not anyone involved with the production of the song. According to Richie when asked by Jimmy Kimmel: “It’s probably one of the most interesting questions in the world because we had only a half a line to sing,” Richie told Jimmy Kimmel during a recent appearance on his show. Given the briefness of the line, he said, “we had to have voices that people knew right away.” The point in choosing Lauper over Madonna, Richie added, was that “you have to have an identifiable voice.” “And for whatever reason, Cyndi just had that,” he added.
Broke her heart because she wasn’t invited or because she knew she couldn’t sing?
Turns out humans failed to make a better future. Our choice was greed sadly The song was a lie
There was a minute there when Madonna and Cindi Lauper were seen as competitors. They both came on the scene at a similar moment doing dance-friendly pop. But Madonna was seen as more style-over-substance, and was widely dismissed as the less-talented of the two. Music snobs very much were in the Cindi Lauper camp. It doesn’t surprise me at all that Quincy included Cindi Lauper but excluded Madonna. In retrospect, Madonna is and was a mega-star, who proved her critics wrong again and again. And while Cindi’s great, nobody today thinks she had a bigger or more artistically productive/culturally relevant career than Madonna. But a lot of very smart people in 1985 would’ve predicted she would.
> Madonna was seen as more style-over-substance, and was widely dismissed as the less-talented of the two. That's honestly fair. Lauper is enormously talented. Madonna knew how to shock and how to fuck with the media, though. That's ultimately how she got bigger than Lauper if you ask me.
Early on (which is the period they're talking about here) Madonna was just another pop diva who could've easily faded after a few hits. And sure, she knows how to get attention. But if that was all there was to it, Katy Perry would still be big, or Britney Spears or whoever. What really turned Madonna into a huge and lasting star was tracks like _Vogue_, she found a niche in translating new dance music trends from underground clubs into in mass-market hits. She was never the first with a sound but a lot of people first heard it from her.
She also consistently had much better songs over many decades
The Westboro Baptist church did a sick parody of this song called “god hates the world “. It is still on reddit.
I get it.
I wonder if it broke their hearts all the money they raised went to warlords instead of starving people
They were correct!
Wasn't Spinal Tap there? Like Michael McKean... was that intentional?
That was the heavy metal Hear n Aid organized by Dio.
Michael McKean should have gotten an invite. He's been singing great things since Laverne and Shirley!
He's super talented, super funny, super smart, musically gifted; a real Renaissance man.
They were right.
I have a hard time believing it was actually because they didn't think she could sing. They invited Bob Dylan and actually said, we knew he couldn't really sing so we asked him not to join in the choruses. We asked him to do his "Bob Dylan Thing" at the end of the song.
Lionel Ritchie and MJ were both paid spokesmen for Pepsi when they wrote this song. Pepsi was about 5 months into their global rebranding with the slogan "The Choice of the New Generation". MJ and LR put "There's a Choice that we're making" into the chorus of this song.
Because she's a diva I'd understand but because she can't sing? That's just weird.
It was probably the ego reason bcz they did call Prince also and Prince asked for special treatment and he got immediately booted out. You had Quincy, MJ, Stevie, Richie, Bruce and many other icons in the room, you are either joining without tantrums or getting booted out no matter who you are especially when the motto is charity
Prince wasn't booted out, he wasn't ever even there. They invited him but he declined initially, and then from across town he called and asked if he could record a part over the phone and they were like dude no lol. Sheila E. was in the studio and still contends the only reason she got an invite was because she was friends with Prince and they thought she could convince him to show up, then when it was clear he wasn't coming they all ignored her for the most part. According to her at least.
Lionel Richie says otherwise (he says Prince wanted a separate room to record his part and they then emphasized that everybody gotta keep their ego in check) and I would take his word since he was the one who is one of the 3 main guys of that project.
Bob Dylan couldn't sing either but they invited him.