How all of those icons kept all of this secret for that long is a story in itself, as Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, and Lionel Richie first sought out Michael Jackson, then Stevie Wonder, inspired by Boomtown Rats founder Bob Geldof's efforts to launch Live Aid in England, to help black people starving in Africa by composing an anthem that would sell tens of millions copies.
In visiting Jackson at his home, Richie was alternately terrified and taken aback by Michael's missing snake, then by Bubbles the Chimp. Jackson insisted on pronouncing Richie's first name as "Lion-ell" in his breathy, child-like voice.
The fulcrum of this timing seesaw was the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, bringing Richie in as host and starring dozens of other major music stars as nominees and presenters, plus mere attendees convening at the Shrine Auditorium. Primarily Richie, joined by several others who were there, recorded their recollections in the very same room, now empty, where the magic occurred in January 1985.
All 47 musicians took a vow of silence and secrecy and, rather than celebrating at glitzy showbiz parties after the AMAs, where Richie had won six trophies, they all headed for Herb Alpert's A&M Records studio on LaBrea just south of Sunset. With their lot full, late-arriving Bruce Springsteen had to park in the CVS lot across the street....all night long (to quote Richie's song). Dionne Warwick flew in from her concert tour in Philadelphia.
Quincy Jones famously tacked up a note on the entrance, reading "Check your egos at the door"...and they all did, since nobody except the stars themselves were permitted in the packed studio; no managers, no agents, no publicists. This created a humbling vibe as all the stars mingled on pretty much level ground with each other, even if only for that one night.
The studio session, with the AMAs getting underway at 4pm Los Angeles time, started around 10 pm. It was going to be a long, long night, and not without its occasional tensions as Jones had to decide whose talents would best emulsify into seamless segues and the studio warmed up with such a crowd --- 70 people in all ---, and so many of them wearing headphones, only adding to the heat....and testing their patience as the night wore on and on.
--- The tension was broken when Al Jarreau looked over at Harry Belafonte and started chanting the latter's iconic "Banana Boat Song" with the familiar "Dayyy-Oh!" refrain, joined quickly by the others.
--- Cindy Lauper, a sudden celebrity with her "She's So Unusual" album that rocked the charts the year before, reached new octaves with her solo, complaining that someone in the room was talking or laughing, ruining her take. Turns out her fashion choice that night made the sounds picked up by her mic.
--- It had been several hours since the AMAs emptied out, and stars, who had arrived at the AMAs at 3pm the day before, were sleepy and hangry. They called out for a huge delivery from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, with Lionel Richie's very delicate way of eating chicken delighting his fellow icons.
--- One of the funniest moments occurred when Stevie Wonder said he had to find a bathroom. Ray Charles volunteered to lead him to it. Literally the blind leading the blind.
--- As all the stars realized their efforts were about to result in history and the long, long night was coming to an end, they started autographing each other's sheet music as keepsakes.
Just think about all that talent and fame in that one room that night: Kenny Rogers; Steve Perry; Harry Belafonte; Bob Dylan; Al Jarreau; Dionne Warwick; Cyndi Lauper; Kim Carnes; Lionel Richie; Michael Jackson, his sister LaToya, and brothers Tito and Marlon; Stevie Wonder; Smokey Robinson; James Ingram; Waylon Jennings (who stormed out, impatient with the pace); Willie Nelson; Billy Joel; Paul Simon; Huey Lewis; Sting; Sheila E (whose hopes Prince would show fell short); Ray Charles; Bruce Springsteen; Daryl Hall; John Oates; Tina Turner; Diana Ross; Kenny Loggins; Randy Jackson, dawg; Lindsey Buckingham; LaToya Jackson; Bette Midler; Jeffrey Osborne; Anita, June, and Ruth Pointer; and yes....Dan Aykroyd.
Everything was finally completed by about 6:30 a.m..
Five years later Herb Alpert and partner Jerry Moss sold their A&M Records to Polygram for a purported half-billion dollars. A few years later it was purchased by Disney as Jim Henson Productions' Muppets Studio. Given that it was originally Chaplin Studios, home of Charlie's legendary silent movies, with 8 year old Jackie Coogan (yes, TV's Uncle Fester on "The Addams Family") charming the world as The Kid --- and being financially fleeced of his millions in earnings by his parents, which is why every child actor today must have a Coogan Account before starting movie/TV work --- it's apt that the brick entrance gate tower features a 12-ft. Kermit the Frog dressed like Chaplin, complete with bowler hat and cane.
I interviewed Herb Alpert for a half hour four years ago, days before his concert in Prescott AZ, and we reveled in all the music superstars he and Moss signed for their label, and how Alpert's solo and Tijuana Brass albums --- which outsold The Beatles in 1965 --- were recorded there.
When I gave my wife the 50-cent, week-long tour of Los Angeles five years ago, our rental car blew a tire right outside the studio gate. Too bad they don't give tours as we awaited the AAA service truck.
Early that long-ago spring of '85, with the single record of "We Are the World" now in release on 45 rpm vinyl and cassette tapes (kids, ask your parents), my brand new FM radio station in northwest Oklahoma played it every three hours for a couple weeks...and got phone requests to play it again. If you listened to radio or watched TV, you surely got sick of it, so much that merely hearing the song today, even if you hadn't heard it for nearly 40 years, will prompt some to scream "No!! Not again!!".
But this documentary is a terrific way to see America's 1985 pop culture time capsule, and where America's music stars stood in that galaxy.
Only one question about "We Are the World" and that amazing night is left unanswered by the doc: What the hell was Dan Aykroyd doing there?***
*** Answer: Dan was in LA looking for a financial manager when one of those he talked with, who represented two of the musicians recording that night, invited Dan to join them. I always wondered how Quincy Jones felt about that. Sure, The Blues Brothers were a fun novelty act, but.....Dan was clearly not in his own company that night.