The Greatest Night in Pop, Netflix’s telling of the behind the scenes story of how the most successful benefit song ever (“We Are The World”) was recorded, is a far better movie than the song it is about. I mean no great disrespect to the tune and what it accomplished—it was a true phenomenon at the time. But one must face up to the fact that the song (written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson) has not aged well. It’s beyond sappy, corny, or whatever sentimental pejorative you might like to use.
Still, the intrigue attached to the overnight recording of “We Are The World” plays out almost like a heist movie. I must confess, I’m a sucker for “let’s get a gang together” type movies, and while The Greatest Night in Pop is not really about the greatest night in pop, it’s surely about one of the most interesting.
The de facto leader of the documentary is Lionel Richie. I’ve always had a soft spot for Lionel, and The Greatest Night does nothing to damage that. But the man who originally pushed forward the idea of a benefit song for starving Ethiopians during the horrendous famine of 1985, was actually Harry Belafonte. Belafonte was frustrated that Black artists in America weren’t doing anything to help the cause of the hungry in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof had already written and recorded his own star-studded benefit song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” in Britain, and Belafonte wanted a response.
While the case of those suffering in Africa was as serious as anything on earth, the beginnings of the song intended to save lives was pretty damn humble. Belafonte convinced Richie and Jackson to write the song, and then Quincy Jones came aboard soon after. Early on, the two songwriters were largely just fooling around, and not really getting anywhere. Richie had no idea that Jackson couldn’t play an instrument, so he would try to compose music to Michael’s humming. All while being surrounded by Jackson’s bevy of exotic animals (every story Richie tells about Jackson’s creatures borders on hysterical).
To complicate matters further, the only night that Jones could hope to get together most of the biggest names in American popular music was at the upcoming American Music Awards (AMAs). There would be plenty of talent there, and after the show, they would pull an all-nighter until the track was finished. “One night only,” as they say. Richie not only had to co-write and compose the song, he had to do it while prepping to host the AMAs himself. With just three weeks to go, all Richie and Jackson had was the basic melody with “some mumbling” over it.
With just days to spare, the duo came up with “We Are The World,” and Richie, Jones, and industry insider Ken Kragen set about herding some of the fanciest cats on the pop music planet. Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and about 40 other of the biggest names of the day committed.
Director Bao Nguyen smartly rushes through the awards show in a way that creates tension. Richie is aware that they have to get through the show and get to the studio as fast as humanly possible, all while trying to convince, right up until the last moment, some of the stars to go through with it (Lauper nearly backed out because her boyfriend didn’t think the song would be a “hit”), and some to join (the Prince subplot is full of intrigue).
As the stars arrive at the studio, they see a taped sign on their way in: “Leave your ego at the door.” Quincy Jones put it there to try to remind all these famous folk of their purpose. On this night, it would not be about themselves.
The recording goes on well into the night until past dawn. There are many false starts, technical issues, and confounding logistics to sort through. Who would get to sing a verse? Who would only be on the chorus? Who would get pissed off about being in the latter?
That’s where the most cutting moment of the documentary is exposed, in the person of Sheila E. Sheila was just coming off of performing her first big hit “The Glamorous Life” that night at the AMAs. She was a new star emerging at the time, and a wildly talented percussionist. She was also Prince’s girlfriend. Way into the dark of night, efforts to convince Prince to come in and sing a verse were ongoing. Much of that effort was made by Richie trying to get Sheila to get Prince to come on down. The closest he came to saying yes was Prince offering to come in and play a guitar solo, as long as he could be in a room by himself. This was a no go. Not only was there no way to make an outpost for Prince in the already overfilled studio, but there was no room to add a guitar solo to the track. So, Prince declined. Before one heaps too much grief on Prince, it’s worth remembering that he was notoriously shy in his younger days, and was highly unlikely to be comfortable in that space. It also should be noted that he recorded a song of his own for the “We Are The World” album called “The Tears in Your Eyes” which was, quite frankly, infinitely better than the title track.
But the drama came from Shelia reaching the conclusion that the only reason she was asked to be there was in the hopes that she could convince her much more famous boyfriend to join. As seen in the film, current day Sheila E. states that she felt “used,” and therefore left early.
However, that was one of the few sour notes of the evening. As sappy as “We Are The World” is, the effort that all these artists made to be there (and to be fair, they routinely sang their hearts out, quality of the track be damned), there are a number of lovely grace notes. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder cracking up the room. An impromptu version of Belafonte’s “Banana Boat” song breaking out (Day-O!). Stevie Wonder assisting a very nervous Bob Dylan with his verse. And then there is Bruce Springsteen.
Springsteen had no intention of being at the AMAs. The night before, he had just completed the final show of his “Born in the USA” tour. He was worn out and beat, but he took a plane from Buffalo, NY during a terribly inclement east coast December because he thought it was important to be there. There was just one problem: his voice was all but completely blown out. As he and Dylan were the last to sing, you can see Springsteen trying to summon whatever he can from his hoarse and breaking voice, and however imperfect he may have been, it’s god damned inspiring watching him make the effort.
There are other moments that are moving throughout the film. Watching Cyndi Lauper powerhouse her way through her verse. Seeing Huey Lewis (who got Prince’s verse) rise to the occasion as best he could. And seeing Diana Ross ask Daryl Hall to sign her sheet music are among the best, but it’s watching the weathered Springsteen and the frightened Dylan croaking their way through a song that on any other day at any other time they wouldn’t have come within a million feet of that inspires the most. Apparently, on his way home, Quincy Jones was quoted as saying, “Those white boys really brought it.” They certainly brought whatever they had.
Late in the documentary, present day Springsteen can be seen on camera saying, “You can criticize the song aesthetically, but I saw the song as a tool. And as a tool it did a pretty good job.”
Which is about the most polite way anyone has ever said, “that song ain’t very good, but I did it for a reason.”
And while it’s true that “We Are The World” is not going down as any of these artists’ finest of hours artistically, there is still something very fine about those hours. When massive talents set aside (mostly) their massive egos to do something for someone else and get nothing but the experience of having done it back.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it got to me. Maybe I’m getting soft in my middle ages, but I do know one thing for certain: The movie about how the song was made is much better than the song it’s about. And in being of such high quality, kind of (okay not entirely) redeems one of the cheesiest songs ever recorded. No mean feat that.