We Were The World...

While not happening on this specific day in rock history, this is a serious blast from the past. You know it but you obviously haven't thought about it in a long time. Remember the superstar track, "We Are the World", which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia? The performers read like a who’s who of mid-eighties pop culture: Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Sheila E, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall, James Ingram, Jackie Jackson, LaToya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Al Jarreau, Waylon Jennings (wait a minute – Waylon Jennings was there? Ya gotta be kidding me!), Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, Steve Perry, The Pointer Sisters, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder. The year was 1985, and the song reached #1 on the Billboard chart on April 17th. The song was also Billboard’s #1 song of 1985, which meant it was the fastest-selling single of that year. There are some good stories behind the recording... like all the artists arrived in limos, except the Boss, who showed up behind the wheel of a pickup. The song has been parodied in the Simpsons (duh) and also Saturday Night Live. Flashback to the '80s for real! Our local radio station broadcast a dumbed-down version of the song where an announcer would dub in the name of the singer or singers doing a solo verse. As if we couldn’t recognize distinctive voices like those of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, or Cyndi Lauper! It may interest you to know that John Denver, who had been actively campaigning against world hunger in the 1980s, had offered to participate in the recording, but was turned down. Speaking of ol’ Waylon, he wasn’t there for long - he left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics. The dispute started when Stevie Wonder announced that he would like to substitute a line in Swahili. After a few rehearsals, a full-fledged creative conflict broke out. Geldof pointed out that Ethiopians do not speak Swahili. Michael Jackson then proposed to keep his original line "Sha-lim sha-lingay" but after a few rehearsals, it too ran into opposition, because it does not have a meaning. Eventually Al Jarreau cried, "We can make a meaning" and came up with "One World, our word" which was changed one last time in "One world, our children." Alright already – we get it! So here it is one more time, the “We Are The World” video. Feel free to remember it any way you want to! Thanks to www.wikipedia.org and http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/?aid=35309 for the info, and keep on rockin’ – in a socially responsible way, of course!