defend the indefensible: "we are the world"

Michael Jackson......PRETENTIOUS, PRIMA DONNA ASSHOLE!

Most cringe-worthy moment: Cyndi Lauper's unsolicited "aye-yai-yee-yai-yah!" melismatic vocal fart after her slavishly oversung verse.

OTOH, the lyrics to "Do They Know It's Christmas" always creeped me out:

Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom

... that's some seriously bone-chilling stuff. "Clanging chimes of doom"? On a charity record?

The video is yes, a nice period piece.

"These NYCians are crazy!"

A menhir....yesterday.

http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~janl/ts/obelix.gif

However, Dylan sucks!

xpost

that would take one precise sphincter!

And it shows.

YES! David Foster just dropped dead and rolled over in his grave.

True, but charity songs are, as a rule, complete shit.

I knew the Canadians would get the reference.

i just heard "voices that care" for the first time and jesus christ i don't think i'll ever even joke about "we are the world" being a bad song again.

Haha -- I had an argument with a former Stylus colleague who insists that "Sun City" is better than WATW; he was beguiled by Arthur Baker and Hipster Quotient (nice moniker, that).

If you have the time to watch this 10 parts thing, I recommend you do : it's solid gold 80s !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GA5NvqGg0s

haha I remember LOVING "Sun City" at the time

prefer voices that care to w.a.t.w and "stars" to either

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZktrrqT1A0

it has a nice (lovely at times) melody.

plus it generated a lot of money for charity.

also, bob geldofy and bono werent involved.

*geldof

btw if you watch that stars video with the sound down on the player & forrest fang's new album playing instead, life becomes awesome

You know, the most obvious defence for this song is that it helped save the lives of a lot of starving people in Ethiopia, which is - well.... - not the worst thing a song can do, really...

Besides, it isn't all that bad as a song either - even though the lyrics are indefensible forever and ever.

man i need to poll this

Ugh. Absolutely without merit. Typically American. We lift the idea from Band And, and then blow it way out of proportion ("the day rock cried" my ass). Plus, it's a horrible, overwrought, lyrically meaningless piece of shit song. Fuck everyone involved.

It was true then and it's still true today.

This was less than a year after Ghostbusters (at the time the-highest-grossing comedy ever) so that would explain it.

Here’s what he said in 2009 (it doesn’t make much sense):

Speaking of iconic images, you were in the ensemble for the Live Aid, "We Are the World video." How did you snag that gig?

Totally by accident. My father and I were interviewing business managers in LA and we walked into this office of a talent manager, and realized we were in the wrong place. I was looking for a money manager, not a talent manager. I had managed myself at that time and always have. But he said, so long as you are here, would you like to come and join this "We are the World" thing.

I thought how do I fit in here? Well, we did sell a few million records with the Blues Brothers and in my other persona I am a musician, so I showed up and was a part of it but it was totally by accident.

I bet he (and a few others there) fit in more than a few lines.

Snarf.

The person who was there who I was looking for in the doc but didn't immediately see, and was kinda wondering if they would get as a talking head but didn't? Garry Trudeau. Really. Remember seeing news about it at the time (and he coordinated a comics-related effort later in the year), and per this thread, a run of strips resulted some time after the session:

1. Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau was allowed to witness the "We Are the World" recording sessions that produced the 1985 megahit to aid famine relief in Africa. Producer Quincy Jones corralled 45 pop stars into the studio, insisting everyone check their egos at the door.

— Mark Stryker (@Mark_Stryker) June 13, 2021

And in case you're wondering if this is some weird urban legend, nope -- from a Chicago Tribune story in March 1985.

Although most of the musicians` guests watched the proceedings via a live video feed to A&M`s Chaplin Stage next door, there was one nonmusician in the recording studio. ”Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau spent the night in the studio watching and sketching, with the result being two weeks of USA for Africa-related ”Doonesbury” cartoons.

we still need a 10-episode expose into this thing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3TmvzoVYM

The Milli Vanilli guy was clearly lip-syncing.

That one had a Chumbawumba parody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRG2s9GC_E

I realize these clips were available for years, and also were only shown in a truncated form in the latest documentary, but ever since watching it I can't get Bob Dylan's goofy rendition of "it's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lies, it's true we'll make a better day, just you and me".

it just sounds Randy Newman singing it and getting punched while he farted

*lives

lol that was my generation's introduction to Bob Dylan

woulda been for me if my dad didn't routinely walk around the house singing "Like a Rolling Stone" and overemphasizing the "DIDN'T YEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW".

As bad as it was, Dylan would hit lower lows as the decade wore on. I can't imagine anyone turning into a Dylan fan back then based on his "new" work.

*raises hand* a friend who heard "Tight Connection to My Heart" was moved to hear the back catalog

that "Let it Be" upthread is like a cluster bomb of wtf

xp That's not a bad track - had they dropped a couple of the worst songs and reinstated "New Danville Girl," that would've been a pretty good album IMHO. Also forgot the Traveling Wilburys, that's a fun album. But Knocked Out Loaded, the Hearts of Fire movie, nearly all of Down in the Groove and the live stuff with the Grateful Dead are pretty awful.

(Yes, "Brownsville Girl" is a different version of "New Danville Girl," and "Maybe Someday" is kind of catchy, but I still wouldn't play Knocked Out Loaded again.)

A new all-star charity single based on Mark Knopfler's theme to Bill Forsyth's great film Local Hero, and naturally, it's all about guitarists, not singing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_KWnAoPckk

Benefits Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.

The full list of contributors is: Joan Armatrading, Jeff Beck, Richard Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown, James Burton, Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Cox, Steve Cropper, Sheryl Crow, Danny Cummings, Roger Daltrey, Duane Eddy, Sam Fender, Guy Fletcher, Peter Frampton, Audley Freed, Vince Gill, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Keiji Haino, Tony Iommi, Joan Jett, John Jorgenson, Mark Knopfler, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Greg Leisz, Alex Lifeson, Steve Lukather, Phil Manzanera, Dave Mason, Hank Marvin, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Rick Nielsen, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Nile Rodgers, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian, Connor Selby, Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey (both on drums, of course), Sting (on bass), Andy Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel.

The sleeve has been designed by pop art icon and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band designer Peter Blake, whose collage shows all the contributors in front of Hank’s guitar store in London’s Denmark Street.

Might be the last thing Jeff Beck ever recorded - he opens the record.