The Greatest Night in Pop

I can't recall the last time I watched a film from beginning to end without taking a break or even thinking of taking a break. And this has nothing to do with the quality of the ultimate product, although the film made me appreciate "We Are the World" far more than I did at the time of its creation. The experience of seeing how this event was created, assembled and carried out was mesmerizing, engrossing and tremendously moving.

The film enlarged, exponentially, my knowledge and understanding of the individuals who participated in creating the song and video. For example, I appreciate, for the first time, the scope of Lionel Ritchie's talent, which extends far beyond singing. Wrangling pop stars is more difficult than herding house cats, but Ritchie proved to be a master of the art. He was the film's star, with Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones close behind. The scenes showing Stevie's interactions with Ray Charles and Bob Dylan were, at the same time, hilarious and moving.

The film also enhanced my appreciation of the level of talent that participated in the project. As a contemporary of most of the participants, I realize now that they were a lot more talented than I might have thought back in the 1980s.

From a technical standpoint, condensing a ten-hour all night recording session into the last hour of a ninety minute film was no mean feat. The editing of tons of archival material into a coherent narrative was masterful. If Netflix can mount more retrospective documentaries of similar events from the late twentieth century, I would welcome the endeavor.

If I have one criticism, it is that I wanted to know more about the selection process, about the artists who elected not to participate, and about the one, Waylon Jennings, who walked out. Madonna was mentioned once. And maybe Waylon was there because he lost a bet to his pal Willie, and of course Prince was Prince. But Waylon and Willie were the only representatives of a genre that IS music to millions of Americans. Were any others asked?

But on the whole, the film was an Oscar level documentary and should be recognized as such.

This is everything I want from a documentary. It was both informative and entertaining, and it gave me a brief glimpse into something raw and real. It effectively captures the feeling of being in that recording studio on that specific night in the company of the biggest names in music at the time - the exhilaration but also the pressure and tension felt by everyone in the room (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, the list goes on and on). I felt like I got to know each of these artists a little bit better because of their raw emotions and vulnerability that were on display in the footage.

I wasn't alive when "We are the World" was released in 1985. However, I distinctly remember when the 25th anniversary rendition was released in 2010 and being instantly enthralled by the sheer power of so many iconic voices united for one important cause. I've watched that video over and over, and I get the same visceral feeling every time. This documentary adds depth and context to that feeling, and I now have even more appreciation for the original song.

I started watching knowing nothing about the behind the scenes. I knew there was a bunch of famous artists, I knew about the french parody and I definitely remembered Bruce Springsteen's weird face while singing.

I was instantly fascinated by the whole thing, it's a great watch, a lot of fun facts I loved to hear about. It's the kind of story that's so absurd it shouldn't have worked out but in the end it did.

There are some heartwarming moments, the Belafonte bit was beautiful or whenever they would cheer after someone sang. Most of them seemed genuinely excited to be there and the doc makes you feel like a witness to it all.

However I do wish there were more speakers, they should have reached out to more singers, I would have loved to see footage of the singers talking about the project afterwards.

It also makes you question why those songs don't happen anymore, can you imagine Beyonce and Taylor Swift coming together to raise money to a cause?

And then I remembered that most artists nowadays won't set foot outside North America and Europe when they go on their "world tours" so I'm feeling bittersweet about it all but it's still a great watch.

I have no qualms about praising this piece. It is great that after over thirty some years, we get to see the effort that went into producing this record. Of course, there are critical comments about how these big ticket stars could have opened their pocketbooks and sent a bunch of money to Africa. It's interesting how the first thing out of some people's mouth is to put down the effort that was made. The moneys that came from this far exceeded anything these people could have contributed. The beauty was the herding of cats in a venue that was being constructed on the fly. Lionel Richie had to be in way over his head at times. It was also interesting to see that some of the performers, famous as they were, became frightened that they couldn't deliver a one or two sentence solo. Of course, others didn't like the people that were there. Bob Dylan is frequently criticized. But we all know how he sounds and he was contributing for the overall impact of the production. I have to say that when I watched this, I didn't think all that much about Huey Lewis. He becomes a major contributor to the documentary. Anyway, what an effort to draw these people together. Leaving a major awards show and heading off to do this. It will never happen again.

In 1985, We Are The World was huge. We saw the video over and over and over again.

We all had the album and listened to it countless times. It was on the radio non-stop. It was an immensely powerful song.

Watching this documentary and learning how the song came about and how they managed to get all the biggest names in Music together, it let me re-experience it all. Watching it was both nostalgic and entertaining. But also sad watching the great artists who aren't around anymore.

It's a Must See for anyone who was around back in '85.

And, after nearly 40 years, I finally learned why Prince wasn't there.