A Noite que Mudou o Pop

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.

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.

Simply and shortly put, this was incredible.

We are being introduced anew to this important piece of history.

Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie was a power duo in making this happen, for such an important cause.

Enjoy learning from A to Z just how impactful this really was, and still is.

Netflix needs to release more of these, so that the younger generations truly understand the value of music history, as it was. I wish music could still be like this, about something greater than yourself. The act of giving, caring and unity. Todays artist have a lot to learn from this.

Thank you... "We Are The World"

I waited 97 minutes to find out why Dan Akroyd was in that recording studio. I still don't know. As much as I loved the Blues Brothers, that doesn't make him a singer.

The only two huge stars of the time missing were Prince and Madonna. We learned about Prince in all his solitary weirdness but Madonna was mentioned only for a split second.

For anyone who's been in a professional recording studio, Cyndi Lauper having to remove her jewelry was hilarious. The microphones pick up everything, even the proverbial dropped pin. To anyone questioning why she was there, take a quick look at the pop charts from say 1983 to 1986 - there's your answer.

My kids were 5 and 10 when We Are the World was released. They couldn't get enough of it probably because Michael Jackson was a big part of it and they knew the money was going to feed kids in Africa. This behind the scenes account of how Harry Belafonte inspired Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, and Quincy Jones to make it happen is beautiful and funny with some very personal commentary by many of the dozens of artists who did the marathon recording. Their effort seems like something that would never happen today even though we surely could use the love and selflessness they embodied the night they gathered in one studio to record the song. The reflections by Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson , Cindy Lauper and others make this a special film. It's a little long but worth sticking with it.