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We Are The World
"We Are the World" is a 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a supergroup of 45 popular musicians billed as USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa).
The charity single was intended to raise funds to help famine-relief efforts in Africa, which had experienced unusual drought in 1984/1985.
History
The song was inspired by the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" which had been released a few months prior in November 1984.
A temporary, but severe, drought in central Africa during 1984/1985, had decimated local food supplies, and famine relief was still needed for 6 countries, noted by the United Nations (UN): Ethiopia (commonly in news reports), Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Mozambique.
"Situation in six African countries still severe and
deteriorating; efforts to aid drought-stricken nations
continue", ''UN Chronicle'', United Nations, 1 June 1985,
webpage: [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Situation+in+six+African+countries+still+severe+and+deteriorating%3B...-a03795610 FLib-UNC-African-severe].
Kragen, the manager of Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers, didn't believe that a concert would make enough of a difference and suggested a charity single instead, including about a dozen artists. However, response from musicians was overwhelming, and Kragen turned down about 50 artists who wished to appear on the song.
There is no guarantee that a group collaboration, for charity, will create a song liked by the public. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song for the group, knowing there were people dying in Africa.[ Quincy Jones agreed to produce and sent a demo to all the participating artists, along with a note to "check their egos at the door".]
Vocal format
Jones worked out which singers would perform which lyrics, studying recordings of each of the selected singers to decide which would work well with each other.
During the performance, the solo portions allowed the distinctive voices of the well-known lead singers to be heard individually, or in pairs, before the entire ensemble sang the third repetition of the chorus. Later into the song, the climax is intensified by a modulation from E to F.
The arrangement created a dramatic effect by having the entire group sing together, but only after many of the celebrity singers were each revealed in solo/duet parts, with two repetitions of the chorus as solos/duets. The bridge was also sung as solos and duets by Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes, and Cyndi Lauper, building the crescendo into the entire group singing "We are the world, we are the children...."
The audio effect of the various reveals, by their famous solo voices, was also repeated in the video version, with closeup views of each singing artist before the entire singing group was shown (the video is a composite of multiple filmings). That sequence of reveals was a result of the pairings made by Quincy Jones.
Recording session details
The January 1985 recording session was held during and after the American Music Awards at the A&M Studios in Hollywood, California.
The artists who performed on "We Are the World" arrived in-studio from limousines (as most of them had participated in the awards show previously) - except Bruce Springsteen, who arrived driving a pickup truck. Prince's agreement to attend had been tentative, and he did not appear.
Many of the male singers found in rehearsal that the key of the chorus was too high for them to reach, so Quincy Jones told them to refrain from singing until later in the session when the chorus was switched to a lower key.
Bob Dylan was unaccustomed to delivering lines while surrounded by so many people in the studio.
Cyndi Lauper's jewelry clicking required a retake of the bridge section and during a break in the session, Al Jarreau and Lionel Richie broke into an impromptu version of Harry Belafonte's 1950s hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)" in honor of Belafonte's role in organizing the project
Wonder added a chorus to "Day-O" about his and Ray Charles' blindness.
Disagreement about the lyrics
The lyric "there's a choice we're making / we're saving our own lives" was originally written as "there's a chance we're taking / we're taking our own lives" but was rewritten when it was feared the original phrasing's first part might look like the artists are patting themselves on the back while the last part might suggest suicide.
Also, the artists discussed whether they should sing "we are the ones who make a brighter day" instead of the original "better day". They eventually ended up singing "brighter day," although Bruce Springsteen sings "better day" towards the end, in his second solo part.
VH-1's ''Pop-Up Video'' stated that Waylon Jennings 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."
USA for Africa
The group name "U.S.A. for Africa" [ actually stands for "United Support of Artists for Africa" (not "United States of America").]
All of the singers on the record are American, with the exception of Bob Geldof (who is Irish) and Dan Aykroyd (who is Canadian).
Contributions
Prince telephoned Quincy Jones in mid-session and offered to contribute a guitar part, but Jones said it did not fit into what they were doing, but did say he would accept a solo track for the album, which Prince did contribute.
Patti LaBelle and Prince participated in the 1985 television broadcast performance of "We Are the World" from the Apollo Theatre, and many of the above names participated in the performance of "We Are the World" at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in July 1985. Luciano Pavarotti performed the song at one of his annual charity concerts in 1999 with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. Billy Joel used the meeting with Ray Charles to get him to contribute a vocal on a song that Joel later recorded called "Baby Grand".
Selected vocalists
John Denver, who had been actively campaigning against world hunger in the 1980s, had offered to participate in the recording, but was turned down. According to Kragen, the reason John Denver was turned down was because several people felt his country image would hurt the pop/rock credibility of the song. Linda Ronstadt, ill with the flu, missed the session, and Pat Benatar was not available due to her pregnancy, since there was concern about the bright lights and crowding in the studio. Madonna was asked to take part in the recording but turned down the request. All of Michael Jackson's brothers except Jermaine were at the recording, as was his sister LaToya. Sister Janet Jackson, who would have her first hit album a year later, and oldest sister Rebbie were not in attendance.
Solos (in order of first appearance)
*Lionel Richie
*Stevie Wonder
*Paul Simon
*Kenny Rogers
*James Ingram
*Tina Turner
*Billy Joel
*Michael Jackson
*Diana Ross
*Dionne Warwick
*Willie Nelson
*Al Jarreau
*Bruce Springsteen
*Kenny Loggins
*Steve Perry
*Daryl Hall
*Huey Lewis
*Cyndi Lauper
*Kim Carnes
*Bob Dylan
*Ray Charles
Extras
*Dan Aykroyd
*Harry Belafonte
*Lindsey Buckingham
*The News
*Sheila E.
*Bob Geldof
*Jackie Jackson
*LaToya Jackson
*Marlon Jackson
*Randy Jackson
*Tito Jackson
*Waylon Jennings
*Bette Midler
*John Oates
*Jeffrey Osborne
*The Pointer Sisters
*Smokey Robinson
Chart performance
When released as a single, "We Are The World" rose the charts rapidly in the U.S., "one of the fastest-selling singles of the modern pop era,"
Documentary
Two documentaries were developed from 45 hours of film footage shot during the recording session. The first documentary premiered on HBO in May 1985, and the second was sold in stores beginning that summer.
Impact
Although the single wasn't released until March 7, 1985 (5 weeks after the studio sessions), the anticipated impact of USA for Africa was already being mentioned, by the United Nations, on 1 June 1985, within 3 months of the album's release.
Ultimately, the single sold 7.5 million copies in the US. It was released on an album, ''We Are the World'', which sold over three million copies. In addition to "We Are the World," the album included previously unreleased songs by Prince, Springsteen, Rogers, Turner and other artists. It also included another famine relief fundraising song, "Tears Are Not Enough", which was performed by Canadian supergroup Northern Lights.
Including revenues from the single, the album, the video and related merchandise, "We Are the World" raised over $63 million for famine relief.
"USATODAY.com - Moments of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" (news),
''USA Today'', 2006-07-27, webpage:
[http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-07-27-mtv-cover_x.htm USAT-MTVcover].
The sales of the recordings raised many millions of dollars, and supplies[ were sent to Africa. The following year, the typical rains returned to central Africa, food crops recovered, and the famine crisis was abated. The song had inspired millions of people to help, and many lives were saved.]
The song went on to win four 1985 Grammys for: Song of the Year, Record of the Year,[ and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.]
Lionel Richie stated that 11 lawsuits were filed claiming others had written the song.
On November 15, 2006, Michael Jackson performed the song in the World Music Awards.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbs02ljK_Qw]
We_Are_the_World
Source: Wikipedia